Convergent History

Ranking

Largest Civilizations by Estimated Peak Population

Estimated population at each civilization's historical peak, drawn from commonly cited demographic estimates — inherently rougher the further back in time you go.

  1. # Civilization Region Dates Estimated peak population
  2. 1 Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE 70,000,000
  3. 2 Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE 60,000,000
  4. 3 Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE 60,000,000
  5. 4 Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE 50,000,000
  6. 5 Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE 50,000,000
  7. 6 Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE 35,000,000
  8. 7 Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE 30,000,000
  9. 8 Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE 20,000,000
  10. 9 Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE 20,000,000
  11. 10 Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE 12,000,000
  12. 11 Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE 10,000,000
  13. 12 Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE 8,000,000
  14. 13 Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE 8,000,000
  15. 14 Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE 6,000,000
  16. 15 Indus Valley Civilization Indus River Basin, South Asia 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE 5,000,000
  17. 16 Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE 5,000,000
  18. 17 Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE 5,000,000
  19. 18 Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE 4,000,000
  20. 19 Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE 3,000,000
  21. 20 Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE 2,500,000
  22. 21 Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE 2,000,000
  23. 22 Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE 1,600,000
  24. 23 Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE 1,500,000
  25. 24 Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE 1,000,000
  26. 25 Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE 1,000,000
  27. 26 Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE 1,000,000
  28. 27 Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE 1,000,000
  29. 28 Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE 700,000
  30. 29 Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE 500,000
  31. 30 Chimú Kingdom Northern coastal Peru 900 CE – 1470 CE 500,000
  32. 31 Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE 400,000
  33. 32 Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE 350,000
  34. 33 Minoan Civilization Crete, Aegean Sea 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE 300,000
  35. 34 Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE 300,000
  36. 35 Jomon Culture Japanese archipelago 14,000 BCE – 300 BCE 260,000
  37. 36 Mycenaean Greece Greek mainland and Aegean 1,600 BCE – 1,100 BCE 250,000
  38. 37 Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE 125,000
  39. 38 Kingdom of Ebla Northern Syria 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE 40,000
  40. 39 Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE 25,000
  41. 40 Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE 18,000