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Planetary Historical Sovereign Registry

Empires & Sovereign States

From ancient Sumerian city-states and Egypt to Rome, the Pax Mongolica, dynastic China, and global colonial realms, explore the territorial boundaries, administrative centers, and civilizational achievements of humanity’s historical sovereign polities.

Polities Indexed
1,612 Polities
Across 5 Continents
Largest Land Realm
24.0M km²
Mongol Empire
Largest Maritime Realm
35.5M km²
British Empire (1921)
Vector Attribution
Cliopatria
13,800+ dated border shapes · CC BY 4.0
Showing 60 of 60 superpowers
Epoch:
Early Middle Ages1.4M km²

Pala Empire

The Pāla Empire was an early medieval Indian empire ruled by the Pāla dynasty.

Active Epoch:
750 CE – 1168 CE
Imperial Capital:
Mahipal, MurshidabadVarious,
Government:
High & Late Middle Ages1.3M km²

Mamluk Dynasty

Mamluk Dynasty is mapped in the atlas for 1210 CE – 1293 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 1,344,819 km².

Active Epoch:
1210 CE – 1293 CE
Imperial Capital:
Delhi
Government:
Industrial Era1.3M km²

New Granada

New Granada is mapped in the atlas for 1811 CE – 1821 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 1,341,011 km².

Active Epoch:
1811 CE – 1821 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.3M km²

Kingdom of the Franks

The Kingdom of the Franks, also known as the Frankish Kingdom or Francia, was the largest post-Roman kingdom in Western Europe.

Active Epoch:
462 CE – 849 CE
Imperial Capital:
Aachen
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.3M km²

Carolingian Empire

The Kingdom of the Franks, also known as the Frankish Kingdom or Francia, was the largest post-Roman kingdom in Western Europe.

Active Epoch:
718 CE – 989 CE
Imperial Capital:
Aachen
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.3M km²

Kara-Khanids

The Kara-Khanid Khanate, also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids, was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century.

Active Epoch:
850 CE – 1045 CE
Imperial Capital:
Balasagun
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.3M km²

Han

大漢 (Dà Hàn)

The golden age of classical Chinese civilization, founding the imperial civil service, inventing paper, and establishing the trans-Eurasian Silk Road.

Active Epoch:
202 BCE – 9 CE
Imperial Capital:
Chang'an
Government:
Bureaucratic Imperial Monarchy (Confucian Legalism)
Early Middle Ages1.3M km²

Buyid Dynasty

The Buyid dynasty or Buyid Empire was a Zaydi and later Twelver Shi'a dynasty of Daylamite origin.

Active Epoch:
936 CE – 1055 CE
Imperial Capital:
Shiraz,
Government:
Industrial Era1.3M km²

Second French Empire

Empire colonial français

The second largest colonial empire of the 19th and 20th centuries, spanning 11.5 million km² across West and Equatorial Africa, Indochina, and the Maghreb.

Active Epoch:
1534 CE – 1980 CE
Imperial Capital:
Paris
Government:
Constitutional Republic / Imperial Monarchy (Napoleonic)
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.3M km²

Kingdom of Spain

Monarquía Hispánica / Imperio Español

The pioneering global maritime empire where the sun never set, connecting Europe, the Americas, and the Philippines across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Active Epoch:
1492 CE – 1898 CE
Imperial Capital:
Madrid
Government:
Composite Monarchy / Catholic Imperial Crown
High & Late Middle Ages1.3M km²

Kalmar Union

The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark.

Active Epoch:
1402 CE – 1525 CE
Imperial Capital:
Oslo
Government:
Industrial Era1.3M km²

Republic of Chad

Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa.

Active Epoch:
1961 CE – 2024 CE
Imperial Capital:
N'Djamena
Government:
Industrial Era1.3M km²

Ethiopia

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa.

Active Epoch:
1942 CE – 2024 CE
Imperial Capital:
Addis Ababa
Government:
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.3M km²

Sur Empire

The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram serving as its capital.

