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World at War

Qin Unification of China

230–221 BC China Status: ended Casualties: Hundreds of thousands

In nine years Qin swallowed the other six kingdoms. The First Emperor standardised script, weights, currency, axle-widths; began the Great Wall; built the terracotta army for his afterlife. The unified Chinese state has endured, with intermissions, for 2,200 years.

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Belligerents

  • Qin under Ying Zheng (Shi Huangdi)
  • Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, Qi

Casualties

Hundreds of thousands

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.