Polity · 1721 CE – 1917 CE
Russian Empire
Россійская Имперія · Imperium Rosyjskie · Kejsardömet Ryssland
- Peak recorded area
- 22,894,000 km²
- 1900 CE
- Rulers on record
- 16
- from 1721 CE
- Data series
- 48
- 1730 CE–1917 CE
Overview
The Russian Empire spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history, behind only the British and Mongol empires. It also colonized Alaska between 1799 and 1867.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
64 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 18 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 1917 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 7 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 181.5Mpersons1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Urban Population101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 7.5Mpersons1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Height Men19 obs · 1730 CE–1910 CE | 169.1cm1910 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Community Size14 obs · 1830 CE–1910 CE | 7ordinal1910 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Infant Mortality4 obs · 1860 CE–1900 CE | 200.07per 1000 live births1900 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Life Expectancy2 obs · 1896 CE–1900 CE | 30.5years1900 CE · Clio-Infra |
Economy
6 of 11 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP117 obs · 1800 CE–1916 CE | 3,308int'l $ (inflation adj.)1916 CE · Gapminder |
| Total Exports47 obs · 1870 CE–1916 CE | 171.13million USD (current)1916 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports47 obs · 1870 CE–1916 CE | 818.45million USD (current)1916 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance47 obs · 1870 CE–1916 CE | -647.32million USD (current)1916 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness47 obs · 1870 CE–1916 CE | 989.58million USD (current)1916 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Agriculture Intensity14 obs · 1830 CE–1910 CE | 5ordinal1910 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Military
6 of 10 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 0.1451CINC (share of world capability)1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 48.7Mcoal-ton equivalents1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 4.3Mtons1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel101 obs · 1816 CE–1916 CE | 10.9Mpersons1916 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure GBP98 obs · 1816 CE–1913 CE | 85.4Mcurrent GBP1913 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Battle Count12 obs · 1790 CE–1917 CE | 1battles1917 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
Governance
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index128 obs · 1789 CE–1916 CE | 0.105index (0-1)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index128 obs · 1789 CE–1916 CE | 0.067index (0-1)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index128 obs · 1789 CE–1916 CE | 0.041index (0-1)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index128 obs · 1789 CE–1916 CE | 0.295index (0-1)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity2117 obs · 1800 CE–1916 CE | -6index (-10 to 10)1916 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type17 obs · 1900 CE–1916 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 12 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index128 obs · 1789 CE–1916 CE | 0.22index (0-1)1916 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Radios99 obs · 1815 CE–1913 CE | 0count1913 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km80 obs · 1825 CE–1916 CE | 69.3Kkm1916 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph48 obs · 1864 CE–1913 CE | 98count1913 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Mail Items35 obs · 1875 CE–1909 CE | 1,944items1909 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Merchant Shipping Tonnage31 obs · 1859 CE–1913 CE | 783gross tons1913 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
16 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Peter the GreatHead of State1721 CE – 1725 CE
- Catherine I of RussiaHead of State1725 CE – 1727 CE
- Peter II of RussiaHead of State1727 CE – 1730 CE
- Anna I of RussiaHead of State1730 CE – 1740 CE
- Ivan VI of RussiaHead of State1740 CE – 1741 CE
- Elizabeth I of RussiaHead of State1741 CE – 1762 CE
- Catherine II of RussiaHead of State1762 CE – 1796 CE
- Peter III of RussiaHead of State1762 CE
- Paul I of RussiaHead of State1796 CE – 1801 CE
- Alexander I of RussiaHead of State1801 CE – 1825 CE
- Nikolay RumyantsevHead of Government1810 CE – 1812 CE
- Nicholas I of RussiaHead of State1825 CE – 1855 CE
- Alexander II of RussiaHead of State1855 CE – 1881 CE
- Alexander III of RussiaHead of State1881 CE – 1894 CE
- Nicholas II of RussiaHead of State1894 CE – 1917 CE
- Ivan ShcheglovitovHead of Government1917 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Finnish, Polish, Russian, Swedish
- Currency
- ruble, gold rouble
Memberships
- Holy AllianceHistorical alliance · founding member1815 CE – 1825 CE
- 4-member Defense Pact (1815)Military alliance · member1816 CE – 1822 CE
- United Kingdom–France–Russia Entente (1827)Historical alliance · member1827 CE – 1829 CE
- Germany–Austria-Hungary–Russia Defense Pact (1833)Military alliance · member1833 CE – 1839 CE
- Russia–Turkey Defense Pact (1833)Military alliance · member1833 CE – 1841 CE
- Germany–Austria-Hungary–Russia Entente (1833)Historical alliance · member1833 CE – 1853 CE
- Austria-Hungary–Russia Defense Pact (1833)Military alliance · member1833 CE – 1853 CE
- Germany–Austria-Hungary–Russia Defense Pact (1833)Military alliance · member1833 CE – 1848 CE
- Germany–Russia Defense Pact (1833)Military alliance · member1833 CE – 1848 CE
- 5-member Defense Pact (1840)Military alliance · member1840 CE – 1840 CE
- United Kingdom–Russia Entente (1844)Historical alliance · member1844 CE – 1846 CE
- France–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1859)Historical alliance · member1859 CE – 1859 CE
- Germany–Russia Defense Pact (1863)Military alliance · member1863 CE – 1863 CE
- Germany–Russia Defense Pact (1873)Military alliance · member1873 CE – 1878 CE
- Germany–Austria-Hungary–Russia Entente (1873)Historical alliance · member1873 CE – 1878 CE
- Austria-Hungary–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1877)Historical alliance · member1877 CE – 1878 CE
- Germany–Austria-Hungary–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1881)Historical alliance · member1881 CE – 1887 CE
- Germany–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1887)Historical alliance · member1887 CE – 1890 CE
- France–Russia Entente (1891)Historical alliance · member1891 CE – 1893 CE
- France–Russia Defense Pact (1893)Military alliance · member1893 CE – 1917 CE
- Russia–China Defense Pact (1896)Military alliance · member1896 CE – 1900 CE
- Austria-Hungary–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1904)Historical alliance · member1904 CE – 1908 CE
- Germany–Russia Defense Pact (1905)Military alliance · member1905 CE – 1905 CE
- Triple EntenteHistorical alliance · founding member1907 CE – 1917 CE
- Italy–Russia Entente (1909)Historical alliance · member1909 CE – 1917 CE
- Russia–Japan Entente (1910)Historical alliance · member1910 CE – 1916 CE
- Romania–Russia Defense Pact (1914)Military alliance · member1914 CE – 1916 CE
- 4-member Defense Pact (1915)Military alliance · member1915 CE – 1917 CE
- Russia–Japan Defense Pact (1916)Military alliance · member1916 CE – 1917 CE
- 5-member Defense Pact (1916)Military alliance · member1916 CE – 1917 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
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).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3)v3
Brecke, P. Conflict Catalog (Historical Conflict Events Dataset), digitized v3.
Academic use, attribution
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
Russian Empire is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.