Active Epoch:
1540 CE – 1594 CE
Imperial Capital:
Sasaram Delhi
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

First French Empire

Empire colonial français

The second largest colonial empire of the 19th and 20th centuries, spanning 11.5 million km² across West and Equatorial Africa, Indochina, and the Maghreb.

Active Epoch:
1534 CE – 1980 CE
Imperial Capital:
Paris
Government:
Constitutional Republic / Imperial Monarchy (Napoleonic)
Classical Antiquity1.2M km²

Eastern Kushans

The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the early 1st century CE.

Active Epoch:
238 CE – 346 CE
Imperial Capital:
1st Century BCE: Kapisa/Pushkalavati;, from 1st century CE: Purushapura/Mathura, 3rd and 4th centuries CE: Taxila
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

Granadine Confederation

The Granadine Confederation was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada.

Active Epoch:
1859 CE – 1862 CE
Imperial Capital:
Santafé de Bogotá
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

United States of Colombia

The United States of Colombia was the name adopted in 1863 by the Constitución de Rionegro for the Granadine Confederation, after years of civil war.

Active Epoch:
1863 CE – 1865 CE
Imperial Capital:
Bogotá
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

Republic of Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country located in South America, with insular regions in North America.

Active Epoch:
1866 CE – 2024 CE
Imperial Capital:
Bogotá
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.2M km²

Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus', was the first East Slavic state and, later, an amalgam of principalities, in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.

Active Epoch:
882 CE – 1240 CE
Imperial Capital:
Kiev
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

United Arab Republic

The United Arab Republic was a country and sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971.

Active Epoch:
1958 CE – 1972 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cairo
Government:
Industrial Era1.2M km²

British Gold Coast

The Colony of the Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence as Ghana in 1957.

Active Epoch:
1873 CE – 1960 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cape Coast
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.2M km²

West Franks

In medieval historiography, West Francia or the Kingdom of the West Franks constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the Treaty of Verdun in 843 to 987, the beginning of the Capetian dynasty.

Active Epoch:
850 CE – 989 CE
Imperial Capital:
Laon
Government:
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.2M km²

House of Oldenburg

The House of Oldenburg is a German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Livonia, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg.

Active Epoch:
1450 CE – 1458 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.2M km²

Northern Wei

Wei, known in historiography as the Northern Wei, Tuoba Wei, Yuan Wei and Later Wei, was an imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei.

Active Epoch:
387 CE – 533 CE
Imperial Capital:
Shengle
Government:
High & Late Middle Ages1.2M km²

Zengid dynasty

The Zengid dynasty was a Turkoman Sunni Muslim dynasty in the Middle East.

Active Epoch:
1139 CE – 1259 CE
Imperial Capital:
Multiple bases: Mosul
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.2M km²

Shunga Empire

The Shunga Empire was a ruling entity centred around Magadha and controlled most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 75 BCE.

Active Epoch:
170 BCE – 67 BCE
Imperial Capital:
Pataliputra
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.2M km²

Kanva Dynasty

The Kanva dynasty or Kanvavamsha was a ruling dynasty of Magadha, established after Vasudeva Kanva overthrew the preceding Shunga dynasty and ruled from 73 BCE to 28 BCE.

Active Epoch:
66 BCE – 28 BCE
Imperial Capital:
Pataliputra and Besnagara
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.1M km²

Rashtrakuta Dynasty

The Rashtrakuta Empire was an early medieval Indian empire ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries.

Active Epoch:
755 CE – 989 CE
Imperial Capital:
Manyakheta
Government:
High & Late Middle Ages1.1M km²

Ethiopian Empire

The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a country that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Active Epoch:
1272 CE – 1935 CE
Imperial Capital:
None
Government:
Industrial Era1.1M km²

Emirate of Nejd

The second Saudi state, officially known as the Emirate of Najd, was a state that existed between 1824 and 1891 in the Najd region of what is now Saudi Arabia.

Active Epoch:
1824 CE – 1925 CE
Imperial Capital:
Riyadh
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.1M km²

Hamdanid Emirates

The Hamdanid dynasty was a Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled Upper Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004).

