empire

An empire is a realm controlled by a monarch or other official and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries. The center of the empire has political control over the peripheries. Within an empire, different populations may have different sets of rights and may be governed differently. The word "empire" derives from the Roman concept of Imperium. Narrowly defined, an empire is a sovereign state that exercises control over multiple distinct territories; however, not all states with aggregate territory under the rule of supreme authorities are called "empires". Not all self-described empires have been accepted as such by contemporaries and historians.