历史上最强大的国家是哪个? [美国媒体]

What were the most powerful countries throughout history?

历史上最强大的国家是哪个?



Yvan Testu, reads "Foreign Affairs" magazine 读《外交事务》杂志
To speak of a Country throughout History is an anachronism since only Empires existed throughout History

在“历史上的国家”说法是不合时宜的，因为历史上只有帝国存在。

The concept of country ( Nation state ) started to be implemented during the second half of the XIX century with a high production of countries with the dissolution of the German, Austro Hungarian and Ottoman empires

国家(民族国家)的概念在19世纪后半期才开始产生，在德国、南奥匈帝国和奥斯曼帝国的瓦解下，国家的大量产生。

An another round after WW II created nations in Africa and in Indochina with the dissolution of the french and the british empires and finally in Central Asia with the dissolution of USSR.

二战后的另一轮，法国和大英帝国解体后，在非洲和印度支那建立了许多国家，最后是苏联解体后中亚诞生了很多国家。

So empires can be ranked by their overreach List of largest empires or by the infrastructure they left

帝国可以用最大帝国的继承人名单，或者他们离开的基础设施来归类



My favorite is extremely overlooked

我的最爱被忽视了

The (First) Persian Empire

波斯第一帝国

The Achaemenid Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C.E., who went by the title of King of Kings (Shahanshah). Although the Persian Empire came to an inglorious end at the hands of Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.E., it had a lasting legacy on the subsequent development of world civilizations and future empires. Indeed, the Persian Empire was a pivotal empire because it was the first true empire that set the standard of what it meant to be an empire for future ones.

阿契曼尼波斯帝国是由塞勒斯大帝于公元前550年左右建立的。他的名号是“王中之王”(Shahanshah)。尽管波斯帝国在公元前330年的亚历山大大帝的统治下出现了一个不太好的结局。它对后来的世界文明和未来帝国的发展有着持久的影响。事实上，波斯帝国是一个关键的帝国因为它是第一个真正的帝国它为未来的帝国设定了一个帝国的标准。

The Persian Empire existed at a unique time in history, when most of the oikumene, or civilized, settled, populated world was concentrated in or near the Middle East. As a result, the Persian Empire, which dominated most of the Middle East, ruled over a greater percentage of the world’s population than any other empire in history. Indeed, in 480 B.C.E., the empire had a population of approximately 49.4 million people, which was 44 percent of the global population at that time. The Persian Empire was the first empire to connect multiple world regions, including the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, India, Europe, and the Mediterranean world. It jumpstarted the concept of empires in places like Greece and India.

波斯帝国存在于历史上一个独特的时期，当时的大多数国家，或文明的，定居的，人口密集的世界都集中在中东或中东附近。因此，统治中东大部分地区的波斯帝国统治着世界人口的比例超过了历史上任何一个帝国。事实上,公元前480年帝国拥有大约4940万人口，占当时全球人口的44%。波斯帝国是第一个连接多个世界区域的帝国，包括中东、北非、中亚、印度、欧洲和地中海世界。它在希腊和印度等地开启了帝国的概念。

Such a large empire could only have been put together by military might, and the Persian Empire’s military achievements were significant, though they are often forgotten by its sudden demise at the hands of Alexander’s armies. Various Persian campaigns succeeded at subjugating most of the world’s advanced civilizations at the time including the Babylonians, Lydians, Egyptians, and the northwestern Hindu region of Gandhara, in today’s Pakistan. It should not be forgotten that, notwithstanding exaggeration and misinterpretation, the Persians believed that they achieved their goals in Greece and that more Greeks lived in the empire than not. The Persian Empire ushered in a period of harmony and peace in the Middle East for two hundred years, a feat that has seldom been replicated.

