Angkor
The largest pre-industrial city in the world, and a religious monument to match.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 629 years
- Known to
- ± 20 years
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
The Khmer Empire rules mainland Southeast Asia from 802, and Angkor grows into an urban complex whose water-management network of reservoirs and canals supported perhaps 700,000 to a million people across 1,000 square kilometres — established by airborne laser survey. Angkor Wat, built around 1150 as a Hindu temple and later Buddhist, is the largest religious structure on Earth. The hydraulic system's failure during severe droughts contributed to Angkor's decline.