Spain. The Spanish Empire<span> (</span>Spanish<span>: </span>Imperio español<span>) was one of the largest </span>empires<span> in history. It reached the peak of its military, political and economic power under the </span>Spanish Habsburgs,[1]<span> through most of the 16th and 17th centuries, and its greatest territorial extent under the </span>House of Bourbon<span> in the 18th century, when it was the largest empire in the world. The Spanish Empire became the </span>foremost global power<span> of its time and was the first to be called </span>the empire on which the sun never sets<span>.</span>
