Geographic HistoryMap of the Song dynasty
On the Geographic History map, the Song dynasty appears from AD 961 to 1279. It reaches its largest mapped extent in AD 980: about 2.9 million km² across 82 provinces.
The Song dynasty reunited most of China in 960, after the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It is known for its large commercial cities, paper money, printing, gunpowder weapons and a government staffed through civil service examinations. It lost the north to the Jurchen Jin in 1127 and ruled from Hangzhou as the Southern Song until the Mongols completed their conquest in 1279.
Mapped area over time
The Song dynasty on the world maps
Largest other states in AD 980
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Liao | 2.2 million km² |
| Fatimid Caliphate | 2.1 million km² |
| Cumans | 1.6 million km² |
| Kara-Khanid | 1.4 million km² |
| Naimans | 1.2 million km² |
| Persia | 990 thousand km² |
| Samanid | 940 thousand km² |
| Byzantine Empire | 940 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
