Current Timeline
In late-41st millennium, the fictional universe's "current" time period, the Imperium of Mankind is a regime that bears little resemblance to its pre-Heresy counterpart. It is depicted as a loose empire ruling over a million worlds; its territory spans all space within approximately 50,000 light years from Terra, with a total population presumably in the quadrillions. Imperial citizens are almost exclusively human; a relatively small fraction of the population consists of members of mutant species of human descent, called "abhuman" in Imperial classification.
The Imperium is united chiefly through religious fanaticism and threats of brutal disciplinary force. It still claims lone dominion over the Milky Way and all humanity; it does not recognize other governments, whether human or alien, and continues to maintain that all aliens must be subjugated or destroyed. The Imperium teeters on the verge of collapse due to a combination of war, technological and spiritual stagnation, and bureaucratic inefficiency.
Read more about this topic: Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
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