Convergent History

Ranking

Fastest-Growing Civilizations, by Population per Year of Existence

Dividing estimated peak population by total years active surfaces civilizations that reached scale quickly, relative to ones that grew slowly over a much longer span.

  1. # Civilization Region Dates Est. population ÷ years active
  2. 1 Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE 1333333.3
  3. 2 Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE 364963.5
  4. 3 Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE 217391.3
  5. 4 Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE 159090.9
  6. 5 Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE 140845.1
  7. 6 Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE 139165.0
  8. 7 Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE 126315.8
  9. 8 Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE 124481.3
  10. 9 Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE 64516.1
  11. 10 Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE 46838.4
  12. 11 Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE 26714.2
  13. 12 Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE 26490.1
  14. 13 Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE 16985.1
  15. 14 Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE 15384.6
  16. 15 Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE 9025.3
  17. 16 Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE 6342.5
  18. 17 Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE 5952.4
  19. 18 Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE 5016.7
  20. 19 Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE 4000.0
  21. 20 Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE 3205.1
  22. 21 Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE 3168.3
  23. 22 Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE 2863.7
  24. 23 Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE 2777.8
  25. 24 Indus Valley Civilization Indus River Basin, South Asia 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE 2500.0
  26. 25 Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE 2369.7
  27. 26 Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE 1612.9
  28. 27 Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE 1589.8
  29. 28 Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE 1047.9
  30. 29 Chimú Kingdom Northern coastal Peru 900 CE – 1470 CE 877.2
  31. 30 Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE 704.2
  32. 31 Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE 605.1
  33. 32 Mycenaean Greece Greek mainland and Aegean 1,600 BCE – 1,100 BCE 500.0
  34. 33 Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE 462.7
  35. 34 Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE 318.2
  36. 35 Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE 192.3
  37. 36 Minoan Civilization Crete, Aegean Sea 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE 157.9
  38. 37 Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE 78.3
  39. 38 Kingdom of Ebla Northern Syria 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE 28.6
  40. 39 Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE 27.8
  41. 40 Jomon Culture Japanese archipelago 14,000 BCE – 300 BCE 19.0