Empire · approximate1566 – 1683 · 117 years
Ottoman Empire
A Turkish dynasty that ruled the eastern Mediterranean for six centuries — from a tiny frontier emirate to the largest Islamic empire of the modern era.
What it was
The Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453, conquered Egypt and the Hejaz in 1517, and at their 16th-century peak under Suleiman the Magnificent ruled from Algiers to Baghdad and from Yemen to the gates of Vienna. Defeat in WWI ended the dynasty in 1922.
Why it mattered
Borders the Ottomans drew, populations they moved, and institutions they built still define the politics of the Balkans, the Levant, and North Africa a century after their fall.
From Wikipedia
The Ottoman Empire, historically also known as the Turkish Empire, was a state that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th century to the early 20th century, centered in modern-day Turkey. It also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.
Wikipedia: Ottoman Empire·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
Dashed borders mark empires whose extent we can date but whose precise frontiers are contested or undocumented.
- SOURCEreconstructed from Natural Earth country boundaries
- DETAILreconstructed-clipped-country
- POLITY TYPEstate
Wars of this empire88
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- World-changing
- Russo-Turkish Wars1676–1878Major conflict · 1.0M dead
- Great Turkish War1683–99Major conflict · 500K dead
- Major conflict · 50K dead
- Battle of Vienna1683Major conflict · 50K dead
- Thirteen Years' War1593–1606Significant · 400K dead
- Ottoman-Safavid War1603–29Significant · 300K dead
- Significant · 250K dead
- Cretan War1645–69Significant · 200K dead
- Significant · 100K dead
- Third Venetian-Ottoman War1570–73Significant · 100K dead
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Mir Ali Bey's expeditions1585–89Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Significant
- Ottoman-Cossack Wars1600–1700Regional · 300K dead
- Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus1570–73Regional · 100K dead
+ 64 more in the atlas.
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 1566 and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Ottoman Empire (1566 – 1683). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/ottoman-peak · Sources & methodology