numbers i find helpful when conceiving orders of magnitude (true as of feb 2026)
maximum land area of the british empire: 35.5 million km^2 / 13.71 million mi^2 / 26.35% of world (1920) maximum land area of the mongol empire: 24.0 million km^2 / 9.27 million mi^2 / 17.81% of world (1270) maximum land area of the russian empire: 22.8 million km^2 / 8.80 million mi^2 / 16.92% of world (1895) maximum land area of the qing empire: 14.7 million km^2 / 5.68 million mi^2 (1790) maximum land area of the spanish empire: 13.7 million km^2 / 5.29 million mi^2 (1810) maximum land area of the second french colonial empire: 11.5 million km^2 / 4.44 million mi^2 (1920) maximum land area of the abbasid caliphate: 11.1 million km^2 / 4.29 million mi^2 (750) maximum land area of the united states 9.5 million km^2 / 3.67 million mi^2 (1900) maximum land area of the empire of japan: 7.4 million km^2 / 2.86 million mi^2 (1942) maximum land area of the second portuguese empire: 5.5 million km^2 / 2.12 million mi^2 (1820) maximum land area of the ottoman empire: 5.2 million km^2 / 2.01 million mi^2 (1683) maximum land area of the roman empire: 5.0 million km^2 / 1.92 million mi^2 (117) maximum land area of the first mexican empire: 4.43 million km^2 / 1.71 million mi^2 (1821) maximum land area of the italian empire: 3.8 million km^2 / 1.47 million mi^2 (1938) maximum land area of the first french colonial empire: 3.4 million km^2 / 1.31 million mi^2 (1670) maximum land area of the german colonial empire: 3.1 million km^2 / 1.2 million mi^2 (1911) maximum land area of the danish empire: 3.0 million km^2 / 1.16 million mi^2 (1700) maximum land area of the belgian colonial empire: 2.47 million km^2 / 0.95 million mi^2 (1939) maximum land area of the dutch empire: 2.1 million km^2 / 0.81 million mi^2 (1938) maximum land area of napoleonic france: 2.1 million km^2 / 0.81 million mi^2 (1813) maximum land area of the inca empire: 2.0 million km^2 / 0.77 million mi^2 (1527) maximum land area of the western roman empire: 2.0 million km^2 / 0.77 million mi^2 (395) maximum land area of the mali empire: 1.1 million km^2 / 0.42 million mi^2 (1380) maximum land area of the polish-lithuanian commonwealth: 1.1 million km^2 / 0.42 million mi^2 (1480 or 1650) maximum land area of the holy roman empire: 1.0 million km^2 / 0.4 million mi^2 (1050) maximum land area of the austro-hungarian empire: 0.63 million km^2 / 0.24 million mi^2 (1905) maximum land area of the first portuguese empire: 0.6 million km^2 / 0.23 million mi^2 (1580) population of india: 1,476,625,576 population of china: 1,412,914,089 population of US: 349,035,494 population of vatican city: 882 population of nauru: 11,680 population of tuvalu: 10,643 population density of macau: 22,000/km^2 population density of monaco: 19,000/km^2 population density of singapore: 8,290/km^2 population density of bangladesh: 1,333/km^2 population density of palestine: 892/km^2 population density of china: 151/km^2 population density of US: 37/km^2 population density of russia: 8.6/km^2 population of jakarta: 41,913,860 city proper: 10,154,134 urban area: 33,756,000 population of dhaka: 36,585,479 city proper: 10,295,407 urban area: 19,134,000 population of tokyo: 33,412,512 population of delhi: 30,222,405 population of shanghai: 29,558,908 population of guangzhou: 27,563,372 population of cairo: 25,566,102 population of manila: 24,735,305 population of kolkata: 22,549,738 population of moscow: 14,524,753 population of kinshasa: 10,943,641 population of lima: 10,580,241 population of london: 10,416,420 population of bangkok: 18,180,280 population of madrid: 6,497,000 population of paris: 9,381,921 population density of karachi: 5,771/km^2 population density of karachi central (district): 55,396/km^2 population density of surat: 15,027/km^2 population density of mumbai: 20,620/km^2 population density of kinshasa (urban): 27,000/km^2 population density of kabul: 12,920/km/km^2 population density of hong kong: 6,801/km^2 population density of giza (city proper): 45,050/km^2 population density of manila (city proper): 45,050/km^2 population density of croix-des-bouquets (city proper): 42,322/km^2 population density of mandaluyong (city proper): 42,125/km^2 population density of male (city proper): 36,536/km^2 population density of dhaka (city proper): 33,757/km^2 population density of imbaba (city district of giza): 177,038/km^2 population density of lalbagh thana (city district of dhaka): 168,151/km^2 population density of ajeromi-ifelodun (city district of lagos): 150,689/km^2 population density of zaveri bazar (city district of mumbai): 114,001/km^2 population density of st anthony parish (city district of macau): 111,636/km^2 population density of karanj (city district of surat): 107,288/km^2 population density of khánh hội (city district of ho chi minh city): 88,324/km^2 population density of bahçelievler (city district of istanbul): 78,772/km^2 population density of tondo district (city district of manila): 69,297km^2 population density of yorkville (city district of new york city): 60,349/km^2 population density of kwun tong district (city district of hong kong): 51,104/km^2 total area of earth: 510,072,000 km^2 / 196,940,000 mi^2 land: 148,940,000 km^2 / 57,506,000 mi^2 water: 361,132,000 km^2 / 139,434,000 mi^2 total area of russia: 17,098,246 km^2 / 6,601,667 mi^2 total area of canada: 9,984,670 km^2 / 3,855,100 mi^2 total area of china: 9,596,960 km^2 / 3,705,410 mi^2 total area of US: 9,525,067 km^2 / 3,677,647 total area of brazil: 8,510,346 km^2 / 3,285,862 mi^2 total area of india: 3,287,263 km^2 / 1,269,219 mi^2 total area of argentina: 2,780,400 km^2 / 1,073,500 mi^2 total area of kazakhstan: 2,724,910 km^2 / 1,052,090 mi^2 total area of algeria: 2,381,741 km^2 / 919,595 mi^2 total area of democratic republic of the congo: 2,344,858 km^2 / 905,354 mi^2 total area of spain: 505,370 km^2 / 195,120 mi^2 total area of norway: 386,224 km^2 / 149,122 mi^2 total area of japan: 377,915 km^2 / 145,914 mi^2 total area of germany: 357,581 km^2 / 138,063 mi^2 total area of new zealand: 268,838 km^2 / 103,799 mi^2 total area of united kingdom: 244,376 km^2 / 94,354 mi^2 total area of ghana: 238,537 km^2 / 92,100 mi^2 total area of south korea: 100,432 km^2 / 38,777 mi^2 total area of sri lanka: 67,240 km^2 / 25,960 mi^2 total area of denmark: 42,947 km^2 / 16,582 mi^2 total area of taiwan: 35,980 km^2 / 13,890 mi^2 total area of haiti: 27,750 km^2 / 10,710 mi^2 total area of east timor: 14,874 km^2 / 5,743 mi^2 total area of liechtenstein: 160 km / 62 mi^2 total area of vatican city: 0.49 km^2 / 0.19 mi^2