Records of heads of state

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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. In this way world records in these characteristics may be identified, although 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 current monarch.

Male monarch[]

Longest-reigning male monarch[]
Main article: List of longest-reigning monarchs

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. However, the longest undisputed reigning ruler of a sovereign state is Louis XIV, who ruled Kingdom of France for 72 years.

Longest-ruling monarch, whose exact dates of rule are unknown is disputed between the following candidates

  • Minhti, 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.
  • Taejo 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.

Japanese legendary emperors, according to the ancient Japanese calendar, reigned for very long terms of 60–70 years each. The longest ruler of the legendary emperors, Emperor Kōan, 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.

Longest current reigning male monarch[]
Main article: Current reigning monarchs by length of reign

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 Darussalam (which was a British protectorate until independence at the end of 1983). He acceded to the sultanate on 1 August 1968.

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 the 15. September 1973.

Longest-reigning female monarch[]
Main article: List of longest-reigning monarchs

The longest reigning female monarch ever is Elizabeth II, who is currently the Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and is a constitutional monarch. She has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, since 6 February 1952, (the other countries she is at present queen of were not independent at the time of her accession). The previous record was held by Queen Victoria another British monarch (and Elizabeth II's Great-Great Grandmother) who reigned for 63 years, 216 days from 1837-1901 until she was surpassed by Elizabeth II in 2015.

Republic[]

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, President of the Council of State, and President 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-serving and longest current serving male president[]
Main article: List of current longest ruling non-royal national leaders

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[]

Main article: List of elected and appointed female heads of state

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 not-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 August 2, 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 Zhou.

Mexican politician Pedro Lascuráin served as the 34th President of Mexico for a short period of time ranging from 15 to 56 minutes before he quit in a coup d'état in order to make General Victoriano Huerta the next President.

Age[]

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.

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 of Spain who became king of Spain since 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 6 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 Francisco Morales-Bermúdez who was Prime Minister of Peru briefly in 1975 and then became President from 1975 to 1980. He is currently 99 years, 340 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 91 years, 326 days old. The oldest female monarch is Arwa Al-Sulayhi who lived from 1040 to 1138, dying at 97 or 98 years old.

Shortest lived[]

The shortest lived head of state is Jean I of France who ruled and lived for five 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.

Modern European royalty is well-documented as being descended from Arnulf of Metz (c. AD 582–640), forefather of Charlemagne, a lineage of 47 generations from him through Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.[citation needed] (See Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX for how Europe's other dynasties share the descent from George II of Great Britain.)

The Ottoman Empire lasted for 36 sultans in 21 generations, from Osman I to Mehmed VI for 623 years. (See List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire.)

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 1 upwards, from the beginning of each century.[1]

Physical attributes[]

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.[2]

Tallest[]

Maharana Pratap of Mewar was the tallest ruler, standing at 7 ft 5 in (2.27m).[3] On the other hand, 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 IV was reported to be 224 cm tall, and Serbian king Stephen IV was 214 cm tall, though both claims are disputed.[citation needed]

Shortest[]

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

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Russell, Alan; McWhirter, Norris D., eds. (1 October 1987). The Guinness Book of Records 1988. Fleet St., London: Guinness Superlatives ltd. p. 190. ISBN 0851128688.
  2. ^ McWhirter, Norris (1996). Guinness Book of Records. Guinness Publishing. pp. 181–2. ISBN 0-85112-646-4.
  3. ^ "Maharana Pratap Jayanti: Know the Real-life Story of the Brave Rajput Warrior". www.news18.com. 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  4. ^ "26 Intimidating World Leaders Who You Never Realized Were Super Short". Ranker. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
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