List of empires

This is an alphabetical list of empires. The table may be resorted by other columns if your browser supports this function.

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For list of empires by size, see list of largest empires.

Empires and dynasties

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Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Duration	Note
Achaemenid Empire	Iran	Various, including Pasargadae, Ecbatana, Persepolis, Susa, Babylon	550 BC	330 BC	220	The first Persian empire, and the largest one in classical antiquity, founded by Cyrus the Great.
Afsharid Dynasty	Iran	Mashhad	1736	1796	60	Founded by Nader Shah, at its peak expanded Persia as far west as Baghdad, and as far east as Delhi.
Abbasid Caliphate	Iraq	Baghdad, Raqqa, Kufa, Samarra, Anbar	750	1258	508	Successor of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Ahom Dynasty	North East India	Charaideo, Garhgaon, Rangpur (Ahom capital), Jorhat	1228	1838	610	It is well known for maintaining its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisting Mughal expansion in Northeast India.
Akkadian Empire	Sumer	Akkad	2300 BC	2200 BC	100	The Second Empire On The Earth.
Aksumite Empire	Ethiopia	Axum	150	940	790	Succeeded by the Ethiopian Empire.
Akwamu	West Africa	Akwamufie, Nyanoase	1505	1867	362
Almohad Caliphate	Morocco	Marrakech, Seville	1121	1269	148
Almoravid dynasty	Morocco	Aghmat (1040–1062), Marrakech (1062–1147)	1040	1147	107
Angevin Empire	England, France	No official capital. Court was generally held at Angers and Chinon	1154	1242	88
Armenian Empire	Armenia	Tigranakert	190 BC	428	618	Tigranes the Great took the title King of Kings.
Assyria	Mesopotamia	Assur, later Nineveh	2025 BC	609 BC	1119
Ashanti Empire	West Africa	Kumasi	1670	1902	232
Austrian Empire	Austria	Vienna	1804	1867	63	Preceded by the Holy Roman Empire.
Austria-Hungary	Austria, Hungary	Vienna, Budapest	1867	1918	51	Often referred to as the "Austro-Hungarian Empire". Formed out of the Austrian Empire as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. Officially a real union of the rump Austrian Empire (Cisleithania) and the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen/Transleithania. Ruler was therefore referred to as Kaiser und König ("Emperor-King", literally "Emperor and King").
Ayyubid dynasty	Middle East	Cairo, Damascus, Hama	1171	1341	170	Founded by Saladin, See also List of Muslim states and dynasties.
Aztec Empire	Mesoamerica	Tenochtitlan	1428	1521	93	The capital of Mexico, Mexico City, is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.
Babylonian Empire	Mesopotamia	Babylon	1900 BC	1600 BC	300	See also Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Balhae	North Korea, Manchuria	Sanggyeong	698	926	228	Successor of Goguryeo.
Bamana Empire	West Africa	Ségou	1712	1861	149	Also known as the Bambara Empire or Ségou Empire
Belgian colonial empire	Belgium	Brussels	1901	1962	61	Overseas possessions were referred to as "the colonies" rather than an empire.
Benin Empire	Nigeria	Benin City	1440	1897	457
Kadamba dynasty	Karnataka	Banavasi	345	540	200	The Kadambas (345–540 CE) were an ancient royal family of Karnataka, India, that ruled northern Karnataka and the Konkan from Banavasi in present-day Uttara Kannada district. The kingdom was founded by Mayurasharma in 345 C.E
Bornu Empire	Nigeria	Ngazargamu	1387	1893	506	The continuation of the Kanem Empire.
Empire of Brazil	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	1822	1889	67	Established after Pedro I of Brazil declared the independence of Brazil from Portugal.
Britannic Empire	Britain	Londinium	286	296	10	Was a break-away state of the Roman Empire. See also the Carausian Revolt.
British Empire	United Kingdom	London	1603	Either surviving to Present or ended in 1997	417 as of 2020 or 394 as of 1997	The largest empire in world history. Precursor to the modern Commonwealth of Nations. Empire (though the word empire has fallen into disuse when describing British overseas possessions) still continues in the form of British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II remains as sovereign. Some consider the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997 as the end of the British Empire.[1]
British Raj	Indian Subcontinent	Calcutta (1858–1912), New Delhi (1912–1947)	1858	1947	89	Governed by the Crown and part of the British Empire. Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1876.
Bruneian Empire	Borneo	Not specified, possibly Kota Batu	1368	1888	520	Lasted until it became a British protectorate in 1888.
