The Qing dynasty of China heralded another period of Pax Sinica.[31] At its peak, it ruled over the fourth largest empire territorially, constituting 9.87 per cent of the world's total land area.[32] The High Qing era was a period of sustained peace, economic prosperity and territorial expansion.[33] The multicultural and multiethnic nature of the Qing dynasty was fundamental to the subsequent formation of the modern nationalist concept of Zhonghua minzu.