这样一个庞大的帝国只能由军事力量联合起来，波斯帝国的军事成就也很重要，尽管他们常常因为被亚历山大军队的突然灭亡而被遗忘。许多波斯战役成功地征服了当时世界上最先进的文明包括巴比伦人，吕底亚人，埃及人，以及印度西北部的犍陀罗地区，在今天的巴基斯坦。不可忘记的是，尽管有些夸张和误解，波斯人相信他们在希腊实现了他们的目标，而更多的希腊人生活在帝国中。波斯帝国在中东迎来了长达200年的和谐与和平时期，这一壮举很少被复制。

The Persian Empire’s legacy to the world in terms of imperial ideas include the use of a network of roads, a postal system, a single language for administration (Imperial Aramaic), autonomy for various ethnicities, and a bureaucracy. The Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, influenced the development of key concepts like free will and heaven and hell in Abrahamic religions through Judaism.

波斯帝国在帝国思想方面给世界留下的遗产包括:包括使用道路网络，邮政系统，单一语言管理，以及不同种族的自治权，以及官僚制度。波斯宗教，拜火教，通过犹太教，影响了自由意志、天堂和地狱等关键概念的发展。

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Christopher Gilmore, Undergraduate in History, lifelong history buff    历史本科生，终生历史爱好者

21st century - United States, People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Republic of India, Republic of France (Iran, Pakistan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and others are up and comers)

21世纪的美国、中华人民共和国、俄罗斯联邦、英国、印度共和国、法国共和国(伊朗、巴基斯坦、以色列、沙特阿拉伯等国)

Late 20th century - United States, Soviet unx, United Kingdom, Republic of France, People’s Republic of China

20世纪末，美国，苏联，英国，法兰西共和国，中华人民共和国

Early 20th century - United Kingdom, Germany (both the Kaiserreich and Third Reich), United States, Republic of France, Russia (sort of), Japan

20世纪初，英国，德国(德意志帝国和第三帝国)，美国，法国，俄罗斯(某种程度上)，日本

19th century - United Kingdom, France (particularly the Napoleonic Empire), Russia, Prussia (Germany after 1871), Austria, United States (only after the American Civil War)

19世纪——英国，法国(尤其是拿破仑帝国)，俄国，普鲁士(1871年之后的德国)，奥地利，美国(仅在美国内战之后)

China, the Ottoman Empire, Spain, the Greek-speaking Byzantines, various Indian dynasties (Mughal and Gupta), and the various Islamic caliphates all enjoyed considerable periods under the sun beforehand (Imperial China’s was very lengthy). At the time of the Spanish arrival the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan in North America may have been the world’s largest city, while many African civilisations (Mali and Ethiopia/Aksum, amongst others) were famed for their wealth and power.

中国、奥斯曼帝国、西班牙、讲希腊语的拜占庭人、各种印度王朝(莫卧儿和笈多)，以及各种各样的伊斯兰帝国都在太阳底下享受了相当长的一段时间(中华帝国的历史非常长)。在西班牙人到达美洲的时候，北美的阿兹特克人的首都特诺奇蒂兰可能是世界上最大的城市，而许多非洲文明(马里和埃塞俄比亚/阿克苏姆和其他国家)以其财富和实力而闻名于世。

2000 years ago -

2000年前,

Roman Republic/Empire and Han Dynasty of China
Similar size, similar population, little knowledge of each other (both considered themselves to be the only global superpower)

罗马共和国/帝国以及中国汉朝
相似的规模，相似的人口，对彼此的了解很少(他们都认为自己是唯一的全球超级大国)

Other honourable mentions: Babylon, Summer and Akkad (modern-day Iraq), Persia and Medes (modern-day Iran), Egypt (Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and Ptolemaic Dynasty), amongst many, many others.

其他值得尊敬的地方:巴比伦、Summer（？）和阿卡德(现代伊拉克)、波斯和米底王国(现代伊朗)、埃及(旧王国、中王国、新王国和托勒姆王朝)，还有许多其他的。

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Jafar Isbarov, Skeptic skeptic, pseudo-pseudointellectual, reverse-ambivert
These are my personal picks, in no particular order:

这些是我个人的选择，没有特别的顺序:

   1. The First Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire)
Usually considered first of the great empires, Persian Empire was found by Cyrus I. Filling the gap formed by fall of Media, it grew with astonishing speed and quickly surpassed the previous superpower, Media, both in power and magnitude.

