A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. Many historic palaces are now put to other uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels, or office buildings. Often people confuse between palace and castle, but there is a clear distinction between the two. While both are usually grand royal residences, the fortifications in a castle set them apart. The act of determining the world’s largest palaces is difficult as many countries use different standards to claim their palaces are the largest. For purposes of this article, only the combined area of all floors in the palace (a measurement commonly known as floorspace) is considered.
Here are the top 20 biggest palaces in the world.
| Rank | Palace | Floor area |
| 1. | Palace of the Parliament | 330,000 m2 (3,552,090 ft2) |
| 2. | Hofburg Palace | 240,000 m2 (2,583,339 ft2) |
| 3. | Louvre Palace | 210,000 m2 (2,260,421 ft2) |
| 4. | Ak Saray Presidential Complex | 200,020 m2 (2,152,997 ft2) |
| 5. | Istana Nurul Iman | 200,000 m2 (2,152,782 ft2) |
| 6. | Apostolic Palace | 162,000 m2 (1,743,753 ft2) |
| 7. | Forbidden City | 150,000 m2 (1,614,587 ft2) |
| 8. | Malbork Castle | 143,000 m2 (1,539,239 ft2) |
| 9. | Royal Palace of Madrid | 135,000 m2 (1,453,128 ft2) |
| 10. | Quirinal Palace | 110,500 m2 (1,189,412 ft2) |
| 11. | Abdeen Palace | 108,000 m2 (1,162,502 ft2) |
| 12. | Falaknuma Palace | 93,971 m2 (1,011,495 sq ft) |
| 13. | Istana Negara | 90,082 m2 (969,635 ft2) |
| 14. | Palace of Venaria | 80,000 m2 (861,113 ft2) |
| 15. | Buckingham Palace | 77,000 m2 (828,821 ft2) |
| 16. | Çırağan Palace | 76,000 m2 (818,057 ft2) |
| 17. | Prague Castle | 70,000 m2 (753,474 ft2) |
| 18. | Topkapi Palace | 70,000 m2 (753,474 ft2) |
| 19. | Palace of Versailles | 63,154 m2 (679,784 ft2) |
| 20. | Royal Palace of Stockholm | 61,210 m2 (658,859 ft2) |
