The modern nation of Afghanistan had normally been at the periphery of empires. Peak Year: 2997 BCE (1.2% of world GDP/population) Here is how I have allocated its territory over time. State Proportions for Selected Country Table Country Start Year End Year Proportions Afghanistan -3000 -551 None-1, Afghanistan -550 -330 Persia-1, Afghanistan -329 -328 Macedon-0.5,Persia-0.5,…

It was common in European feudalism, to have a various territories to have the same ruler despite being administratively and even geographically separated. I view that it is important to show these as being a single state. In most cases, I identify this by the primary or home territory of the ruler. For example, the…

Peak: 1300 (7.8%) France was unaffected by the Mongol conquests. Other parts of Europe grew faster after 1300.

Peak Year: 1991 (8.7%) Japan was the first Asian nation to industrialize. With its large population it became the world’s second largest economy, until China caught up.

Peak: 2999 BC (8.7%) Intensive agriculture came later to Mexico than the Old World, so Mexico has the highest numbers at the start of the data.

Peak: 1939 (8.8%) World War Two sharply reduced the size of the German economy. It recovered in its absolute terms, but growth in the rest of the world reduced its relative importance.

Peak: 1 CE (9.4%) Maddison’s data only goes back to 1 CE. At that point, Italy was relatively wealthy as result of tribute collected throught the Roman Empire.

Peak: 1870 (9.5%) The United Kingdom was the first country to industrialize. After 1870, the United States and Germany catch up.

Peak Year: 1945 (27.7%) The United States peak reflects that most other countries had been battered by WW2. The US proportion has fallen steadily since then as other countries recovered from the war and developed on their own.

Peak Year: 1100 BCE (33.7%) Nadir: 1974 (2.8%) Agriculture came to the Ganges plain early, but as the rest of the world caught up, India’s relative importance declined. The industrial revolution came late to British India and the main part of the population remained in subsistence agriculture until the 21st century. The socialist economics brought…