Polity · 1709 CE – 1801 CE
Kingdom of Great Britain
Prydain Fawr · Breatainn Mhòr · Great Breetain
- Peak recorded area
- 772,155 km²
- 1920 CE
- Data series
- 56
- 1709 CE–1801 CE
Overview
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland and Wales. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The island of Ireland, with an area 40 per cent that of Great Britain, is to the west.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
66 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 5 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1801 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 41 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Social Conflict Events37 obs · 1709 CE–1800 CE | 3events1800 CE · HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database) |
| Life Expectancy18 obs · 1713 CE–1798 CE | 38.93years1798 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Conflict Participants13 obs · 1709 CE–1796 CE | 1,160persons1796 CE · HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database) |
| Height Men9 obs · 1710 CE–1790 CE | 166cm1790 CE · Clio-Infra |
| City Pop Glasgow6 obs · 1750 CE–1801 CE | 86.6Kpersons1801 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Dundee5 obs · 1746 CE–1801 CE | 26.1Kpersons1801 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
Economy
3 of 4 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP293 obs · 1509 CE–1801 CE | 3,051int'l $ (inflation adj.)1801 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita93 obs · 1709 CE–1801 CE | 3,3512011 int'l $1801 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Carolingian Coin Hoards7 obs · 865 CE–965 CE | 1hoards965 CE · DARMC (Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations) |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Battle Count13 obs · 1715 CE–1795 CE | 2battles1795 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
| Battle Scale Avg7 obs · 1715 CE–1795 CE | 2Lehmann-Zhukov 1-51795 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
| Battle Wins | 1battles won1775 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index13 obs · 1789 CE–1801 CE | 0.277index (0-1)1801 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index13 obs · 1789 CE–1801 CE | 0.251index (0-1)1801 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index13 obs · 1789 CE–1801 CE | 0.098index (0-1)1801 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index13 obs · 1789 CE–1801 CE | 0.671index (0-1)1801 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity22 obs · 1800 CE–1801 CE | -2index (-10 to 10)1801 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Tech Merchant Shipping Tonnage14 obs · 1788 CE–1801 CE | 1,685gross tons1801 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Freedom Of Expression Index13 obs · 1789 CE–1801 CE | 0.659index (0-1)1801 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Numeracy5 obs · 1720 CE–1800 CE | 91.26ABCC index1800 CE · Clio-Infra |
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban PopulationChandler 1987 / Modelski 2003
Chandler, T. (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth; Modelski, G. (2003). World Cities: -3000 to 2000.
Compiled from published works (Chandler 1987; Modelski 2003)
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
DARMC (Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations)2019
Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations, Harvard University.
CC BY-NC 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database)2021
Chevalier, J. et al. HiSCoD: Historical Social Conflict Database. Université de Rennes.
Academic use, attribution
Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3)v3
Brecke, P. Conflict Catalog (Historical Conflict Events Dataset), digitized v3.
Academic use, attribution
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Kingdom of Great Britain is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.