First Bulgarian Empire	Balkans	Pliska (680–893), Preslav (893–972), Skopie (972–992), Ohrid (992–1018)	680	1018	338	Founded by Khan Asparukh. Under Tsar Simeon I became the first powerful Slavic Empire. Falls to the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Basil II.
Second Bulgarian Empire	Balkans	Tarnovo	1185	1422	237	Successor of the First Bulgarian Empire. Under the Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II became the most powerful state in the Balkans.
Duchy of Burgundy	Western Europe	Dijon	1364	1477	113	Theorically vassal of France. Ruled a very large territory from Alps to North Sea.
Buyid dynasty	Persia	Shiraz	934	1055	121
Byzantine Empire	Eastern Roman Empire (Greece, Anatolia, Africa, Palestine, Syria, Italy)	Constantinople	284	1460	1176	The eastern half of the Roman Empire. Term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.
Caliphate of Córdoba	Iberian Peninsula	Córdoba	756	1031	275	See also Islamic Empire.
Cao Wei	China	Luoyang	220	265	45	See also Three Kingdoms.
Carthaginian Empire	North Africa	Carthage	814 BC	146 BC	504
Cebu Rajahnate	Philippines	Cebu City	1279	1565	286	An Indianized state founded by a minor Chola prince.
Chagatai Khanate	Transoxania	Almaliq, Qarshi	1225	1687	462	Division of the Mongol Empire.
Chalukya dynasty	India	Badami	543	753	210
Chauhan dynasty	Northern India	Delhi	800	1200	400
Chenla	Cambodia	Isanapura	550	802	252	Succeeded by the Khmer Empire.
Chera dynasty	South India	Vanchi Muthur, Karur, Kodungallur, Kollam.	400 BC	1729	2129	A Tamil (Later, Malayalam) dynasty which includes Early Cheras, Medieval Cheras, Kodungallur Cheras and Venadu Cheras.
Chola dynasty	South India	Uraiyur, Pazhaiyaarai, Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram	400 BC	1540	1940	A Tamil dynasty which includes Early Cholas, Medieval Cholas and Later Cholas till the reign of Virasekhara Chola (opponent of Nagama Nayak).
Commonwealth of England	British Isles	London	1649	1660	11	Short puritan and republican period in Britain. The Cromwell's army conquered Ireland and Jamaica.
Congo Free State	actual Congo-Kinshasa	Vivi then Boma	1885	1908	23	Private kingdom of Leopold II. Annexed by Belgium after the revelation of committed atrocities in rubber plantations.
Crimean Khanate	Black Sea	Bakhchysarai	1441	1783	342	One of the last Turkic kingdoms, annexed by Russia.
Dacian Empire	Romania	Sarmizegetusa Regia	168 BC	106	274	Reached its territorial expansion under King Burebista (82 BC – 44 BC) and also had the title of King of Kings.
Danish colonial empire	Denmark (as Denmark–Norway 1536 – 1814)	Copenhagen	1536	1953	417	See also Danish overseas colonies.
Delhi Sultanate	India	Delhi	1206	1527	321
Durrani Empire	Afghanistan	Kandahar, Kabul	1747	1823	75
Dutch Empire	Netherlands	Amsterdam	1568	1975	407	See also Dutch East India Company and Dutch West India Company.
Egyptian Empire	Egypt	Various, including Thebes, Akhetaten, Pi-Ramesses, Memphis	1550 BC	1077 BC	473	See also 18th Dynasty, 19th Dynasty & 20th Dynasty.
Elamite Empire	South West Iran	Susa	2800 BC	300 BC	2500
Ethiopian Empire	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	1137	1974	837
Fatimid Caliphate	Egypt	Mahdia (909–969), Cairo (969–1171)	909	1171	262	See also Islamic Empire.
First French Empire	France	Paris	1804	1814/1815	10
Second French Empire	France	Paris	1852	1870	18
French colonial empire	France	Paris	1534	Either surviving until Present or ended in 1980	486 as of 2020 or 446 as of 1980	Some consider the Empire ending with the end of French presence in Vanuatu (see New Hebrides) France still maintains overseas possessions in the form of Overseas France.
Frankish Empire	Western Europe	Various, including Soissons, Paris, Reims, Orléans, Metz & Aachen	250	950	700
Funan	Cambodia	Vyadhapura	50	550	500	Succeeded by the Chenla.
