Records of heads of state

Heads of state throughout the world and at all periods of history may be ranked according to characteristics such as length of time holding that position; age of accession or death; or physical attributes. World records in these characteristics may be identified, though the historical basis for such claims is frequently uncertain.

Longest-reigning/serving

Monarch

• 
  Sobhuza II, the longest-ruling verifiable monarch ever known
• 
  Louis XIV, the longest-ruling verifiable sovereign monarch
• 
  Elizabeth II, the longest-ruling female monarch

Longest-reigning male monarch

The longest undisputed reigning monarch is Sobhuza II, who ruled the Kingdom of Swaziland under the title of Paramount Chief of Swaziland and later King of Swaziland. He ruled for 82 years and 254 days. However, the longest undisputed reigning ruler of a sovereign state is Louis XIV, who ruled the Kingdom of France for 72 years, 3 months, and 18 days.

The distinction of longest-ruling monarch, whose exact dates of rule are unknown is disputed between the following candidates:

• Min Hti of Arakan, who ruled the Kingdom of Arakan as an absolute monarch under the title of King of Arakan. He is believed to have ruled for 95 years; however, little documentary evidence exists for this claim.
• Pepi II Neferkare, who ruled the Kingdom of Egypt as an absolute monarch under the title of Pharaoh of Egypt. He is believed to have ruled for either 94 or 64 years.
• Taejodae of Goguryeo, who ruled Goguryeo as an absolute monarch under the title of Taewang ("The Greatest of all Kings"). He is believed to have ruled for either 93 years or 68 years.
• Emperor Nintoku was believed to have ruled Japan as an absolute monarch for 86 years although his chronology is disputed.
• The longest reign of any non-disputed monarch was that of Abd al-Muttalib who was the Lord of Quraysh in present-day Saudi Arabia; but he was only a Lord and of a low rank.^{[clarification needed]}
• Raja Sawai Basavalinga I Rajendra Udaiyer who ruled as Raja of Sundem (Portuguese India) for 80 years, between 1763 and 15 May 1843.
• Jangsu was the King of Goguryeo (located in present-day Korea) for about 78 years between 413 and 491.
• Japanese legendary emperors, according to the ancient Japanese calendar, reigned for very long terms of 60–70 years each. The longest of these reigns was that of Emperor Kōan, who was claimed to have reigned for about 101 years. These figures are not included in the list because they are regarded as inaccurate by modern scholars. For those see Longevity myths.

Longest-reigning female monarch

The longest reigning female monarch is Elizabeth II, who was the Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and was a constitutional monarch. She was Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand,^[1] for 70 years, from 6 February 1952 until her death aged 96 on 8 September 2022.

Longest current reigning male monarch

The longest current reigning male monarch is Hassanal Bolkiah, who is the Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei ("(he) who is Lord"), an absolute monarch of Brunei (which was a British protectorate until independence at the end of 1983). He acceded to the sultanate on 5 October 1967.

The longest current reigning constitutional male monarch is Carl XVI Gustaf, who is the King of Sweden, a sovereign state throughout his reign which began on 15 September 1973.

Longest current reigning female monarch

Currently there are no female reigning monarchs. This title was last held by Margrethe II of Denmark. Her reign began on 14 January 1972, reigning for 52 years until her abdication on 14 January 2024.

Republic

• 
  Malietoa Tanumafili II, the longest-serving president ever
• 
  Fidel Castro, the longest-serving non-royal head of state ever in the 20th and 21st centuries
• 
  Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the longest-serving incumbent president
• 
  Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the longest serving female non-royal head of state

Longest-serving male president

The longest-serving male president ever was Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, who held the office of O le Ao o le Malo for a special lifetime term (in derogation from the normal term length of five years), for 45 years and 130 days overall; first alongside Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole from 1962 to 1963 and then as sole head of state from 1963 to 2007. However, despite the office of O le Ao o le Malo being that of a president of a republic, Malietoa Tanumafili II was also one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs.

Longest-serving male non-royal head of state

The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries was Fidel Castro, who held the titles of Prime Minister of Cuba, First Secretary of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the United Party for the Socialist Revolution of Cuba, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and President of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba. He served overall for 52 years, 2 months, and 3 days but was only head of state from 1976 to 2008 (31 years, 2 months and 22 days).

Longest current serving male president

The longest-serving and longest current serving male president ever is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who is currently the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, who seized power in a coup in 1979.

Longest-serving female non-royal head of state and longest serving female

The longest serving female non-royal head of state and longest serving female president ever was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who was the President of the Republic of Iceland. She served for 16 years (5844 days).

Shortest serving

• 
  Louis XIX, the shortest-serving monarch of all time
• 
  Pedro Lascurain, the shortest-serving non-royal head of state

The shortest serving monarch of all time is believed to be Louis XIX of France. After his father's abdication during the July Revolution on 2 August 1830, he ascended to the throne, but abdicated around 20 minutes later. This reign is disputed, as some historians believe this reign is too short to be valid. The next contender is the unnamed daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei who was appointed by her grandmother, Empress Dowager Hu. She reigned for a matter of hours until being replaced by Yuan Zhao.