Active Epoch:
936 CE – 1259 CE
Imperial Capital:
Mardin
Government:
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.1M km²

East Turkestan

East Turkestan or East Turkistan is a loosely defined geographical region in the northwestern part of the People's Republic of China, on the cross roads of East and Central Asia.

Active Epoch:
1463 CE – 1474 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.1M km²

Harsha's Empire

Harshavardhana was the emperor of Kannauj from April 606 until his death in 647.

Active Epoch:
612 CE – 655 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.1M km²

House of Jagiellon

The Jagiellonian dynasty, also known as the House of Jagiellon or simply the Jagiellons, was a Polish cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids.

Active Epoch:
1450 CE – 1571 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Industrial Era1.1M km²

Mauritania

Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of West Africa.

Active Epoch:
1961 CE – 2024 CE
Imperial Capital:
Nouakchott
Government:
Classical Antiquity1.0M km²

Palmyrene Empire

The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century.

Active Epoch:
261 CE – 269 CE
Imperial Capital:
Palmyra
Government:
High & Late Middle Ages1.0M km²

Polish-Lithuania Kingdom

The Jagiellonian dynasty, also known as the House of Jagiellon or simply the Jagiellons, was a Polish cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids.

Active Epoch:
1395 CE – 1449 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Early Modern & Age of Discovery1.0M km²

Swedish Empire

Swedish Empire is mapped in the atlas for 1612 CE – 1814 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 1,024,796 km².

Active Epoch:
1612 CE – 1814 CE
Imperial Capital:
Stockholm
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.0M km²

Avar Khaganate

The Pannonian Avars or Carpathian Avars were a confederation of Eurasian nomads.

Active Epoch:
561 CE – 805 CE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Early Middle Ages1.0M km²

Chen Dynasty

The Chen dynasty, alternatively known as the Southern Chen in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period.

Active Epoch:
561 CE – 591 CE
Imperial Capital:
Jiankang
Government:
Industrial Era1.0M km²

Republic of Egypt

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula.

Active Epoch:
1953 CE – 1957 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cairo
Government:
Industrial Era1.0M km²

Arab Republic of Egypt

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula.

Active Epoch:
1973 CE – 2024 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cairo
Government:
Bronze & Iron Age Civilizations1.0M km²

Spring and Autumn States

The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou, characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy.

Active Epoch:
750 BCE – 481 BCE
Imperial Capital:
Government:
Industrial Era1.0M km²

Kingdom of Egypt

Kingdom of Egypt is mapped in the atlas for 1922 CE – 1952 CE, with a peak mapped extent of about 1,007,437 km².

Active Epoch:
1922 CE – 1952 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cairo
Government:
Industrial Era1.0M km²

Kingdom of Great Britain

The British Empire

The largest empire in human history by total land area, governing over 450 million subjects across all six inhabited continents as "the empire on which the sun never sets."

Active Epoch:
1607 CE – 1997 CE
Imperial Capital:
London
Government:
Constitutional Monarchy / Parliamentary Empire
High & Late Middle Ages1.0M km²

Majapahit

Wilwatikta (ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀)

The greatest maritime thalassocracy of the Indonesian archipelago, uniting over 98 tributary states across Nusantara through Prime Minister Gajah Mada’s Palapa Oath.

Active Epoch:
1293 CE – 1527 CE
Imperial Capital:
Trowulan
Government:
Mandala Thalassocratic Maritime Empire
Industrial Era984,999 km²

First Spanish Republic

The Spanish Republic, historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic, was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874.

Active Epoch:
1873 CE – 1876 CE
Imperial Capital:
Madrid
Government:
High & Late Middle Ages984,464 km²

Eastern Kara-Khanids

The Kara-Khanid Khanate, also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids, was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century.

Active Epoch:
1046 CE – 1138 CE
Imperial Capital:
Balasagun
Government:
Industrial Era974,190 km²

British Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope.

Active Epoch:
1796 CE – 1884 CE
Imperial Capital:
Cape Town
Government: