The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: listen (help·info) Mongol-yn Ezent Güren; Cyrillic: Монголын эзэнт гүрэн; Kazakh: Моңғол қағандығы) existed during the 13th and 14th A.D., and was the largest contiguous land empire in human history. Beginning in the Central Asian steppes, it eventually stretched from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, covering large parts of Siberia in the north and extending southward into Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. It is commonly referred to as the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. At its greatest extent it spanned 9,700 km (6,000 mi), covered an area of 24,000,000 km2 (9,300,000 sq mi), 16% of the Earth's total land area, and held sway over a population of 100 million.
The Mongol Empire emerged from the Mongol tribes of modern-day Mongolia under the leadership of Genghis Khan, and subsequently the mixture with other Turkic tribes in the region. Genghis Khan was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under the rule of his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire which connected the east with the west with an enforced "Pax Mongolica" allowed trade, technologies, commodities and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia.
The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: listen (help·info) Mongol-yn Ezent Güren; Cyrillic: Монголын эзэнт гүрэн; Kazakh: Моңғол қағандығы) existed during the 13th and 14th A.D., and was the largest contiguous land empire in human history. Beginning in the Central Asian steppes, it eventually stretched from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, covering large parts of Siberia in the north and extending southward into Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. It is commonly referred to as the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. At its greatest extent it spanned 9,700 km (6,000 mi), covered an area of 24,000,000 km2 (9,300,000 sq mi), 16% of the Earth's total land area, and held sway over a population of 100 million.
The Mongol Empire emerged from the Mongol tribes of modern-day Mongolia under the leadership of Genghis Khan, and subsequently the mixture with other Turkic tribes in the region. Genghis Khan was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under the rule of his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire which connected the east with the west with an enforced "Pax Mongolica" allowed trade, technologies, commodities and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia.