An empire (from the Latin "imperium", denoting military command within the ancient Roman government) is a state that extends dominion over populations distinct culturally and ethnically from the culture/ethnicity at the center of power. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Imperium in a broad sense translates as power. In Ancient Rome the concept applied to People, and meant something like "power Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Power in international relations is defined in several different ways Scholars still debate about what exactly constitutes an empire, and other definitions may emphasize economic or political factors.

Like other states, an empire maintains its political structure at least partly by coercion. Political structure is a term frequently used in Political science. Coercion (co-er-shion is the practice of compelling a person or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction by use of threats Land-based empires (such as the Mongol Empire or the Achaemenid Persia) tend to extend in a contiguous area; sea-borne empires, also known as thalassocracies (the Athenian, Portuguese and the British empires provide examples), may feature looser structures and more scattered territories. The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia In Topology and related branches of Mathematics, a connected space is a Topological space which cannot be represented as the disjoint union of This article is about the body of water For other uses see SEA and Seas. The term thalassocracy (from the θάλασσα meaning sea and κρατείν meaning "to rule" giving θαλασσοκρατία "rule of the sea" The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The Portuguese Empire was the earliest and longest lived of the modern European colonial empires spanning almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power.

Empires predate the Romans by several millennia: for example, the Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad was the earliest model of a far-flung, land-based empire, founded in the 24th century BC. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial You may be looking for the Assyrian kings Sargon I The New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, at one point in time another major force of the ancient Near East, was established as a loosely defined empire in the 15th century BC under Thutmose III by further invading and then incorporating Nubia and the ancient city-states of the Levant. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III and meaning Thoth is Born) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth This article is about the region in Africa for other uses see Nubia (disambiguation. A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the It is worth mentioning, however, that these early models of imperialism lacked effective and administrative control of their conquered territories. The earliest centrally organized empire, comparable to that of ancient Rome, was the Assyrian empire, which lasted roughly from 745 BC to 612 BC. The Neo-Assyrian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 609 BC Events and trends 747 BC — February 26 - Nabonassar becomes king of Babylonia. Events and trends 619 BC — Alyattes becomes king of Lydia. 619 BC — Death of Zhou xiang wang, King of the Zhou

Empire contrasts with the example of a federation, where a large or small multi-ethnic state - or even an ethnically homogeneous one — relies on mutual agreement amongst its component political units which retain a high degree of autonomy. A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal" Autonomy ( Greek: Auto- Nomos - nomos meaning "law" one who gives oneself his/her own Law) is the right to Self-government Additionally, one can compare physical empires with potentially more abstract or less formally structured hegemonies in which the sphere of influence of a single political unit (such as a city-state) dominates a culturally unified area politically or militarily. Hegemony (hɨˈdʒɛməni (Amer /hɨˈɡɛməni/ (Brit (ἡγεμονία hēgemonía) is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social A sphere of influence ( SOI) is an area or region over which an organization or state exerts some kind of indirect cultural economic military or political domination A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. A second side of this same coin shows in potentially inherent tactics of divide and conquer by different factions ("the enemy of my enemy is my friend") and central intervention for the greater whole's benefit.

Compare also the concept of superpowers and hyperpowers. A superpower is a State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to Influence events and project power on a worldwide scale A hyperpower or omnipower is a state that is militarily economically and technologically dominant on the world stage (Some commentators have seen the British Empire as a hyperpower,^[1][2] in its heyday as the largest empire in world history (covering about one quarter of the Earth's land surface) with established political, economical, financial, and scientific hegemony over the whole world). The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001

Ethnicities within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911: compare nation-state. For the online game see Jennifer Government NationStates. The nation-state is a certain form of State that derives its legitimacy

What constitutes an empire is subject to wide debate and varied definitions. An empire can be described as any state pursuing imperial policies, can be defined traditionally, or can be examined as a political structure. Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude For the use of structuralism in biology see Structuralism (biology Structuralism is an approach to the human sciences that attempts to analyze And in some cases the term "Empire" is also used when a ruler takes the title of "Emperor", even though the country involved has no other real reason to be considered an empire (for example, the short-lived "Central African Empire"). The Central African Empire (Empire Centrafricain was the name of the short-lived self-declared autocratic Monarchy that replaced the Central African Republic

Unlike a well-defined nation-state, a multi-ethnic or colonial empire may have no natural shared language. Given that languages form an important part of administrative and cultural policy, the choice and use of language in empires can have considerable significance.