Gallic Empire	Rhineland-Palatinate	Colonia Agrippina	260	274	14	Broke off from the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Gaza Empire	Southern Africa	Not specified	1824	1895	71
Georgian Empire	Georgia	Kutaisi, Tbilisi	1008	1490	482	Established in 1008 as an unified kingdom. Georgian kings took title "King of Kings" and ruled over large territory consisting of Georgian, Armenian and Muslim areas, as well as numerous client states. Officially dissolved at 1490.
German Empire	Germany	Berlin	1871	1918	47	See also German colonial empire.
Ghana Empire	Mauritania, and Western Mali	Koumbi Saleh	300	1240	940	The empire became known in Europe and Arabia as the "Ghana Empire" by the title of its ruler (meaning "Warrior King"). Also known as Wagadou.
Ghaznavid dynasty	Afghanistan	Ghazni later Lahore	963	1187	224
Ghurid dynasty	Afghanistan	Firuzkuh	1148	1215	67
Goguryeo	Korea[2]	Jolbon, Gungnae City, Pyongyang	37 BC	668	705	Predecessor of Balhae and Goryeo.
Goryeo	Korea	Gaegyeong, Ganghwa	918	1392	474	Successor of Goguryeo. Unification of the Korean Peninsula. State maintained as an empire between 918 and 1274.
Gorkha Empire	Greater Nepal		1600	1850	250	Unification of Greater Nepal. State maintained as an empire between 1600 and 1840.
Göktürk Khaganate	Inner Asia	Ötüken	552	747	195	552–603 First empire, 603–658 Double empire, 658–681 Dark age, 681–747 Second empire.
Golden Horde	Central Asia	Sarai Batu	1240	1502	260	Break-away state of the Mongol Empire.
Empire of Great Fulo	Senegal	Tekrur	1514	1776	262
Great Moravian Empire	Central Europe	Mikulčice-Valy	833	900	67	The word "Moravia" did not refer only to present-day Moravia.
Great Seljuq Empire	Aral Sea, Asia Minor, Persia	Nishapur and later on Rey	1037	1194	157	Turkish empire, predecessor of the Sultanate of Rum.
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty	India	Kannauj	600	1136	660	Founded by great king of Gujjars.
Gupta Empire	India	Pataliputra	320	550	230	Founded by Sri Gupta.
Han dynasty	China	Chang'an, Luoyang, Xuchang	206 BC	220	426	Founded by Liu Bang the High Ancestor.
Hanseatic League	North and Baltic Sea	Lübeck	1356	1648	292	Alliance of German and Baltic merchant city-states.
Empire of Harsha	Northern India	Kannauj	606	647	41	Founded by Harshavardhana; collapsed after his death.
Hephthalite Empire	Afghanistan	Kabul	420	567	147
Hittite Empire	Anatolia	Hattusa	1460 BC	1180 BC	280	See also Syro-Hittite states.
Holy Roman Empire	Central Europe	Not specified	962	1806	844	Referred to simply as the Roman Empire (not to be confused with the actual Roman Empire) before 1157, when it became the Holy Empire. The Holy Roman Empire is attested from 1254. Was officially known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, although this designation had fallen out of use again by the 18th century. See Holy Roman Empire § Name.
Hotak dynasty	Persia	Isfahan	1709	1738	29
Hoysala Empire	India	Belur, Halebidu	1026	1343	317
Hunnic Empire	Eurasia	Not specified	370	469	99
Idrisid dynasty	Morocco	Fes	788	974	186	Founders of the first Moroccan state.
Ilkhanate	Persia	Maragheh, Tabriz, Soltaniyeh	1256	1335	79	Division of the Mongol Empire.
Kingdom of Judah (united monarchy)	Israel	Jerusalem	1050 BC	586 BC	486	Considers the Start of Saul's reign, through the dual kingdoms of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah, until the Babylonian conquest of Judah.
Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyo)	Andes (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, parts of Chile, Argentina and Colombia)	Cusco	1438	1533	95	The largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
Italian Empire	Italy	Rome	1885	1943	58	See also Italian imperialism under Fascism.
Empire of Japan	Japan	Tokyo	1868	1947	79	Emperor's government took control of the country in 1868. Regional hegemony in East Asia ended in 1945. The new constitution of 1947 formally abolished the empire.[3]
Jin dynasty (265–420)	China	Luoyang (265–311), Chang'an (312–316), Jiankang (317–420)	265	420	155	Subdivided into two dynasties. Western Jìn dynasty (265–316), Eastern Jìn dynasty (317–420).
