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The '''Imperium of Man''' is the galactic empire under which the majority of [[humanity]] is united. The founder and ruler of the Imperium is the god-like [[Emperor of Mankind]], the most powerful [[human]] [[psychic]] to date. Founding the Imperium ten thousand years ago, he continues, at least nominally, to lead it.
The Imperium is the largest and most powerful political entity in the galaxy, consisting of at least a million worlds, which are dispersed across most of the [[Milky Way The Galaxy]]. Consequently, an Imperial planet might be separated from its closest neighbour by hundreds or thousands of light years. As a stellar empire, the size of the Imperium cannot be measured in terms of continuous territory, but only in the number of planetary systems in its control.
Several aliens and forces - the forces of [[Chaos]], [[Tyranid]]s, [[Eldar]], [[Dark Eldar]], [[Ork]]s, [[Tau]], [[Necron]]s - challenge the supremacy of the Imperium. From within, the Imperium is threatened more insidiously by rebellion, [[mutation]], dangerous [[psyker]]s, and subversive [[Chaos Cult|cult]]s. Without the protection of the Imperium, mankind would fall prey to the countless perils that threaten it.
==History of the Imperium==
{{Main|Age of the Imperium}}
The Imperium was founded by the Emperor, also called '''The Immortal Emperor''', '''God-Emperor''', and the '''Master of Mankind''', at the end of the [[Age of Strife]] - a very long period of anarchy, war, and destructive regression which brought humanity to the brink of destruction and reversed the technological progression made during the [[Dark Age of Technology]]. In the [[Unification Wars]], the Emperor led his proto-[[Astartes]] known as [[Thunder Warriors]] to victory in unifying Earth Terra for the first time in millennia.
As the [[Warp storm]]s of the Age of Strife subsided, after having secured the scientific posts and spacedocks of [[Luna]], along with the factories and scientists on [[Mars]], the Emperor began to unite mankind under his rule. A vast navy was built, with which his armies undertook the [[Great Crusade]], which lasted for about two centuries. During this two hundred year-long military campaign, the Emperor employed his most potent military units, the [[Space Marine Legion]]s, led by their leaders, the [[Primarch]]s. These, combined with the might of the [[Imperial Army]] (which was later separated into the [[Imperial Guard]] and the [[Imperial Navy]]), [[Custodian Guard]], [[Sisters of Silence]], and [[Martian Mechanicum]] forces that included the [[Collegia Titanica]] and [[Legio Cybernetica]] saw thousands of human worlds brought together under the Imperium. The Great Crusade ended with the corruption and treachery of the Primarch [[Horus]], the instigator of the [[Horus Heresy]].
[[Image:ImpHierarchy.png|frame|center|208px|Organisation of the Imperial government.{{Fn|3}}]]
Most of the organisations comprising the Imperium are divisions of the vast [[Adeptus Terra]] (the Priesthood of EarthTerra). There are countless divisions, and some are so secretive their existence is known only to a few. The most well-known of the "secret" organisations is the [[Officio Assassinorum]]. Other organisations are secret enough that nothing besides their mere existence is known, such as the [[Officio Sabatorum]] and the [[Templars Psykologis]].
The most important and well-known Imperial organisations include:
