Largest empires by the percentage of the global population

The largest empire was the Qing dynasty by the percentage of the population, which accounted for nearly 400 million of the globals’ ~1 billion people around the late 18th century – an extraordinary 37%. The empire controlled over the entirety of nowaday’s Mainland China (including Tibet), Hainan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Outer Manchuria, and Outer Northwest China.

Below top 20 of the largest empires by share of the world population

1. Qing dynasty (1800) – 37%
2. Northern Song Dynasty (1100) – 33%
3. Western Han Dynasty (1) – 32%
4. Mongol Empire (1290) – 31%
5. Roman Empire (1500) – 30%
6. Jin Dynasty (280) – 28%
7. Ming Dynasty (1600) – 28%
8. Qin Dinasty (220 BC) – 24%
9. Mughal Empire (1700) – 24%
10. Tang Dynasty (900) – 23%
11. Delhi Sultanate (1350) – 23%
12. British Empire (1938) – 23%
13. Empire of Japan (1943) – 20%
14. Maurya Empire (250 BC) – 19%
15. Former Qin (375) – 19%
16. Northern Zhou (580) – 16%
17. Macedonian Empire (320 BC) – 15%
18. Empire of Harsha (647) – 15%
19. Gupta Empire (450) – 13%
20. Northenr Wei (500) – 13%

The diagram illustrates the contrast between the British and Chinese Empires (1916)

Top 15 Empires by population (1600-1900)