Jin dynasty (1115–1234)	Northern China, Manchuria	Huining, Zhongdu, Kaifeng	1115	1234	119	Also known as the Jurchens, were the ancestors of the Manchus who established the Qing dynasty.
Jolof Empire	West Africa	Linguère	1350	1549	199	Also known as the Wollof Empire. Succeeded by the Kingdom of Jolof (1549–1875).
Kaabu Empire	West Africa	Kansala	1537	1867	330	Also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N’Gabu'.
Kalmar Union	Scandinavia	Roskilde then Copenhagen	1397	1523	126	Personal union of Denmark, Pomerania, Norway and Sweden.
Kanem Empire	Chad	Njimi	700	1387	687
Kanva dynasty	India	Pataliputra, Vidisha	75 BC	30 BC	45	Replaced the Shunga Empire.
Kara-Khanid Khanate	Turkistan	Kashgar	840	1212	372	First Turkic dynasty to embrace Islam.
Khazar Khaganate	Pontic steppe, North Caucasus	Balanjar, later Atil	700	1000	300	Founded by Western Turks, the members of the royal family embraced Judaism.
Khmer Empire	Cambodia	Hariharalaya (802–889), Angkor (889–1431)	802	1431	629	Succeeded from the kingdom of Chenla.
Khilji dynasty	Afghanistan	Kabul, Delhi	1290	1320	30
Khwarazmian dynasty	Persia	Urgench	1077	1221	144
Konbaung dynasty	Myanmar	Mandalay	1752	1885	133
Kong Empire	West Africa	Kong	1710	1898	298	Also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire.
Korean Empire	Korean Peninsula	Hanseong	1897	1910	13	Was the last ruling Korean dynasties.
Kushan Empire	Afghanistan	Various, including Mathura, Peshawar, Begram, Taxila	30	345	315
Kushite Empire	Egypt, Nubia	Not specified	760 BC	656 BC	104
Lakota people	Great Plains	Great winter camps	1700	1877	circa 177	Main Native power in North America until Black Hills annexation by United States.
Latin Empire	Thrace, Asia Minor	Constantinople	1204	1261	57	See also Latinokratia.
Later Lê dynasty	Vietnam	Đông Kinh	1428	1789	361
Liao dynasty	China	Shangjing	915	1125	210
Lodi Sultanate	Afghanistan	Delhi	1451	1526	75
Macedonian Empire	Macedonian Kingdom	Pella	334 BC	323 BC	11	Founded by Alexander the Great.
Madurai Nayak dynasty	South India	Madurai, Tiruchirappalli	1529	1736	207	Branched out from the Vijayanagara Empire by Viswanatha Nayak.
Majapahit Empire	Indonesian Archipelago	Majapahit, Wilwatikta	1293	1527	234	Founded by Raden Wijaya.
Mali Empire	West Africa	Niani, later Ka-ba	1235	1610	375	A Mandinka empire founded by Sundiata Keita.
Mamluk Sultanate	Egypt, Syria	Cairo	1250	1517	267	See also Islamic Empire.
Manchukuo	Manchuria	Hsinking	1932	1945	13	Created as a puppet state of the Japanese Empire, with Emperor Puyi (the last emperor of the Qing dynasty) installed as nominal regent and emperor.
Maratha Empire	India	Raigad, later Satara	1674	1818	144	Founded by Shivaji Maharaj, also known as the Maratha Confederacy.
Shatavahana Dynasty	India		3 BC	6 BC	300	Ruled by Semukha / Gouthamiputhra.
Marinid dynasty	Morocco	Fes	1244	1465	221
Massina Empire	West Africa	Hamdullahi	1820	1862	42
Mauryan Empire	Ancient India	Pataliputra	321 BC	185 BC	136	Founded by Chandragupta Maurya. The Mauryan Empire became the largest ever Indian empire under Ashoka.
Median Empire	Persia	Ecbatana	625 BC	549 BC	76	First Iranian empire, Founded by Deioces.
First Mexican Empire	Mexico	Mexico City	1821	1823	2	Preceded the Second Mexican Empire which was short lived (1864–1867). See also Mexican Imperial Orders.
Second Mexican Empire	Mexico	Mexico City	1864	1867	3	Succeeded the First Mexican Empire which was short lived (1821–1823). See also Mexican Imperial Orders.
Ming dynasty	China	Nanjing (1368–1421), Beijing (1421–1644)	1368	1644	276	Founded by Zhu Yuanzhang the Great Marshal.
