Largest Empires in World History

The British Empire

For quite some time, people have said that America is the next Roman Empire and that, like all empires, it too will fall.

Historically speaking, that assumption would be correct. Empires have risen and crumbled throughout history. But what were the largest and most powerful empires throughout history?

These are some of the world's biggest empires. We ranked them by the landmass they controlled at their height.

Dzungar Khanate

Years: 1634–1755

Maximum land area year: 1650

Millions of square miles occupied: 1.39

Percentage of the world: 2.67

The Genocide of a Tribal Collective

The Dzungar Khanate was a collective of Oirat tribes that lived between the Great Wall of China and Kazakhstan in Central Asia. After the Dzungars unified, the khanate was established in 1634. Its leader, Galdan, campaigned for an Oirat state in Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Galdan was defeated at the Battle of Jao Modo in 1696 by the Qing Dynasty. In 1717, they conquered Tibet, but that was also short-lived. They were only there for a year before being driven out by the Qing.

The Qing then took advantage of a civil war between the Dzungar and conquered them. Scholars believe about 80 percent of of the Dzungars were wiped out due to war and disease by 1757.

Ilkhanat

Years: 1256-1335

Maximum land area year: 1310

Millions of square miles occupied: 1.45

Percentage of the world: 2.78

The Ilkhanat Is Wiped Out by the Black Death

The Ilkhanat Empire covered parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. It was one of four khanates that were formed in 1256 by Hulegu, a Mongol general.

During this time, the Mongol Empire had eased trade and commerce across Asia, which the Ilkhanate and China's Yuan Dynasty encouraged.

After Hulegu died, his son Abaqa Khan became the Ilkhanat's leader, and its rulers started converting to Islam toward the end of the 13th century. After its last ruler, Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, died in 1335 with no heir, the Ilkhanat began to disintegrate. The Black Death also aided in their demise.

Italian Empire

Years: 1882-1947

Maximum land area year: 1941

Millions of square miles occupied: 1.48

Percentage of the world: 2.84

Fascism and Colonization Under the Italian Empire

The Italian Empire came into being after Italy became a unified nation in 1861. The country believed it deserved an overseas empire and set its sights on Africa, as European nations had done.

In 1882, Italy invaded Eritrea, and seven years later, it conquered Somalia. In 1895, it tried to conquer Ethiopia, but it failed. It didn't stop there and in 1911, Italy took Libya.

Benito Mussolini vowed to expand the empire even further to avenge the country's Ethiopian defeat. Under Mussolini, the Italians took Albania using chemical weapons in 1939.

In April 1941, he started to plan dominance of the coastlines around the Mediterranean Sea. However, with the arrival of Allied forces, its empire had ceased to exist by 1943.

For more about empires, check out Work + Money.