Abbasid Caliphate
empire · 750–1258 AD
The Abbasid Caliphate was the great Islamic empire centered on Baghdad that presided over the height of the Islamic Golden Age of science and learning.
Civilizations & Empires
The civilizations, empires, kingdoms, dynasties, schools and movements that shaped human history — each linked to its defining figures and periods.
Achaemenid Empire
empire · 550–330 BC
The Achaemenid Empire was the first Persian empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, which became the largest the ancient world had seen and pioneered tolerant imperial rule.
Al-Andalus
civilization · 711–1492 AD
Al-Andalus was Muslim-ruled medieval Iberia, a center of learning, philosophy and convivencia where the cultures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism met and where Averroes shaped European thought.
Ancient Egypt
civilization · c. 3100–30 BC
The civilization of ancient Egypt, ruled by pharaohs along the Nile, was one of history's most enduring and influential, renowned for monumental architecture, art and religion.
Ancient Greece
civilization · c. 1200–146 BC
Ancient Greece was a Mediterranean civilization of independent city-states whose achievements in philosophy, democracy, art and science form the foundation of Western culture.
Ancient Rome
civilization · 753 BC–476 AD
Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city on the Tiber into an empire spanning Europe, North Africa and the Near East, shaping law, language, engineering and governance.
Babylon
city-state · c. 1894–539 BC
Babylon was a great city and kingdom of ancient Mesopotamia, famed under Hammurabi for its law code and later for the legendary Hanging Gardens.
British Empire
empire · 16th–20th centuries
The British Empire was the largest empire in history, spanning a quarter of the globe at its height, whose industrial power, science and culture — and colonial domination — shaped the modern world.
Carthage
city-state · c. 814–146 BC
Carthage was a powerful Phoenician city-state in North Africa that dominated the western Mediterranean and fought Rome in the epic Punic Wars.
Dutch Republic
republic · 1581–1795
The Dutch Republic was a 17th-century maritime and commercial powerhouse whose Golden Age made it a world center of trade, science, art and religious tolerance despite its small size.
Frankish Empire
empire · 5th–9th centuries AD
The Frankish Empire, brought to its height by Charlemagne, united much of Western Europe and revived the idea of a Roman empire in the West, laying foundations for France and Germany.
Holy Roman Empire
empire · 962–1806 AD
The Holy Roman Empire was a complex political union of mostly German-speaking territories in central Europe that endured for a thousand years, claiming the mantle of ancient Rome.
Kingdom of England
kingdom · 927–1707
The Kingdom of England was a powerful European state whose Elizabethan golden age produced a flowering of literature and the beginnings of a global maritime empire.
Kingdom of France
kingdom · 987–1792
The Kingdom of France was for centuries one of the great powers of Europe, a center of culture, philosophy and royal absolutism whose crisis gave birth to the French Revolution.
Macedon
kingdom · c. 808–168 BC
Macedon was an ancient kingdom in northern Greece that, under Philip II and Alexander the Great, rose to dominate Greece and conquer the Persian Empire.
Maurya Empire
empire · 322–185 BC
The Maurya Empire was the first empire to unify most of the Indian subcontinent, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and brought to its zenith under the Buddhist emperor Ashoka.
Mongol Empire
empire · 1206–1368 AD
The Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan, was the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching from Korea to Eastern Europe at its height.
Mughal Empire
empire · 1526–1857
The Mughal Empire was a powerful early-modern Islamic empire that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, renowned for its wealth, religious synthesis and magnificent art and architecture such as the Taj Mahal.
Ottoman Empire
empire · 1299–1922
The Ottoman Empire was a vast Islamic empire spanning southeastern Europe, western Asia and North Africa for over six centuries, a dominant world power that bridged East and West from its capital at Constantinople.
Qin Dynasty
dynasty · 221–206 BC
The Qin dynasty was the first unified imperial dynasty of China, founded by Qin Shi Huang, which standardized the state and built the foundations of imperial China despite lasting only fifteen years.
Republic of Florence
republic · 1115–1569
The Republic of Florence was an Italian city-state that became the cradle of the Renaissance, its wealth and patronage fueling unparalleled achievements in art and learning.
Roman Empire
empire · 27 BC – 476 AD (West)
The Roman Empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in history, ruling the Mediterranean world for centuries and bequeathing law, language, engineering and political ideas to Western civilization.
Russian Empire
empire · 1721–1917
The Russian Empire was one of the largest empires in history, stretching across Eurasia from the Baltic to the Pacific, whose autocratic tsars, vast resources and rich culture made it a great power of the early modern and modern worlds.
Spanish Empire
empire · 1492–19th century
The Spanish Empire was one of the first global empires, built on the voyages of the Age of Exploration, which made Spain the dominant European power of the 16th century.
United States
republic · 1776–present
The United States is a federal republic founded in 1776 on Enlightenment ideals of liberty and self-government, which grew into one of the most powerful and influential nations in history.
Zhou Dynasty
dynasty · 1046–256 BC
The Zhou dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty in Chinese history, during whose later centuries the great philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism were born.