One of the largest territories in the world ever to come under the power of a single person was the Mogol Empire of Genghis Khan. At his death in 1227, the land he controlled ranged from the Yellow Sea to the Aral Sea. His successors would push further West to the confines of Europe, Persia and most of China, lands far vaster and more populous than the original lands of the Mongol tribes.
How this came to be demonstrates a great deal of political, military and administrative skills, which the Mongols mastered despite their humble origins as a group of nomadic tribes. While the Empire was to large to hold as a single unit for long, the Mongol Yuan dynasty that inherited the Chinese lands ended up ruling the World's largest nation for a century. Other Mongol States such as the Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde Khanate lasted even longer.
Modern day Mongolia is much smaller, and is split between a large province of China, known as Inner Mongolia, and the independent Republic of Mongolia, often referred to as Outer Mongolia.
Genghis Khan's Empire
