Definition

An empire is an aggregate of many separate states or territories under a supreme ruler or oligarchy. This is in contrast to a federation, which is an extensive state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a large polity which rules over territories outside of its original borders.

I guess the Russian Federation is an empire if for no other reason than that Chechnya is not a voluntary member of the federation. My mistake was thinking that an Empire had to be large and powerful.

TEK