In more recent history, Dipendra was the undisputed King of Nepal for only around 56 hours in 2001.

As part of a coup d'état, Mexican politician Pedro Lascuráin served as the 38th President of Mexico for a short period of time – from 15 to 56 minutes – before he quit in order to make General Victoriano Huerta the next president.

Age

• 
  Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, the oldest verifiable head of state at the time of dying in office
• 
  Jean I, the shortest-lived known monarch
• 
  Celâl Bayar, the longest-lived known head of state

Oldest

The oldest ruler, whose date of birth is known, is Giovanni Paolo Lascaris. He was Grand Master of the Order of Saint John until his death at the age of 97 years 47 days. The oldest ruler at the time of taking office is Prem Tinsulanonda, who became regent of Thailand at 96 years 97 days old and ruled for several months. The oldest president at the time of taking office is Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi who became President of Tunisia at 88 years, 32 days. The oldest monarch at the time of accession is Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, who started his reign at 83 years, 96 days.

Youngest

According to legends, the youngest ruler is Shapur II who was crowned in utero when a crown was placed on the belly of Hormizd II's wife after Hormizd II died. However, according to Shapur Shahbazi, it is unlikely. The youngest undisputed ruler is believed to be Alfonso XIII who became King of Spain at birth. The youngest non-royal ruler is Jean-Claude Duvalier who became President of Haiti at the age of 19. The youngest female monarch is Mary who became Queen of Scotland at six days old.

Longest lived

The longest lived undisputed head of state is the President of Turkey Celâl Bayar who lived from 1883 to 1986, and died at 103 years old and 98 days. The oldest undisputed monarch is Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, who was Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000; he lived from 5 January 1921 until his death on 23 April 2019 at 98 years, 108 days. The oldest living former head of state is Guillermo Rodríguez, who was Acting President of Ecuador from 1972 to 1976. He is currently 100 years, 164 days. The longest lived female head of state is Khertek Anchimaa-Toka, who was Chair of the Presidium of Tuva. She lived from 1 January 1912 to 4 November 2008 dying at 96 years, 308 days. The oldest living female former head of state is Violeta Chamorro, who served as President of Nicaragua and was born on 18 October 1929 and is currently 94 years, 181 days old. The oldest female monarch is Elizabeth II, who was 96 years, 140 days old at the time of her death.

Shortest-lived

The shortest-lived head of state is Jean I of France who ruled and lived for four days in 1316.

Ruling houses

Oldest

Officially, the current Emperor of Japan, Naruhito is the 126th in line from the first emperor, Jimmu, who is variously believed to have reigned in the 1st or 7th century BC. The earliest documentary evidence is only for the 29th emperor, Kinmei (AD 509–571); however, this is sufficient such that even the most conservative of estimates still places the Japanese imperial family as among the oldest lines in the world today.

Post-nominal numbers

The highest post-nominal number representing a member of a royal house is 75, used by Count Heinrich LXXV Reuss (r. 1800–1801). All male members of the branch were named Heinrich, and were successively numbered from I upwards, from the beginning of each century.^[2]

Physical attributes

• 
  Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the heaviest head of state at the time of dying in office
• 
  Sancho VII of Navarre, the tallest verifiable ruler in history
• 
  Benito Juárez, the shortest head of state

Heaviest

The heaviest monarch is believed to have been Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga from 1965 to 2006, who at his peak in 1976 was measured as 208.7 kg (460 lb), though he subsequently lost around 40% of his weight.^[3] The heaviest president is William Howard Taft who was the President of the United States between 1909 and 1913 and weighed around 150.59 kg (332.0 lb).^[4][5]

Tallest

The tallest height of a president is that of Filip Vujanović of Montenegro standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) tall.^[6]

One of the tallest rulers in history was Serb Dusan the Mighty who was King of Serbia (1331-1345) and later tsar of Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians (1346-1355). He was 214cm tall, in that time average height was 165-170cm, so he searched the whole Europe to find 101 men over 2 meter tall to be in his personal guard. ^[7]

Herodotus wrote in Histories (7:117) that "Xerxes was in stature the tallest of all the Persians, falling short by only four fingers of being five royal cubits in height." A royal cubit is assumed to be a bit more than 20 English inches (52 cm), which makes Xerxes almost 8 feet tall (2.43 m), though this is likely legendary. Sancho VII of Navarre was reported to be 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m).^[6]

Shortest

President Benito Juárez of Mexico was reportedly the shortest world leader, standing at 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m).^[8]

The shortest monarch is Queen Victoria of the British Empire, who was believed to be around 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m).^[9] Two Egyptian pharaohs were also said to be very short, Cleopatra VII was said to be 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) and Amenhotep I is claimed to be the shortest male monarch at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m).^[8]

See also

• List of oldest living state leaders
• Records of prime ministers of Australia
• Records of prime ministers of Hungary
• Records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

References