The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐏂, Xšāça, lit. 'The Empire'[19] or 'The Kingdom'[20]), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the largest empire by that point in history, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles). The empire spanned from the Balkans and Egypt in the west, most of West Asia, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley of South Asia to the southeast.[12][13][14]
Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians.[21] From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, marking the establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty.
