Abstract
Why did some empires endure for centuries whereas others quickly fade? To approach this question, I focus on geography, namely the extent to which an empire abutted a sea. Seas could have allowed for greater opportunities for integration as well as trade with external polities. I consider historical empires from antiquity until 1922 and examine whether those empires with larger coastlines relative to their areas endured longer. Using various estimation methodologies and instrumenting for the length of the coastline, I find support that empires that were more connected to seas lasted longer. Further analysis suggests that the potential for seaways to lead to greater integration provides a stronger explanation than the potential for seas to provide a defensive barrier.
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