The Macedonians spread Greek as the unifying language of their empire and of its successor-states, but many of their subject populations continued to use Aramaic (as used by the preceding Persian Empire) as a lingua franca. Aramaic is a Semitic language with A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely The Romans imposed Latin thoroughly in Western Continental Europe, but less successfully in Britain and in the East. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Arab Empire succeeded in developing a cultural unity based on language and religion which continues to unify the Middle East. Spanish became well ensconced in Mexico, but less so in Paraguay and in the Philippines. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The English language proved very successful in North America, but Russian did not supplant indigenous tongues in the Caucasus or in Central Asia. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south

Apart from the Mongol Empire (which never used a single administrative language), the administrative languages of the other six largest empires by land area in world history (the British, Russian, Spanish, Arab, Qing Chinese, and French) have also become the six official languages of the United Nations. The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The Spanish Empire (Imperio Español was one of the largest Empires in history and one of the first Global empires In the 15th and 16th centuries A caliphate (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa) is the political leadership of the Muslim community in classical and medieval Islamic history Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China France was a dominant empire in the world from the 1600s to the late 1960s possessing many colonies in various locations around the world The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security ^[3]

Examples of empire

The modern term "empire" derives from the Latin word imperium, this thus makes the most popular coined in what became possibly the most famous example of this sort of political structure, the Roman Empire. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Imperium in a broad sense translates as power. In Ancient Rome the concept applied to People, and meant something like "power The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial For many centuries, the term "Empire" in the West applied exclusively to states which considered themselves to be successors to the Roman Empire, such as the Byzantine Empire, the German Holy Roman Empire, or, later, the Russian Empire. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya However, this does not mean that these states were themselves "empires" in the technical sense. Drawing upon the Latin word imperium, these kingdoms claimed the title of "empire" directly from Rome. One entity often invoked as an example, the Holy Roman Empire, is claimed to be comprised exclusively of various Germanic states, all of whom were Christian, and who were led independently by local princes and in name only comprised a single state; thus the Holy Roman Empire was not always centrally controlled, did not comprise of a central "core" and periphery, was not multi-national or multi-ethnic, and was not dominated by a central elite (hence Voltaire's famous remark that the Holy Roman Empire "was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French "^[4] - of course, the above explanation fails to take into consideration the German-led Holy Roman Empire's rule over Italian, French, Provençal, Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and Bohemian populations, and the centralizing efforts of various Holy Roman Emperors (such as the Ottonians, in the late 10th century). The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024 named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin The "non-Empire" description of the Holy Roman Empire generally is only applicable to its late period - but many entities which have claimed Imperial status are no longer definitional empires by their declining stage.

In 1204, after troops of the Fourth Crusade had sacked Constantinople, the crusaders established a Latin Empire based on the city, while the descendants of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor established two smaller empires: the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond. The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople (original Latin name Imperium Romaniae, " Empire of Romania " is the Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Empire of Nicaea ( Greek: Βασίλειον τῆς Νίκαιας Turkish: İznik İmparatorluğu) was the largest of the Byzantine The Empire of Trebizond ( was a Byzantine Greek successor state of the Byzantine Empire founded in 1204 as a result of the capture of Constantinople These "empires" remained relatively small and proved short-lived; and the Ottoman Empire eventually conquered most of the region by 1453. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Only with Peter the Great's crowning in St. Petersburg as Emperor of Russia would Christian Eastern Imperialism resurface. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. Likewise, upon the fall of the Holy Roman Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian Empire, later reshaped as Austria-Hungary, inherited an imperial role in central/western Europe. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries.

Napoleon I and Napoleon III (See: Second Mexican Empire) each made attempts to establish Western Imperial hegemony based in France. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President The Second Mexican Empire was the name of Mexico under the regime established from 1864 to 1867 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Another heir to the Holy Roman Empire arose in the period of 1871–1918 in the form of the German Empire. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification Over time, other monarchies which viewed themselves as greater in size and power than mere kingdoms used the name or its translation. In 1056, King Ferdinand I of León, proclaimed himself "Emperor of Hispania", beginning the Reconquista. Ferdinand I, called the Great (in his time El Magno) (1017&ndash León, 1065 son of Sancho III of Navarre and Mayor of Castile The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period Bulgaria furnishes an early medieval example. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Europeans came to apply the term "empire" to large non-European monarchies, such as the Empire of China or the Mughal Empire, and to extend it to past polities. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most The word eventually came to apply loosely to any entity meeting the criteria, whether kings governed or not, even whether a monarchy or not. In some cases synonyms of empire such as tsardom, realm, reich or raj to occur. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. A realm (rɛlm is the dominion of a monarch king queen emperor empress or other sovereign ruler (ˈraɪk German ˈʁaɪç is a German Loanword cognate with the English Reign, Region, and Rich, but used most to designate Raj may refer to Jaskinia Raj, cave in Poland Ráj, village in the Czech Republic administratively part of Karviná

