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The term '''empire''' derives from the [[Latin]] imperium. [[Politically]], an empire is a geographically extensive [[group]] of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by a [[monarch]] (emperor, empress) or an [[oligarchy]]. Geopolitically, the term empire has denoted very different, territorially-extreme states — at the strong end, the extensive [[Spanish Empire]] (16th c.) and the [[British Empire]] (19th c.), at the weak end, the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (8th c.–19th c.), in its Medieval and early-modern forms, and the [[Byzantine Empire]] (15th c.), that was a direct continuation of the [[Roman Empire]], that, in its final century of existence, was more a city-state than a territorial empire.

The term '''empire''' derives from the [[Latin]] imperium. [[Politically]], an empire is a geographically extensive [[group]] of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by a [[monarch]] (emperor, empress) or an [[oligarchy]]. Geopolitically, the term empire has denoted very different, territorially-extreme states — at the strong end, the extensive [[Spanish Empire]] (16th c.) and the [[British Empire]] (19th c.), at the weak end, the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (8th c.–19th c.), in its Medieval and early-modern forms, and the [[Byzantine Empire]] (15th c.), that was a direct continuation of the [[Roman Empire]], that, in its final century of existence, was more a city-state than a territorial empire.