Mitanni Empire	Syria, Iran, Iraq, Turkey	Washukanni	1500 BC	1300 BC	200
Mongol Empire	Mongolia	Karakorum	1206	1368	162	Split into four empires (Yuan dynasty, Ilkhanate, Chagatai Khanate and Golden Horde). Largest contiguous land empire.
Mughal Empire	India	Agra, Delhi	1526	1758	232	Founded by Babur. "Mughal" is a Persian word for the Mongols.
Nanda Empire	India	Pataliputra	450 BC	350 BC	100
Neo-Babylonian Empire	Mesopotamia	Babylon	626 BC	539 BC	87	See also Babylonia.
Nguyễn dynasty	Vietnam	Phú Xuân	1802	1945	143	Was the last ruling Vietnamese dynasty.
North Sea Empire	Denmark	Ribe	1016	1035	19	As one historian put it: "When the 11th century began its fourth decade, Canute was, with the single exception of the Emperor, the most imposing ruler in Latin Christendom. ... [H]e was lord of four important realms and the overlord of other kingdoms. Though technically Canute was counted among the kings, his position among his fellow-monarchs was truly imperial. Apparently he held in his hands the destinies of two great regions: the British Isles and the Scandinavian peninsulas. His fleet all but controlled two important seas, the North and the Baltic. He had built an Empire."[4]
Empire of Nicaea	Bithynia	Nicaea	1204	1261	57	Successor state of the Byzantine Empire.
Northern Yuan dynasty	Mongolia, North China	Shangdu, Yingchang, Karakorum	1368	1635	267	Created after the expulsion of the Yuan dynasty from China proper in 1368.
Omani Empire	Oman	Muscat	1698	1856	260	See Oman.
Ottoman Empire	Anatolia	Söğüt, Bursa, Edirne, İstanbul	1299	1922	623	Predecessor of the Republic of Turkey.
Oyo Empire	Southwestern Nigeria	Oyo-Ile	1400	1905	505
Pagan Empire	Myanmar	Bagan	849	1297	448
Pahlavi dynasty	Persia	Tehran	1925	1979	53	The last Imperial dynasty of the Persian Empire.
Pala Empire	India	Pataliputra	750	1174	424
Palmyrene Empire	Syria	Palmyra	270	273	3	Broke off from the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Pandya dynasty	South India	Madurai, Korkai, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli	400 BC	1759[5]	2159	A Tamil dynasty which includes Early Pandyas, First Empire, Second Empire and Later Pandyas of Tenkasi and Tirunelveli.
Parthian Empire	Persia	Various, including Asaak, Hecatompylos, Ecbatana, Ctesiphon, Nisa	247 BC	224	471	Third Iranian empire, Founded by Arsaces I.
Pontic Empire	Pontus	Amaseia, Sinope	120 BC	47 BC	73	Mithridates VI had the title: King of Kings.
Portuguese Empire	Portugal	Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro (1815–1821)	1415	1999	584	It was one of the first global empires and one of the longest lived of the colonial Western European empires. See also United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
Kingdom of Prussia	Germany	Berlin	1701	1871	170	Was a great power during the 18th century. Unificated Germany after the War of 1870 against France.
Ptolemaic Empire	Egypt	Alexandria	305 BC	30 BC	275	See also Diadochi.
Qajar dynasty	Persia	Tehran	1794	1925	131
Qin dynasty	China	Xianyang	221 BC	206 BC	15	First dynasty of the imperial period.
Qing dynasty	China	Shenyang, Beijing	1644	1912	268	Last dynasty of the imperial period.
Ramnad Sethupathis	India	Ramanathapuram	1590	1979	389
Rashidun Caliphate	Saudi Arabia	Medina, Kufa	632	661	29	Predecessor of the Umayyad Caliphate, See also Islamic Empire.
Rashtrakuta dynasty	India	Manyakheta	753	982	229
Roman Empire	Italy	Rome, Constantinople	27 BC	1453	1480	Together with The Roman Kingdom, The Roman Republic and the Byzantine Empire, direct Roman states lasted from 753 BC until 1453 AD, 2206 years.
Rouran Khaganate	Inner China	Not specified	330	555	225
Rozwi Empire	Southern Africa	Danangombe	1660	1866	206
Russian Empire (Romanov)	Russia	Saint Petersburg	1721	1917	196	Successor state of the Tsardom of Russia.
Saadi dynasty	Morocco	Marrakech	1554	1659	105	Destroyed the Songhai Empire.