Empires can accrete around different types of state. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. They have traditionally originated as powerful monarchies under the rule of a hereditary (or in some cases, self-appointed) emperor, but the Athenian Empire, Rome, and Britain developed under elective auspices. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or The word leadership can refer to Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading An emperor (from the Latin " Imperator " is a (male Monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an Empire or another type of The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Brazil leapt from colonial to self-declared empire status in 1822. The Empire of Brazil was a political entity that comprised present-day Brazil under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and his son Pedro II. France has twice made the transition from republic to empire. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Even under its various Republics, France remained an empire under the definition used here, controlling numerous overseas colonies. To this day France continues to govern both a direct Empire (controlling colonies such as French Guyana, Martinique, Réunion, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia) and an informal one throughout "Francophone" Africa, from Chad to Rwanda. French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² Réunion ( French: Réunion or formally La Réunion; previously Île Bourbon) is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of French Polynesia ( French: Polynésie française, Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is a French Overseas collectivity in the For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. The adjective francophone (alternately Francophone) means French -speaking typically as primary language whether referring to individuals groups or places Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the

Historically empires could emerge as the result of a militarily strong state conquering other states and incorporating them into a larger political union. However a sufficiently strong state could gain Imperial hegemony through a minimum use of military action. The inability of a potential victim to resist and their knowledge of this being enough to convince them to attempt to negotiate inclusion into the empire on the best terms available. For example in antiquity there is the bequest of Pergamon by Attalus III to the Roman Empire, and in the 19th century the Unification of Germany into an empire around a Prussian metropole. Attalus III (in Greek Attalos III) Philometor Euergetes (ca 170 BC &ndash 133 BC was the last Attalid king of Pergamon, ruling from The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Prussian Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck managed to unify a number of independent Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The metropole, from the Greek Metropolis 'mother city' (polis being a city state hence also used for any colonizing 'mother country' in ecclesiastical languages an archbishopric having Military action in the case of Prussia was not so much to conquer the other German states but to divorce them from the alternative metropole of the Austrian Empire. For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. Having convinced the other states of her military prowess and excluded the Austrians, Prussia could dictate the terms in which the nominally independent German states could join what was initially a revamped customs union. Austrians (Österreicher are a nation and an ethnic group originating from the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states ( March of Austria, Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The Zollverein or German Customs Union was formed among the majority of the states of the German Confederation in 1834 during the Industrial Revolution In this way the German states could retain most of the trappings of a sovereign state, and Prussia could avoid a protracted war of conquest and consolidation. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself See also Insurgency In the context of an occupation or a Civil war, counter-insurgency (abbreviated COIN is a military term for the combat

Typically, a monarchy or an oligarchy rooted in the original core territory would continue to dominate this union. Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment Many ancient empires maintained control of their subject peoples by controlling the supply of a vital resource, usually water; historians refer to such régimes as "hydraulic empires". A hydraulic empire, also known as a hydraulic despotism or water monopoly empire, is a social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive The introduction of a common religion is often cited as strengthening empires, as occurred (pace Edward Gibbon) with the adoption of Christianity under Constantine I. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine

An empire can mutate into some other form of polity. Polity ( Greek: Πολιτεία or Πολίτευμα transliterated as Politeía or Políteuma) was originally a term used in Ancient Greece Thus the Bernese empire of conquest no longer appears as an empire at all; its territories have become absorbed into the canton of Bern or become cantons or parts of cantons elsewhere in the Swiss Confederation. The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal The Swiss Canton of Berne is Bilingual (Kanton Bern Canton de Berne and has a population of about 958000 Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Holy Roman Empire, itself in a sense an attempt at re-constitution of the Roman Empire, underwent many transformations in its long history, fissuring extensively, experimenting with federalism, eventually, under the Habsburgs, re-constituting itself as the Austrian Empire - vastly different in nature and in territory. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. The former British Empire has spawned a loose multi-national Commonwealth of Nations, and the old French colonial empire has also left traces of its existence in cultural networks and associations. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. France was a dominant empire in the world from the 1600s to the late 1960s possessing many colonies in various locations around the world The Soviet Empire leaves behind it the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The informal term " Soviet Empire " referred to the fact that the Soviet Union exerted a strong influence over a number of nations

