Editing Empire (section)

===Transition from empire===
In time, an empire may change from one political entity to another. For example, the Holy Roman Empire, a German re-constitution of the [[Roman Empire]], metamorphosed into various political structures (i.e., federalism), and eventually, under [[Habsburg]] rule, re-constituted itself in 1804 as the [[Austrian Empire]], an empire much different politics and scope, which in turn became the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] in 1867. The Roman Empire, perennially reborn, also lived on as the [[Byzantine Empire]] (Eastern Roman Empire) – temporarily splitting into the [[Latin Empire]], the [[Empire of Nicaea]] and the [[Empire of Trebizond]] before its remaining territory and centre became part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. A similarly persistent concept of empire saw the [[Mongol Empire]] become the Khanate of the [[Golden Horde]], the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] [[Empire of China]], and the [[Ilkhanate]] before resurrection as the [[Timurid Empire]] and as the [[Mughal Empire]].

An autocratic empire can become a republic with its imperial dominions reduced to a core territory (e.g., [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]] shorn of the German colonial empire im 1918–1919, the Ottoman Empire in 1918–1923, the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 1918, or the [[Russian Empire]] after 1918 and again in 1989–91). Or it can become a [[republic]] within the same borders (e.g., the Central African Empire in 1979). Alternatively, an empire can integrate the ruling metropole with the ruled periphery to become state. Originally imperial cores, [[Wessex]], [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Sardinia]], [[Prussia]] and [[Muskovy]] merged with their imperial peripheries to form the states of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia respectively.

After 1945 the [[Empire of Japan]] retained its Emperor but lost its colonial possessions and became the State of [[Japan]]. Despite the semantic reference to imperial power, [[Japan]] is a ''[[de jure]]'' [[constitutional monarchy]], with a homogeneous population of 127 million people that is 98.5 percent ethnic Japanese, making it one of the largest nation-states.<ref>George Hicks, ''Japan's hidden apartheid: the Korean Minority and the Japanese'', (Aldershot, England; Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1998), 3.</ref> The deconstruction of European colonial empires also quickened and became commonly known as [[decolonisation]]. The British Empire evolved into a loose, multinational [[Commonwealth of Nations]], while the [[French colonial empire]] metamorphosed to a [[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie|Francophone commonwealth]]. The same process happened to the [[Portuguese Empire]], which evolved into a [[Community of Portuguese Language Countries|Lusophone commonwealth]], and to the former territories of the extinct [[Spanish Empire]], which alongside the Lusophone countries of [[Portugal]] and [[Brazil]], created an [[Organization of Ibero-American States|Ibero-American commonwealth]]. France returned the French territory of [[Kwang-Chou-Wan]] to China in 1946. The British gave [[Hong Kong]] back to China in 1997 after 150 years of rule. The Portuguese territory of [[Macau]] reverted to China in 1999. Macau and Hong Kong did not become part of the provincial structure of China; they have autonomous systems of government as [[Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China]].

France still governs [[Overseas France|overseas territories]] ([[French Guiana]], [[Martinique]], [[Réunion]], [[French Polynesia]], [[New Caledonia]], [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]], [[Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon]], [[Guadeloupe]], [[French Southern and Antarctic Lands]] (TAAF), [[Wallis and Futuna]], [[Saint Barthélemy]], and [[Mayotte]]), and exerts hegemony in [[Francafrique]] ("French Africa"; 29 francophone countries such as [[Chad]], [[Rwanda]], etc.). Fourteen [[British Overseas Territories]] remain under British sovereignty. Fifteen countries of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] share their head of state, King [[Charles III]], as [[Commonwealth realms]].