Safavid dynasty	Persia	Tabriz, Qazvin, Esfahan	1501	1736	235
Saffarid dynasty	Persia	Zaranj	867	1002	135
Sassanid dynasty	Persia	Ctesiphon	224	651	427	Fourth Iranian Empire.
Satavahana dynasty	India	Amaravathi village, Guntur district Dharanikota	230 BC	220	450	An Andhra dynasty which preceded the Vengi dynasty of Andhra.
Samanid Empire	Persia	Balkh, Bukhara	819	999	180
Duchy of Savoy	Savoy	Chambéry then Turin	1416	1713	297	Theorically member state of Holy Roman Empire then vassal of France. Ruled a territory from Romandy to Nice.
Seleucid Empire	Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria	Seleucia, Antioch	312 BC	63 BC	249	See also Diadochi.
Serbian Empire	Balkans (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Albania)	Skopje, Prizren	1346	1371	25	Founded by Stephen Uroš IV (Dušan the Mighty), fell into feudal disarray after his death.
Shu Han	China	Chengdu	221	263	42	See also Three Kingdoms.
Siam Empire	Thailand	Bangkok	1782	1932	150
Sikh Empire	Punjab region, India	Amritsar	1733	1849	116	Preceded the British Empire in the Indian subcontinent.
Sokoto Caliphate	West Africa	Sokoto (1804–1850), (1851–1902), Gudu (1804), Birnin Konni (1850, 1903)	1804	1903	99
Song dynasty	China	Bianjing (960–1127), Lin'an (1127–1279)	960	1279	319	Founded by Zhao Kuangyin.
Songhai Empire	West Africa	Gao	1340	1591	251	Former vassal of the Mali Empire which became one of the largest African empires in history.
Spanish Empire	Iberian Peninsula	Madrid	1402	1975	483	Was founded with Columbus’s funding, by the Catholic monarchs of Castille and Aragon, to his first voyage (that would land in America).
Srivijaya Empire	Indonesian Archipelago	Palembang, Mataram	683	1293	610	It was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, then based on Mataram (Medang Kingdom) under Sailendra's dynasty.
Sui dynasty	China	Chang'an	581	618	37
Wadiyar dynasty (Kingdom of Mysore)	Mysuru, Karnataka	Yaduraya Wodeyar	(1399-2020)	1399	700
Shunga Empire	India	Pataliputra, Vidisa	185 BC	73 BC	112	Magadha dynasty that controlled North-central and Eastern India.
Swedish Empire	Sweden	Stockholm	1611	1721	110	See also Swedish overseas colonies.
Tahirid dynasty	Persia	Nishapur	821	873	52
Tang dynasty	China	Chang'an (618–904), Luoyang (904–907)	618	907	289	Founded By Li Yuan (aka. Emperor Gaozu of Tang).
Thanjavur Nayak dynasty	South India	Thanjavur	1532	1673	141	Founded by Sevappa Nayak.
Tây Sơn dynasty	Vietnam	Phú Xuân	1778	1802	24
Empire of Thessalonica	Epirus, Kingdom of Thessalonica	Thessaloniki	1224	1246	42	Evolved from the Despotate of Epirus.
Third Reich	Germany	Berlin, Hamburg (1933–1945), Flensburg (1945)	1933	1945	12	Nazi Germany signed a treaty (Tripartite Pact) with the Japanese and Italian Empire.
Tibetan Empire	Tibet	Lhasa	755	870	115
Tondo dynasty	Philippines	Tondo	900	1587	687
Timurid Empire	Uzbekistan, Persia and Central Asia	Samarkand, Herat	1370	1526	156	Persianized form of the Mongolian word kürügän, Turko-Mongol Empire.
Tlemcen	Algeria	Tlemcen	1235	1556	321	Zayyanid dynasty
Empire of Trebizond	Pontus	Trebizond	1204	1461	257	Successor state of the Byzantine Empire and a client state of the Kingdom of Georgia.
Toltec Empire	Mesoamerica	Tollan-Xicocotitlan	496	1122	626
Toungoo dynasty	Toungoo	Myanmar	1510	1752	242
Toucouleur Empire	West Africa	Ségou	1848	1893	45
Tu'i Tonga Empire	Tonga, Pacific Ocean	Mu'a	950	1865	915	See History of Tonga.
Turgesh Khaganate	Turkistan	Balasagun	699	766	67	Founded as a successor of West Turkish empire.
