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There are two favorites in this controversial dispute: in extension, the British Empire; in duration, Chinese. But this is the kind of question that historians avoid answering without posing several caveats. For them, an empire has neither borders nor duration, as their permanent expansion effort makes it impossible to draw precise dividing lines. “But, to try to give an approximate answer, the British Empire, between the middle of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century, had the greatest territorial extension”, says historian Maurício Broinizi Pereira, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). At that time, it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, as it had territories on five continents, including large countries such as Australia, Canada and India. At their height, the British commanded an area equivalent to almost a quarter of the planet!
But this domination lasted relatively little time compared to an empire that began two millennia before Christ and lasted until the 20th century: the Chinese Empire. “It lasted for approximately 36 centuries, so it would have been the longest. But it is important to point out that it is difficult to apply the same concept of empire to different cases, just as there are differences in terms of duration and scope”, says Maurício.