around the year 1920 the British Empire set An Almighty record as the largest country SL Empire in history the Empire controlled some 35. 5 million km squared of land around a quarter of all land on Earth alongside some 412 million people which at the time was again about a quarter of all humans on the planet now of course we all know about the British Empire's history not so great in terms of ethics and peace but it was once the most powerful Empire on the planet today the UK is a shadow of its former power although saying that the country still ranks sixth in the world for GDP second in the world for soft power 21st in the world for population and still owns many important overseas territories meaning this relatively small country still does have a global impact the same can't be said for Mongolia however who at its peak had the second largest Empire of all time in terms of land control at some 24 million km squared although there is no universally agreed figure some sources suggest that at the height of its power the Empire controlled around 100 million people again similar to the British Empire's peak of controlling some 25% of the world's population skip forward to modern day times and Mongolia is far from recognizable from this once Global superpower the country country ranks 131st in the world for population and 119th for GDP although the country is still rather large it has very little Regional never mind Global influence in the 16th and 17th centuries Spain was a dominant Global superpower with vast territories across the Americas Asia and Europe the Spanish Armada was one of the most formidable Naval forces of its time enabling Spain to explore and colonize distant lands this powerful Naval presence is why Spanish is still spoken throughout Latin America and various other parts around the world today at its height Spain's Empire controlled about 13 million km squared of land which would make it the second largest country on Earth by today's standards today Spain remains an important country within Europe however with the 15th highest GDP and the 30th largest population globally its status as a global superpower has significantly diminished modern day Spain faces a demographic challenge including an aging population which could further impact its influence in the future now Portugal follows a similar story to that of Spain who in the 15th and 16th centuries was also a maritime Powerhouse it established a vast Empire across Africa Asia and South America most notably Brazil which is by far the largest Portuguese speaking country on Earth with some 72% of all Portuguese speakers living in this one country alone today Portugal only has two overseas territories being the archipelagos of madira and azoros in the Atlantic Ocean Portugal itself is a tiny country found in West Europe with a relatively low population at just 10. 6 million just like Spain Portugal sees a very high quality of life people people live to be very old and their fertility rate is rather low meaning their population also seems to have peaked and will only decrease from now on now believe it or not around a 100 years ago Argentina was considered to be one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries on the planet during this period Argentina benefited from large-scale European immigration significant foreign investment and booming agricultural exports particularly beef fan wheat buan aaries grew into a Cosmopolitan City often compared to Major European capitals hence why it got the name Paris of Latin America at this time Argentina had one of the highest GDP per capita rates in the world similar to or even higher than many European countries life was looking good for the country but then in the 1930s the Great Depression and political instability saw the country falling into decline today the country is still in economic turmoil the country ranks 70th in the world for GDP per capita and has seen insane hyperinflation in recent times leading to its people preferring the US dollar to its own currency in the 1940s Japan's Empire had reached its peak stretching across East Asia and the Pacific this included places like Korea Taiwan parts of China and various Pacific Islands then although Japan suffered a catastrophic loss in World War II it did see an unbelievable economic boom for the rest of the 20th century Japan transformed from a war torn country into one of the world's largest economies by 1980 Japan had the second largest economy on Earth it was a miraculous recovery since the mid1 1940s its population also ranked them seventh in the world however the bubble that was projecting Japan to reach even greater Heights eventually popped in the early '90s leading to severe economic downturn their economies stagnated deeply hence why this decade was known as Japan's lost decade Japan did then see some nice growth in the noreast seeing its economy peak in 2012 at $6.
2 trillion us however by then China's meteoric rise had already begun leap rugging the Japanese skip forward to current times and Japan's GDP has dropped to 4. 1 trillion falling behind Germany and inevitably very soon India the yen is also in a state of emergency it is currently at a 38-year low against the dollar Japan's population is also notoriously aging the country sees one of the highest life expectancies on Earth alongside one of the lowest fertility rates by 2050 its population is projected to Fall by around 20 million and at current projections by 50 million by the turn of the century in the mid 20th century the Soviet Union was at its peak it spanned across much of Eurasia extending across 11 time zones and sharing land borders with some 12 countries the union controlled some 22 million colom squared of land and reached a peak population of some 293 million during the time the union also acquired an estimated 40,000 nuclear warheads they were a force not to be reckoned with and easily competed with the us as the global superpower but then in 1991 it collapsed and the union dissolved although Russia is still a formidable force today and by far the largest country on Earth it doesn't have the same status as what the peak Soviet Union did around 2 ,500 years ago ancient Greece was a major superpower due to its Advanced city states like Athens and Sparta it had impressive achievements in philosophy science the Arts and a strong military force their culture and influence spread widely across the Mediterranean and they laid the foundations for Western Civilization however internal conflict severely weakened their power over time Greece was also conquered by larger Empires such such as Alexander the Great Macedonian Empire and then the Roman Empire these conquests alongside the rise of other powerful civilizations led to Greece losing its status as a superpower today Greece is a shadow of its former powerful self its cuisine culture and history is still widely appreciated but it simply does not have the might that it once did the country has a population of just 10.