Umayyad Caliphate	Syria	Damascus, Córdoba (capital-in-exile)	661	750	89	Successor of the Rashidun Caliphate, See also Islamic Empire.
Uyunid Emirate	Arabian	Al-Hasa, Qatif	1076	1253	163	The Uyunids were a Sunni Arab dynasty that ruled Bahrain for 163 years, from the 11th to the 13th centuries.
Uyghur Khaganate	Central Asia	Ordubaliq	742	848	106	742–848 Founded as a successor of Göktürk Khaganate, 848–1036 Gansu state, 856–1209 Turfan state.
Vijayanagara Empire	Karnataka, India	Vijayanagara	1336	1646	310	A Kannada kingdown, where Gold use to be traded in streets, most richest kingdom in the world.
Republic of Venice	Mediterranean Sea	Venice	697	1797	1100	Mediterranean great power during Middle Ages.
Wari Empire	Peru, Bolivia	Huari/Tiwanaku	500	1100	600	It is a matter of conflict as to whether it was a real organized state that could be called an empire. If so, it would be considered the first empire in the Americas.
Wassoulou Empire	West Africa	Bissandugu	1878	1895	45	Also known as the Mandinka Empire.
Western Chalukya Empire	South India	Manyakheta, Basavakalyan	973	1189	216
Western Roman Empire	Italy	Mediolanum, Ravenna	395	476	81	The western half of the Roman Empire.
Eastern Wu	China	Wuchang, Jianye	229	280	51	See also Three Kingdoms.
Western Xia dynasty	China	Xingqing	1038	1227	189	Also called the Tangut dynasty.
Xin dynasty	China	Chang'an	9	23	14	The Xin dynasty had only one ruling emperor.
Yuan dynasty	China, Mongolia	Dadu	1271	1368	97	Division of the Mongol Empire. The Yuan emperors had nominal supremacy over western khanates.
Zand dynasty	Persia	Shiraz	1750	1794	44
Zhou dynasty	China	Fenghao, Wangcheng, Chengzhou	1046 BC	256 BC	794	Zenith of bronze age in China.
Zulu Empire	South Africa	KwaBulawayo, Ulundi	1818	1897	79

Possible and informal empires

These governments, confederations and other entities have sometimes been informally referred to as "empires". Some did not fit the modern definition of empire (e.g. the Delian League), some were self-proclaimed by their first and often last ruler, others were short-lived attempts to turn an existing government into an empire, and there are also instances of the word "empire" being used to refer to unofficial spheres of influence which do not consider themselves empires.

"Empire"	Origin	Capital	From	To	Duration	Note
American Empire	United States	Washington, D.C.	1776	Present	244	The concept of an American Empire was first popularized during the presidency of James K. Polk who led the United States into the Mexican–American War of 1846. In recent times the concept has been revived to refer to the sphere of influence of the United States by its critics.
Athenian Empire (Delian League)	Ancient Greece	Delos island	478 BC	404 BC	74	Also known as the Delian League. It was an association of Greek city-states.
Second Athenian League	Ancient Greece	Athens	378 BC	355 BC	23	Second Athenian League, headed by Athens primarily for self-defense against the growth of Sparta and the Persian Empire.
Central African Empire	Central African Republic	Bangui	1976	1979	3	President Jean-Bédel Bokassa declared himself Emperor Bokassa I in 1976. Along he proclaiming the empire as a constitutional monarchy. The Central African Empire was a hypothetical empire in Africa.
Empire of China	China	Beijing	1915	1916	1	Was a short-lived attempt by Yuan Shikai to reinstate the Imperial Monarchy.
First Empire of Haiti	Haiti	Port-au-Prince	1804	1806	2	First Haitian Empire, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared himself Emperor Jacques I.
Second Empire of Haiti	Haiti	Port-au-Prince	1849	1859	10	Second Haitian Empire, Faustin Soulouque is proclaimed Emperor Faustin I.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania	Lithuania	Vilnius	1200	1569	369	It was the largest state in Europe in the 15th century.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth	Poland, Lithuania	Kraków	1569	1795	226	It was formed by the Union of Lublin in 1569, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe, with some 390,000 square miles (1,000,000 km2) and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Roman Republic	Italy	Rome	509 BC	27 BC	482	Predecessor of the Roman Empire. Technically a Republic, had imperial holdings throughout its existence.
