The scale of empire: territory, population, distribution

Abstract

Over the long run of history, changes in the geographical and demographic scale of empire add up to an evolutionary profile that casts light on the underlying driving forces. This chapter surveys these dynamics by exploring the spatial reach and duration of empires, their population size, and long-term variation between different parts of the world. It identifies the largest and most populous empires in world history, compares premodern agrarian and modern colonial empires, and links their properties to geographical and ecological conditions. It provides context for the following chapters and helps situate individual cases on a broad spectrum of historical outcomes.