An autocratic empire can readily become a republic by means of a coup (Brazil, 1889; Central African Empire, 1979); or it can become a republic with its dominions reduced to a core territory (Weimar Germany, 1918–1919; Ottoman Empire, 1918–1923). A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The Central African Empire (Empire Centrafricain was the name of the short-lived self-declared autocratic Monarchy that replaced the Central African Republic The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 provides an example of a multi-ethnic superstate fissuring into multiple constituent or new parts: the republics, kingdoms or provinces of Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czechoslovakia, Ruthenia, Galicia, etc. A superstate is an agglomeration of nations often linguistically and ethnically diverse under a single political-administrative structure Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past various The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria official (Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien mit dem Großherzogtum Krakau und den Herzogtümern Auschwitz und Zator official

While the greatest empire of the ancient Western world was governed from Rome, to the East a larger empire in scope and duration was established under the dynastic rule of China. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Also known as the Celestial Empire, its dominance lasted for about two thousand years. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The influence of imperial China was highlighted by its vast network of tributaries, which led to major offshoots of Chinese civilization such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially In addition, it played a vital role in the stability of the Silk Road, the ancient world’s most extensive trade route linking the East and the West. The Silk Road, or Silk Routes, are an extensive interconnected network of Trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East South and Western Asia with the The period of the East's greatest territorial expansion came under Genghis Khan, who built up the world's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire, in the early 13th century. Genghis Khan ( or;, Chinggis Khaan, ʧiŋgɪs χaːŋ Činggis Qaɣan; 1162–1227 born (meaning "ironworker" was the Mongol founder The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire From its capital in modern day Beijing, Kublai Khan (Genghis Khan's grandson), ruled much of the Eurasian land mass. Early years Kublai Khan studied Chinese culture and became enamoured of it

Other famous empires include the Arabian and Persian empire. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The Persians built several great empires at different periods, so the term Persian empire can seem ambiguous; both pre- and post-Islamic Persia had powerful empires. Some geographies appear to favour empire-building (Iran, Mesopotamia), while other areas seldom (Mongolia) or never (Iceland) achieve imperial overlordship.

The Macedonians established an extensive land empire under Alexander the Great. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Upon his death, this empire split into four separately run kingdoms under the Diadochi. The Diadochi (plural of Latin Diadochus, from Greek Διάδοχοι, Diadokhoi, "successors" were the rival successors The kingdoms themselves were independent, their territory is overall referred to as the Hellenistic empire, as all kingdoms shared similar influence from the Greeks and Macedonians.

Colonial empires

The discovery of the New World provided an opportunity for many European states to embark upon programs of imperialism on a model equal to the Roman and Carthaginian colonization. The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation. Under this model (previously tried in the Old World in the Canary Islands and in Ireland), subject states became de jure subordinate to the imperial state, rather than de facto as in earlier empires. The Canary Islands ( English pronunciation kəˈnæriː ˈaɪləndz Spanish: Islas Canarias, ˈizlas kaˈnarjas are a Spanish Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world This led to a good deal of resentment in the client states, and therefore probably to the demise of this system by the early- to mid-twentieth century.

The 19th century saw the birth or strength of many European colonial empires, all of them dismembered by the 20th century.

One problem with the European imperial model came from arbitrary boundaries. In the interest of expediency, an imperial power tended to carve out a client state based solely on convenience of geography, while ignoring extreme cultural differences in the resulting area. An example of the attendant problems occurred in the Indian sub-continent. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Formerly part of the British Empire, when the sub-continent gained its independence it split along cultural/religious lines, producing modern India and the two-part country of Pakistan, which later split yet again resulting in the independence of Bangladesh. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially ^[5][6][7] In other areas, like Africa, those borders still shape present days countries, and the African Union made its explicit policy to preserve them in order to avoid war and political instability. The African Union (abbreviated AU in English, and UA in its other working languages is a Confederation consisting of 53  African