1。第一波斯帝国(阿契美尼德帝国)
通常被认为是最早的大帝国，波斯帝国是由居鲁士一世建立，填补了米堤亚的衰落所形成的空白，它以惊人的速度成长，并且很快超越了先前的超级大国——米堤亚，无论是在权力还是规模上。

    2.Abbasid Caliphate.
Unlike Christianity, Islam was born into desert full of tribes fighting each other. It possessed the unifying power Constantine looked for in Christianity, and eventually ended up uniting the whole Peninsula, originating a devastating power. Rest is, you know, Arabs vs everybody.

2。阿巴斯哈里发帝国

与基督教不同的是，伊斯兰教诞生于充满部落斗争的沙漠中。 它拥有君士坦丁在基督教中的统一力量，最终统一了整个半岛，产生了毁灭性的力量。 剩下的就是，你知道的，阿拉伯人 VS 所有人。

    3.British Empire.
This is what you do when you combine greed, power, rationality, immense opportunity, and luck. Yes, you end up with a giant controlling 1/4 of the world.

3。大英帝国
当你把贪婪，权力，理性，巨大的机会和运气结合在一起时，你就会这样做，是的，你最终会拥有一个控制着1/4世界的巨人。

    4.Ottoman Empire.
Turks had many successful states throughout the history. But their last attempt was the most successful one, I guess. I mean, their history is sometimes like a video game on amateur level.

4。奥斯曼帝国
土耳其人历史上有许多成功的国家。但我猜他们的最后一次尝试是最成功的一次。我的意思是，他们的历史有时就像一个业余水平的电子游戏。

    5.Roman Empire.
What can I say about a nation which created one of the most enduring kingdoms; went on to be the most successful republic in history; converted it to the most powerful empire.EVER.

5。罗马帝国。
对于一个创造了最持久的王国之一的国家，我能说什么呢?成为历史上最成功的共和国，把它变成最强大的帝国。

P.S: I didn’t add empires like Mongols, Alexander etc. as they lacked systemic government; never possessed control over these territories for long amount of time. They were more like long-lasting war campaigns actually.

P.S: 我没有添加像蒙古人、亚历山大等帝国那样的，因为他们缺乏系统性的政府，从来没有长时间控制过这些领土。他们更像是长期的战争战役。

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Roger H Werner, former Prinicipal Investigator  前Prinicipal调查员
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, by Paul Kennedy, first published in 1987, explores the politics and economics of the Great Powers from 1500 to 1980 and the reason for their decline. Beginning in 1500 we have The Ottoman Empire, the Spanish-Austrian Hapsburg Empire, the Portuguese Empire, the Dutch Empire, the British Empire, and the United States.

《大国的兴衰:从1500年到2000年的经济变化和军事冲突》，作者保罗·肯尼迪于1987年首次出版，探讨了从1500年到1980年的大国的政治和经济，以及它们衰落的原因。从1500年开始，我们有了奥斯曼帝国，西班牙-奥地利哈布斯堡帝国，葡萄牙帝国，荷兰帝国，大英帝国和美国。

Before 1500, the situation becomes murky because there were so many ‘great powers’ at the regional level. There was of course The short lived Mongol Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries CE.

在公元1500年以前，情况变得模糊，因为在地区层面上有很多“大国”。当然，在公元13世纪和14世纪，蒙古帝国的寿命很短。

The Timurid Empire and its immediate successor the Mughal Empire controlled lands extending from the Tigris River north to the Caucasus Mountains, Afghanistan, much of central Asia, and parts of Pakistan, Syria, and Turkey. The Mughal empire lost most of its western lands but managed to control most of the Indian subcontinent including Bengal

帖木儿王朝和它的直接继承者莫卧儿王朝控制的土地从底格里斯河向北延伸到高加索山脉，阿富汗，中亚大部分地区，以及巴基斯坦、叙利亚和土耳其的部分地区。莫卧儿王朝失去了大部分西部土地，但控制了包括孟加拉在内的大部分印度次大陆。

In the early 7th century CE, 622 CE), Arab armies left the Hijaz and over the next 200 years conquered land extending from the Indus River in the east to the southern borders of Byzantium including Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, and the Iberian Peninsula. These lands were united under the first Caliphates. After roughly 900 CE, various parts of the original Caliphate began to break into separate secular territories as the power of the various Caliphates weakened.

