World's Largest Pre-Industrial Urban Settlement

Satellite imaging and ground surveys published in 2007 revealed that the greater Angkor area, once capital of the Khmer Empire, sprawled across more than 1,000 square kilometers, making it the largest low-density urban complex known from before the industrial era. Its network of canals, reservoirs, and roads likely supported a population exceeding half a million people. The findings reshaped historians' understanding of Angkor's true scale.