Modern empires

The concept of "empire" in the modern world, while still present politically, has begun to lose cohesion semantically. The only remaining country nominally ruled by an Emperor, Japan, comprises a constitutional monarchy with a population of approximately 97% ethnic Japanese. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is ^[8] Just as absolute monarchies (as opposed to constitutional monarchies) have largely fallen out of favour in modern times, the term "empire" itself may now become somewhat of an anachronism. Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything An anachronism (from the Greek "ana" " ανά " "against anti-" and "chronos" " χρόνος " In the absence of government policies with stated imperial aims, popular and theoretical definitions of imperialism have arisen based upon notions of cultural or economic hegemony and/or Leninist ideas of global capitalism as imperialism. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude Cultural hegemony is a Concept coined by Marxist Philosopher Antonio Gramsci. Monetary Hegemony is an Economic and Political phenomenon in which a single State has decisive influence over the functions of the International Hegemony (hɨˈdʒɛməni (Amer /hɨˈɡɛməni/ (Brit (ἡγεμονία hēgemonía) is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude One example popular in the modern world is the concept of "economic empire". Just as old empires laid siege to castles, these days "economic sanctions" are used to isolate less than obedient countries to conform to world standards.

The former Soviet Union had many of the criteria of an empire, but nevertheless did not claim to be one, nor was it ruled by a traditional hereditary "emperor" (see Soviet Empire). The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The informal term " Soviet Empire " referred to the fact that the Soviet Union exerted a strong influence over a number of nations Nevertheless, historians still occasionally classify it as an empire, if only because of its similarities to empires of the past and its sway over a large multi-ethnic bloc of Eurasia. For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The use of the term American Empire has invited controversy within the United States. American Empire is a term referring to the political economic military and cultural influence of the United States. Stuart Creighton Miller argues that the American public’s sense of innocence prohibits the framing of American power in terms of an empire. To that end, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that "we [the United States] don't seek empires. Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9 1932 is a United States Businessman, Politician, the 13th Secretary of Defense under President We're not imperialistic. We never have been. "^[9]

Historian Sidney Lens argues that the United States, from the time it gained its own independence, has used every available means to dominate other nations. Sidney Lens (1912 - 1986 was an American journalist and author best known for his book The Day Before Doomsday, which warns of the prospect of nuclear annihilation Proponents of the empire view point to the over 700 American military bases worldwide as of 2005^[10] and the use of bombing campaigns (against 22 countries since the Second World War^{[11] [12]}) by the US Air Force to further American objectives. They also argue that the American Empire routinely relies on "governing surrogates", namely, governments which would collapse without American support. American Empire is a term referring to the political economic military and cultural influence of the United States. Another point of contention raised by the supporters of the “empire via surrogates” argument is that the US government publicly announces progress benchmarks for the governments of countries such as Iraq and the Government Accountability Office in Washington DC issues score cards which measure progress against the benchmarks - an activity that would normally not be tolerated by an independent country. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The Government Accountability Office ( GAO) is the Audit, Evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D ^[13]

Most modern multi-ethnic states see themselves as voluntary federations (Belgium) or as unions (United Kingdom), and not as empires. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Most have democratic structures, and operate under systems which share power through multiple levels of government that differentiate between areas of federal and provincial/state jurisdiction. Power is a measure of a person's ability to control the environment around them including the behavior of other people Where separatist groups exist, internal and external observers may disagree on whether state action against them represents legitimate law-enforcement against a violent or non-violent fringe group, or state violence to control a broadly unwilling population. Riot control refers to the measures used by police military or other forces to control, disperse and arrest civilians that are involved in a Riot, demonstration Notable states with ongoing violence by and against separatists are China, Russia, Spain, Indonesia and India. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

After its origins as a Western European trade bloc, the Post-Cold War era European Union has since issued its own currency ^[14], formed its own military ^[15], and exercised its hegemony in Eastern European Nations and abroad. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' A trade bloc is a large Free trade area formed by one or more Tax tariff and trade agreements The Post-Cold War era began immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union and according to differing accounts ended on September 11 2001 or is still The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in ^{[16][17][18][19]} . As a consequence, political scientist, Jan Zielonka, has argued that the EU has transformed itself into an empire by coercing its neighbours into adopting economic, legal and political patterns in its own image^[20]

References

Bibliography

• Gilpin, Robert War and Change in World Politics pp. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King 110-116
• Johan Galtung (1996), <http://www.transcend.org/galt.htm]: The Decline and Fall of Empires: A Theory of De-Development>. Retrieved on 2008-01-06  Written for the United Nations Research Institute on Development, UNRISD, Geneva. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King

External links

• Britannica Article on the Holy Roman Empire at the University of Houston
• To Rule the Earth...: List of Great Empires
• Empire A link to Hardt and Negri's book.
• Index of Colonies and Possessions
• (Italian) (English) On american neoimperialism: Harvey, Arrighi, ecc.

See also

• List of empires
• List of largest empires
• List of extinct countries, empires, etc.
• Global empire
• Imperialism
• Colonialism