公元7世纪早期，公元622年，阿拉伯军队离开了希贾兹，在接下来的200年里，征服了从东印度河到拜占庭南部边界的土地，包括伊拉克、叙利亚、约旦、黎巴嫩、巴勒斯坦、埃及、利比亚、突尼斯、阿尔及利亚、摩洛哥和伊比利亚半岛。这些土地在第一个哈里发统治下统一起来。大约公元900年之后，随着各帝国的削弱，最初的哈里发帝国的各个部分开始分裂成不同的世俗领土。

The Romano-Byzantine Empire lasted from the founding of the Republic on 21 April 753. It was divided into Eastern and Western Halves by the Emperor Diocletian in 272 CE. The western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE but the Eastern Empire lasted for another 1,000 years to 1453.

罗马-拜占庭帝国从共和国之初持续到753年4月21日。公元272年，皇帝戴克里先将其分为东、西两部分。西罗马帝国在公元476年灭亡，但东罗马帝国又延续了1000年，直到1453年。

The Maurya Empire began in 322 BCE and extended its rule from east of the Ganges Delta including most of India to the west side of the Indus River pushing back Alexander’s satraps. It survived to 180 CE

孔雀王朝开始于公元前322年，并将其统治从恒河三角洲的东部延伸到印度河的西侧。它存活到了公元180年。

Before the majesty of Rome was the short lived Empire of Alexander I of Macedonian in the late 4th century BCE. He controlled an area extending from the Adriatic Sea in the west to the Hindus River in the east, and from the southern oceans to the mountains and Black and Caspian seas on the North.

在罗马帝国之前，是亚历山大一世在公元前4世纪晚期的一个短命的帝国。它控制着从亚得里亚海延伸到东部的印度河，从南大洋到北部的山脉、黑海和里海。
在亚历山大·希腊帝国之前，波斯帝国控制着希腊的部分地区以及亚历山大从7世纪到公元前4世纪早期征服的大部分土地。

Before Alexander Hellenistic empire, there was the Persian Empire that control parts of Greece and most of the lands conquered by Alexander from the 7th century to the early 4th century BCE.
Before the Persians there were a series of empires in the Fertile Crescent but they were never as large as Persian controlled lands. These empires rose and fell from roughly 3100 BCE to the early 7th century BCE, many occurring simultaneously including the Egyptians, Sumarians, Babylonians, Hitittes, Asyrians, Hebrews, and several others. Perhaps the oldest and most long lived power was the Harappan Civilization in the Indus River Valley from 3100 to 1100 BCE.

在波斯人之前，有一系列的帝国在肥沃的新月地带，但它们从来没有像波斯控制的土地那么大。这些帝国从大约公元前3100年到公元前7世纪，有许多同时出现，包括埃及人，苏美尔人，巴比伦人，赫梯人，亚述人，希伯来人和其他一些人。也许最古老和最长寿的力量是印度河流域的哈拉帕文明，从公元前3100年持续到1100年。

I don’t care to speculate which was the most powerful because they existed at different times in different places, used different tactics. Let’s just say that these were the most powerful empires in their respective locations for their time. From a practical point of view, the strongest power the world has ever seen is the US. Never a serious colonial power, it developed its lands into a united country and by the late 20th century once the only nation capable of projecting both nuclear and non-nuclear power by air, sea, and land anywhere in the world with 48 hours.
The central thesis behind the Rise and Fall of the Great powers was always strategic over reach.