Kingdom of Romania	Romania	Bucharest	1920	1944	24	Following the post–World War I treaties that ratified its borders (the last one being the 1920 Treaty of Trianon), the newly-enlarged Romanian monarchy was rated by the Comintern as a multi-national imperial state that subjugated ethnic minorities.[12][13] Indeed, according to the 1930 Romanian census, just over 28% of Romania's inhabitants were not ethnic Romanians. Non-Romanians formed the majority in 14 out of Romania's 71 counties. In 11 Romanian counties, Romanians formed less than 40% of the population: Caliacra (22.6% Romanians), Cernăuți (21.8% Romanians), Cetatea Albă (18.5% Romanians), Ciuc (14.4% Romanians), Durostor (19% Romanians), Hotin (35% Romanians), Ismail (31.9% Romanians), Odorhei (4.9% Romanians), Storojineț (33.9% Romanians), Timiș-Torontal (37.6% Romanians) and Trei Scaune (16% Romanians). The issue of "Romanian imperialism" (as Romanian leading politician Iuliu Maniu put it) was further exacerbated by the 1941 creation of the Romanian Transnistria Governorate from parts of the Ukrainian SSR, under the rule of "Conducător" Ion Antonescu.[14] These new borders lasted until 1944. According to the 1941 Romanian census, 21 out of the now 73 Romanian counties were inhabited by a non-Romanian ethnic majority, including all of the 13 Transnistrian counties (the entire Transnistrian region was over 75% Ukrainian). Two of the 21 counties did have Romanian plurality (meaning that the Romanians were the largest ethnic group, but still less than half of the county population).
Soviet Empire	Soviet Union	Moscow	1922	1991	69	A political term for the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union used by its critics.

See also

• List of former sovereign states
• Fictional empires
• List of former monarchies
• List of former transcontinental countries
• List of medieval great powers
• List of largest empires
• Middle Eastern empires

References

1. Friends Of The British Overseas Territories
2. "Koguryŏ". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
3. "Chronological table 5 1 December 1946 – 23 June 1947". National Diet Library. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
4. Larson, Laurence M (1912). Canute the Great, 995(Circ)–1035, and the Rise of Danish Imperialism During the Viking Age. Putnam.
5. Sethuraman, N. (1993). The Later Pandyas (1371 - 1759 AD). Tiruchirapalli: The Epigraphical Society of India.
6. Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 554. ISBN 978-0-19-820171-7. Poland-Lithuania was another country which experienced its 'Golden Age' during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The realm of the last Jagiellons was absolutely the largest state in Europe.
7. Wandycz, Piotr Stefan (2001). The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present (2nd ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-25491-5. The multinational character of the Habsburg monarchy was comparable to that of the Commonwealth [...]
8. McKenna, Amy, ed. (2014). Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The Britannica Guide to Countries of the European Union. Chicago: Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-61530-991-7. Lithuania was also a powerful empire and dominated much of eastern Europe in the 14th–16th centuries in close alignment with Poland; then, from 1569, it was part of a confederation with Poland [...]
9. Lozny, Ludomir (2005). "Poland". In Skutsch, Carl (ed.). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. 3. New York [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 963. ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1. It was indeed an Eastern European empire, a multiethnic and multicultural state with great economic strength and strong military power, controlling most of central and eastern European politics.
10. Kupisz, Dariusz (2012). "The Polish-Lithuanian Army in the Reign of King Stefan Bathory (1576–1586)". In Davies, Brian L. (ed.). Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500–1800. History of Warfare. 72. Boston: Brill. p. 63. ISBN 978-90-04-22196-3. In terms of territorial expanse in Europe the Polish-Lithuanian state was surpassed only by Russia and the Ottoman Empire and in respect to population was behind only France, Spain, and the German Empire.
11. Davies, Brian L. (2011). Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Continuum Studies in Military History. London [u.a.]: Continuum. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4411-7004-0. Poland-Lithuania had entered the seventeenth century as one of the great powers in Eastern Europe.
12. van de Grift, Liesbeth (2012). Securing the Communist State: The Reconstruction of Coercive Institutions in the Soviet Zone of Germany and Romania, 1944–1948. The Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-7391-7178-3.
13. Fehér, Ferenc; Arato, Andrew, eds. (1991). Crisis and Reform in Eastern Europe. Transaction Publishers. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-88738-311-3.
14. Deletant, Dennis (2006). Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and his Regime, Romania 1940–1944. Springer. pp. 85, 267.

External links

• Pella, John & Erik Ringmar, History of International Relations Open Textbook Project, Cambridge: Open Book, forthcoming.