Historical Atlas: Empire Borders Through Time

The Timelory Historical Atlas is an interactive map visualization showing how empire borders changed throughout history from 3000 BCE to the present day. Explore the rise and fall of over 100 civilizations with year-by-year border changes.

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Featured Empires & Civilizations

🏛️ Roman Empire
753 BCE - 476 CE (Western) / 1453 CE (Eastern)

From a small city-state to an empire spanning three continents. Watch Rome's expansion under Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Trajan, and its eventual division and fall.

🏺 Ancient Egypt
3100 BCE - 30 BCE

Three millennia of pharaonic civilization along the Nile. Explore the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, and Egypt's conquest by Alexander and Rome.

⚔️ Assyrian Empire
2025 BCE - 609 BCE

The first true military superpower. Watch Assyria expand from a city-state to control all of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant.

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🐉 Chinese Dynasties
2070 BCE - 1912 CE

4,000 years of dynastic history from the legendary Xia through Shang, Zhou, Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

🌙 Ottoman Empire
1299 CE - 1922 CE

From Anatolian beylik to controller of three continents. See the conquest of Constantinople and expansion into Europe, Africa, and Arabia.

🏇 Mongol Empire
1206 CE - 1368 CE

The largest contiguous land empire in history. Follow Genghis Khan's conquests and the subsequent division into khanates.

🦁 Persian Empires
550 BCE - 651 CE

Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid empires. From Cyrus the Great to the Arab conquest, watch Persia shape the ancient world.

☪️ Islamic Caliphates
632 CE - 1258 CE

Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid caliphates. See the rapid expansion of Islam from Arabia to Spain and Central Asia.

👑 Byzantine Empire
330 CE - 1453 CE

The Eastern Roman Empire that survived for a millennium. Watch its territorial changes from Justinian's reconquests to the fall of Constantinople.

🗡️ Macedonian Empire
359 BCE - 323 BCE

Alexander the Great's lightning conquests from Greece to India. See the empire's rapid division among his successors.

How to Use the Historical Atlas

  1. Select a Year: Use the time slider to choose any year from 3000 BCE to present
  2. Explore Borders: See all empire borders as they existed in that year
  3. Click for Details: Click on any region to learn about the civilization
  4. Animate History: Press play to watch borders change over time
  5. Toggle Layers: Show/hide different empires, roads, and cities

Data Coverage

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