我不喜欢猜测哪个是最强大的，因为它们存在于不同的地方，使用不同的策略。我们姑且说这是他们各自所在地区最强大的帝国。从实际的角度来看，世界上最强大的力量是美国。它从未有过严重的殖民统治，它把自己的土地发展成一个统一的国家，到20世纪末，它曾经是唯一一个能在48小时内将核和非核力量都投射到世界上任何一个地方的国家。
大国兴衰背后的核心论点，始终是战略上的。

I’m sure I’ve left out a few powers but therein lies the problem. There have been so many large empires in world history. i never mention the Quing Empire in China or some of its earlier empires. Nor empires in Sourtheast Asia or west Africa. They probably should be noted.

我确信我遗漏了一些力量，但这就是问题所在。世界历史上有这么多的大帝国。我从来没有提到过在中国的清帝国或其它早期的帝国。也没有提到东南亚或西非的帝国，他们应该被注意到。

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Michael A. Johnson, B.A. History & Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Kentucky University  历史&撒哈拉以南非洲，北肯塔基大学
I would say the obvious one is China. China throughout history was the most powerful nation on Earth. There is a reason the time between 1839 to 1949 is called the “Century of Humiliation” in Chinese history. It was an unprecedented thing for the Chinese to be “inferior” to another nation. China even in its periods of being conquered such as with the Yuan Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty by foreigners. These foreigners would adopt Chinese culture and thinking as being the superior method of civilization.

我想说的显然是中国。纵贯历史，中国都是地球上最强大的国家。从1839年到1949年，中国历史上被称为“百年耻辱”的时代是有原因的。对于中国人来说比另一个国家“低等”是一件前所未有的事情，即使是在中国被征服的时期，如与元代或清朝的外国人，这些外国人也将把中国文化和思维视为文明的优越方法。

*edits and additions to come*

*编辑和添加的内容*

Ignoring the strange addition of the USA seeing its only little over 250 years old, and has only been economically powerful since the 1880-90s and a military power since 1945.

忽略了美国奇怪的加入，鉴于它只有250岁出头，而且自1880-90年代以来，经济实力一直很强大，而1945年以后一直是一个军事强国。

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Cesar Contreras
Very good answers all around, so I just want to bring to your attention the first global Superpower, who held the world in a fist for 150 years: The Spanish Empire of the Renaissance:
They opened the sea routes to the far away lands and, alongside the Portuguese (who were part of the Spanish crown for a good portion of these 150 years btw) created the first empire where the Sun never stopped shining. Emperor Carlos I was the first Sun King, before Louis XIV actually! Additionally, her Tercios crushed all opposition in Europe and the Mediterranean during those years and were heralded as the Roman Legions reborn.

都是非常好的答案，所以我想提请你们注意第一个全球超级大国，他在150年的时间里紧握着这个世界：文艺复兴时期的西班牙帝国:
他们开辟了通往遥远陆地的海上航线，与葡萄牙人一道(这150年的大部分时间里，他们是西班牙王室的一部分)创造了第一个太阳从未停止照耀的帝国。皇帝卡洛斯一世是第一个太阳王，在路易十四之前 ! 此外，在那些年里，她的大方阵粉碎了欧洲和地中海的所有反对势力，并被宣告为罗马军团的重生。

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George Etteridge, Amateur historian- emphasis on amateur. 业余历史学家-强调一下是业余。
Ancient History- Persia
despite being humiliated by the Greeks a few times, the Persians were a force to be reckoned with during ancient times and conquered a vast empire for the time.

古代历史——波斯
尽管被希腊人羞辱了几次，但波斯人在古代是一股不可忽视的力量，在当时征服了一个庞大的帝国。

Not-Quite-As-Old-But-Still-Ancient history-Rome and Han China.
Both of these empires dominated their respective regions, and there was quite a lot of similarities between them. There was contact, but not very much, and they between them ruled most of the human population at the time.

