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What lands did the Khitan Liao dynasty control at the height of its power?
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Manchuria
The historical region of Manchuria shown with the boundaries of the modern-day Chinese provinces in its place as well as the portion of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that is often considered part of Manchuria.
At the height of its power, the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125) controlled a vast territory that encompassed the following regions:
- Manchuria: The empire occupied practically the whole of this historical region.1
- Mongolian Plateau: The Liao held the greater part of this area.1
- North China: The dynasty controlled parts of North China, including the 16 prefectures located south of the Great Wall, where they established Yanjing (modern-day Beijing) as their southern capital.12
- Korean Peninsula: The empire extended its reach into parts of northern Korea.1
To manage these diverse territories, the Liao employed a dual system of administration: a northern government that ruled the nomadic tribes of the steppes according to traditional tribal laws and customs, and a southern government that administered the agricultural Chinese regions using a system modeled after the Tang dynasty.32