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I figured I'd make a section for empires where sources have been found for the maximum extent but with no year specified (meaning they can't be included in the list). My hope is that this will be helpful when people try to locate sources. Feel free to add entries of your own to the list below. TompaDompa (talk) 23:38, 3 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]
^Hart, Hornell (1948). "The Logistic Growth of Political Areas". Social Forces. 26 (4): 402. doi:10.2307/2571873. ISSN0037-7732. In the Mediterranean area the earliest historic governments which extended their territory by major use of fleets were the Greek and the Phoenecian, reaching areas of approximately 250,000 square miles each
^Alcock, Susan E.; D'Altroy, Terence N.; Morrison, Kathleen D.; Sinopoli, Carla M. (2001-08-09). Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History. Cambridge University Press. p. 85. ISBN978-0-521-77020-0. The total spatial extent of the empire, not including the north coast, I estimate to have been some 320,000 square kilometers.
I have read both sources, and you are mistaken. The figure for the year 440 is an estimate of the peak size; the same source gives a lower figure for the year 395. Look at the table on page 132 and the graph on page 118. TompaDompa (talk) 17:28, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Portuguese Empire?
I just want to understand one thing, I don't care which sources or how many are listed, can anyone for gods sake explain how is it possible that the TOTAL AREA of the Portuguese EMPIRE is smaller than the area of Brazil on its own, including that of colonial Brazil (which lacked the state of Acre but had Uruguay as part of its territory nonetheless). Oh, there is a source! Yes, I could find some "academic" who attests the earth is flat as well. How can this absurdity not get contested. It's blatant. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Morslyte (talk • contribs) 23:46, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
And what is the basis for the British Empire having 35 million square km? I've calculated all the modern area of both the Portuguese and Spanish Empire, as well as the Austrian Empire at peak, with addition of the Low Countries, half of Italy, the traditional lands of the Holy Roman Empire, my intended aim was to get a rough estimate of the control of Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor, which, at the time, those Empires were not even at their largest extension, however, if we were to consider all of the domains that once belonged to the Habsburger as of their largest extension possible across any point in history, the most I could come up with, greatly exaggerated as I'm aware you'll find, 27 million square km. So how exactly does the British Empire had 35 milion square km, obeying the same logic of which you mentioned, territory DE FACTO controlled not just de jure claimed. They didn't control all of Australia, their US colonies were mostly a strip of the east coast, Canada even a few tradeposts, and no longer held it at the time they had India, which, in itself, was not a part of the British Empire but rather a personal union, hence Queen Victoria was QUEEN but EMPRESS of India, but for the sake argument, let's suppose India is included, still, where are these 35 million square km on? I call this anglo bias. Morslyte (talk) 05:27, 12 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]