不那么古老但仍然很古老的历史-罗马和中国汉王朝。
这两个帝国都统治着各自的地区，它们之间有很多相似之处。他们之间有联系，但不是很多，他们统治了当时世界上的大多数人口。

Middle Ages- Mongols
The Mongol horde swept through Asia and into Europe with a strange mix of modern ideas (such as meritocracy and religious freedom) and utter brutality. However, their empire in its furtherst extent did not last long and fragmented as soon as Genghis Khan died.

中世纪-蒙古人
蒙古部落以一种奇怪的混合现代思想(如精英统治和宗教自由)和彻底的野蛮而横扫了亚洲和欧洲。然而，在成吉思汗去世后，他们的帝国在更大的范围内并没有持续很长时间。

Early Colonial Period- Spain
Spain managed to complete it’s reconquista the same year Colombus discovered America for them, and they spent the next century carving an empire out of south America, blowing away indigenous Empires such as the Aztec and Inca with superior technology and carting their gold back to Spain (if they did not get attacked by English Privateers) Spain was not only a dominant colonial power but a powerful European one too, because it owned places such as Belgium and the Netherlands (then called the Spanish Netherlands)

早期殖民时期——西班牙
西班牙成功地完成了收复失地这一任务，同年，哥伦布发现了美洲，他们花了一个世纪的时间，在南美建立了一个帝国，将阿兹特克和印加等本土帝国消灭，用高超的技术，把他们的黄金运回西班牙(如果他们没有遭到英国私掠船的袭击) ，西班牙不仅是一个统治性的殖民国家，而且也是一个强大的欧洲国家，因为它拥有比利时和荷兰这样的地方(当时被称为西班牙的荷兰)

Late Colonial-Britain
A combination of the industrial revolution and the most powerful Navy the world had ever seen up to that point allowed Britain to absolutely dominate the 19th Century. it used these powers sometimes for good (West Africa Squadron and the abolition of Slavery) and it sometimes… didn’t. This domination lasted right up until the First World War, and allowed the British to carve out the largest empire ever seen.

殖民晚期——大英帝国
工业革命和世界上最强大的海军的结合，使英国在19世纪完全占据了主导地位。它有时会用这些力量来做一些好事(西非中队？和废除奴隶制度)，有时。。。没有。这种统治一直持续到第一次世界大战，并使英国人开拓出史上最大的帝国。

Modern- USA and Soviet unx
These two were the big superpowers of the 20th century, their ideological divide fuelling distrust and a nuclear arms race that could have wiped each other (and everyone else) off the map. However, the USA won the cold war and is still a superpower though it is being Challenged by China, while Russia is not a superpower any more in the same way the US is, but it is still pretty powerful and capable of giving other nations a bad day.

现代——美国和苏联
这两个国家是20世纪的超级大国，他们的意识形态分歧加剧了互不信任和核军备竞赛，这可能会使彼此(以及其他所有人)都从地图上抹去。然而，美国赢得了冷战，仍然是一个超级大国，尽管它正受到中国的挑战，尽管俄罗斯不再像美国那样成为超级大国，但它仍然相当强大，能够给其他国家带来糟糕的一天。

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Thomas Musselman
Nation-states or “countries” are a modern development. For much of history there were none in most areas of the world; sometimes there were empires and sometimes just regional kings, war-lords, chieftains and the like. You can get lists of empires in any world history book; with the rise of nation-states some of them took on empires, some of them teamed up to do so, and some did their best to avoid interaction with them.
The “most powerful” usually were only that re: limited areas, and borders and self-identity changed often, so while we talk about “China” the land area with that name now has had many rulers, some from elsewhere who invaded, and sometimes many at once, each with a different number of square miles in their domain. In addition sometimes they had the ability to demand “tribute” from independent powers they did not directly control.
Sometimes you had impressive population levels in cities (e.g. the Incas and Aztecs) but whose “power” was proved limited when outsiders with horses, guns, and steel arrived. Sometimes you had impressive levels of intellectual inquiry (e.g. Muslim Spain) but the same horrible domination by one group over others as has been common in history everywhere until recently. You can also have a “power” with economic might but not military or vice versa, or with cultural influence but little else. Egypt, e.g. has had cultural influence in the Arab world but little else for quite some time. Russia still has nuclear power but its cultural influence has fallen rapidly with the death of communism. Cuba has had cultural influence in music and dance but little else. Ancient Israel and Greece, of course, had massive cultural power but since Alexander the Great little other power.

