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

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:

• 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.
• Pharaoh of Egypt
  . He is believed to have ruled for either 94 or 64 years.
• 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.
• 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

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

until independence at the end of 1983). He acceded to the sultanate on 5 October 1967.

The longest current reigning

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

. 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

.

Longest-serving male non-royal head of state

The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries was

. 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

, 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

. 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

.

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

of Kuwait, who started his reign at 83 years, 96 days.

Youngest

According to legends, the youngest ruler is

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, 171 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, 188 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

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

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

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

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