The Portuguese Empire reached 4 million square miles at its height in 1815.
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The Abbasid Caliphate covered 4.29 million square miles at its height in 850.
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The French Colonial Empire covered 5 million square miles at its peak in 1938.
Yuan Dynasty, the first dynasty to rule all of China, extended 5.4 million square miles at its peak in 1310.
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Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China, controlled 5.68 million square miles at its greatest point in 1790.
The Umayyad Caliphate grew to 5.79 million square miles at its height in the 7th century.
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The Spanish Empire governed 13% of the world's land–7.5 million square miles–at its height in the mid-18th century.
The Russian Empire spanned 8.8 million square miles during its peak in 1866.
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The Mongol Empire reached from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, spanning 9.3 million square miles at its height in 1279.
The British Empire stretched over 13 million square miles across several continents—23 percent of the world's land—at its height in 1922, whence comes the phrase: "The sun never sets on the British Empire."
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At the heart of every empire this was a great city.