民族国家或“国家”是现代发展出的概念。在历史的大部分时间里，世界上大部分地区都没有这一说法，有时是帝国，有时只有地区国王，军阀，首领之类的。你可以在任何一本世界历史书中获得帝国的名单 ; 随着民族国家的崛起，其中一些国家开始了建立起帝国，其中一些国家联合起来，一些国家为了避免与他们的接触而竭尽所能。
“最强大的”通常只是: 有Re限的区域，边界和自我认同经常发生变化，所以当我们谈论“中国”时，这个名字的土地上有许多统治者，一些来自其他地方入侵的人，有时一次性会有多个，每一个都占据不同的区域。此外，有时他们也有能力从他们没有直接控制的独立力量中要求"朝贡"。

有时，城市里的人口数量令人印象深刻(比如印加人和阿兹特克人)，但是当有马、枪和钢铁的人到达时，他们的“权力”被证明是有限的。有时会有令人印象深刻的知识探索(例如，西班牙穆斯林)，但是一个群体对另一个群体的可怕统治在历史上一直很普遍直到最近。你也可以拥有一个经济实力的“权力”，而不是军事力量，反之亦然，或者是文化影响力，但几乎没有别的了。例如埃及在阿拉伯世界已经有文化影响，但在相当一段时间内没有其他的影响。俄罗斯仍拥有核武器但随着共产主义的消亡，它的文化影响力迅速下降。古巴在音乐和舞蹈方面有着文化上的影响，但其他方面却很少。当然，古代的以色列和希腊当然有着巨大的文化力量，但亚历山大大帝的其他权力却大不一样。

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Kun Wang, studied at The University of Liverpool (2016)  在利物浦大学学习(2016)
Land
U.K. had the largest land in the history, which is 3367km2, the second is Mongolia which is 3287 km2.
土地
英国拥有历史上最大的土地，面积3367km2，其次是蒙古，面积3287km2。

Population
Qing dynasty had the largest proportion population in the history, which is 36.6% in 1820. The second is Han dynasty which is 33.1% in 1BC.
人口
清朝的人口比例在历史上是最高的，在1820年是36.6%。第二个是汉朝，在公元前1年是33.1%。

GDP
USA had the biggest GDP ratio in history in 1944, which is 38.1%. Qing dynasty has 32.9% GDP of the world in 1820. However, there is another statement which said that Song Dynasty had over 60% GDP in 1124.

国内生产总值
美国在1944年的GDP比率是历史上最大的，是38.1%。在1820年，清朝的GDP为32.9%。然而，有另一种说法称宋代的GDP在1124年超过了60%。

The duration
The Byzantine empire last 1058 years which is the longest duration in the history. The second is Holy Roman Empire which last 844 years.

持续时间
拜占庭帝国持续了1058年这是历史上最长的时期。第二个是神圣罗马帝国，它持续了844年。

Comprehensive ranking
If each of the top 4 country is rated as 100, than Mongolia empire can get 279 point and U.K. can get 258 point. So Mongolia empire can be seen as the strongest country in the history.

综合排名
如果前四个国家的排名都是100 蒙古帝国可以获得279分，英国可以获得258分。因此，蒙古帝国可以被视为历史上最强大的国家。

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Ravi Bhardwaj, Designer at Tech Mahindra (2016-present)   Mahindra科技公司设计师
    Great Britain, won many countries
    USSR or Russia
    China
    Germany
    India
Somewhere or the other if you will surf the history the descxtion keep coming up.

英国   胜过许多国家
苏联或俄罗斯
中国
德国
印度
或者其他的某个国家，如果你要浏览历史，这类描述就会不断出现。