This is a list of currently reigning monarchs sorted by length of service.
This list includes monarchs who do not reign over entire nations, such as Muhammad V of Kelantan, but does not include former monarchs and pretenders, such as Simeon II of Bulgaria, ex officio monarchs such as Emmanuel Macron who in his capacity as President of France is also Co-Prince of Andorra, monarchs without physical territories such as the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, constituent monarchs such as the traditional African rulers, or monarchs whose position is unofficial, such as Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama.
Hassanal Bolkiah is currently the longest-reigning monarch, having been Sultan of Brunei since 5 October 1967. [1] He became the longest-reigning monarch upon the death of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 8 September 2022. [2]
Rank | Monarch | State | Born | Current age | Acceded | Years reigned |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reigns as of 13 May 2024 T 00:30 (UTC) | ||||||
1 | Hassanal Bolkiah | Brunei | 15 July 1946 | 77 years, 303 days | 5 October 1967 | 56 years, 221 days |
2 | Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi III | Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) | 6 July 1939 | 84 years, 312 days | 25 January 1972 | 52 years, 109 days |
3 | Carl XVI Gustaf | Sweden | 30 April 1946 | 78 years, 13 days | 15 September 1973 | 50 years, 241 days |
4 | Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi | Fujairah (United Arab Emirates) | 22 February 1949 | 75 years, 81 days | 18 September 1974 | 49 years, 238 days |
5 | Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III | Ajman (United Arab Emirates) | 1 January 1931 | 93 years, 133 days | 6 September 1981 | 42 years, 250 days |
6 | Mswati III | Eswatini [lower-alpha 1] | 19 April 1968 | 56 years, 24 days | 25 April 1986 | 38 years, 18 days |
7 | Hans-Adam II | Liechtenstein | 14 February 1945 | 79 years, 89 days | 13 November 1989 | 34 years, 182 days |
8 | Harald V | Norway | 21 February 1937 | 87 years, 82 days | 17 January 1991 | 33 years, 117 days |
9 | Letsie III | Lesotho | 17 July 1963 | 60 years, 301 days | 7 February 1996 [lower-alpha 2] | 32 years, 167 days [lower-alpha 2] |
10 | Mizan Zainal Abidin | Terengganu (Malaysia) | 22 January 1962 | 62 years, 112 days | 15 May 1998 | 25 years, 364 days |
11 | Abdullah II | Jordan | 30 January 1962 | 62 years, 104 days | 7 February 1999 | 25 years, 96 days |
12 | Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa | Bahrain | 28 January 1950 | 74 years, 106 days | 6 March 1999 | 25 years, 68 days |
13 | Mohammed VI | Morocco | 21 August 1963 | 60 years, 266 days | 23 July 1999 | 24 years, 295 days |
14 | Syed Sirajuddin | Perlis (Malaysia) | 17 May 1943 | 80 years, 362 days | 17 April 2000 | 24 years, 26 days |
15 | Henri | Luxembourg | 16 April 1955 | 69 years, 27 days | 7 October 2000 | 23 years, 219 days |
16 | Sharafuddin Idris Shah | Selangor (Malaysia) | 11 December 1945 | 78 years, 154 days | 22 November 2001 | 22 years, 173 days |
17 | Norodom Sihamoni | Cambodia | 14 May 1953 | 70 years, 365 days | 14 October 2004 | 19 years, 212 days |
18 | Albert II | Monaco | 14 March 1958 | 66 years, 60 days | 6 April 2005 | 19 years, 37 days |
19 | Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | Dubai (United Arab Emirates) | 15 July 1949 | 74 years, 303 days | 4 January 2006 | 18 years, 130 days |
20 | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck | Bhutan | 21 February 1980 | 44 years, 82 days | 9 December 2006 | 17 years, 156 days |
21 | Muhriz | Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia) | 14 January 1948 | 76 years, 120 days | 29 December 2008 | 15 years, 136 days |
22 | Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla | Umm al-Quwain (United Arab Emirates) | 1 October 1952 | 71 years, 225 days | 2 January 2009 | 15 years, 132 days |
23 | Ibrahim Iskandar | Johor (Malaysia) [lower-alpha 3] | 22 November 1958 | 65 years, 173 days | 23 January 2010 | 14 years, 111 days |
24 | Muhammad V | Kelantan (Malaysia) | 6 October 1969 | 54 years, 220 days | 13 September 2010 | 13 years, 243 days |
25 | Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi | Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) | 10 February 1956 | 68 years, 93 days | 27 October 2010 | 13 years, 199 days |
26 | Tupou VI | Tonga | 12 July 1959 | 64 years, 306 days | 18 March 2012 | 12 years, 56 days |
27 | Francis | Vatican City | 17 December 1936 | 87 years, 148 days | 13 March 2013 | 11 years, 61 days |
28 | Willem-Alexander | Netherlands | 27 April 1967 | 57 years, 16 days | 30 April 2013 | 11 years, 13 days |
29 | Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani | Qatar | 3 June 1980 | 43 years, 345 days | 25 June 2013 | 10 years, 323 days |
30 | Philippe | Belgium | 15 April 1960 | 64 years, 28 days | 21 July 2013 | 10 years, 297 days |
31 | Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah | Perak (Malaysia) | 27 November 1956 | 67 years, 168 days | 29 May 2014 | 9 years, 350 days |
32 | Felipe VI | Spain | 30 January 1968 | 56 years, 104 days | 19 June 2014 | 9 years, 329 days |
33 | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Saudi Arabia | 31 December 1935 | 88 years, 134 days | 23 January 2015 | 9 years, 111 days |
34 | Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) | Thailand | 28 July 1952 | 71 years, 290 days | 13 October 2016 | 7 years, 213 days |
35 | Mahmud Sallehuddin | Kedah (Malaysia) | 30 April 1942 | 82 years, 13 days | 11 September 2017 | 6 years, 245 days |
36 | Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah | Pahang (Malaysia) | 30 July 1959 | 64 years, 288 days | 15 January 2019 | 5 years, 119 days |
37 | Naruhito | Japan | 23 February 1960 | 64 years, 80 days | 1 May 2019 | 5 years, 12 days |
38 | Haitham bin Tarik Al Said | Oman | 11 October 1954 | 69 years, 215 days | 11 January 2020 | 4 years, 123 days |
39 | Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) | 11 March 1961 | 63 years, 63 days | 13 May 2022 | 2 years, 0 days |
40 | Charles III | Antigua and Barbuda | 14 November 1948 | 75 years, 181 days | 8 September 2022 | 1 year, 248 days |
Australia | ||||||
The Bahamas | ||||||
Belize | ||||||
Canada | ||||||
Grenada | ||||||
Jamaica | ||||||
New Zealand | ||||||
Papua New Guinea | ||||||
Saint Kitts and Nevis | ||||||
Saint Lucia | ||||||
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | ||||||
Solomon Islands | ||||||
Tuvalu | ||||||
United Kingdom | ||||||
41 | Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah | Kuwait | 27 September 1940 | 83 years, 229 days | 16 December 2023 | 149 days |
42 | Frederik X | Denmark | 26 May 1968 | 55 years, 353 days | 14 January 2024 | 120 days |
A monarch is a head of state for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Usually a monarch either personally inherits the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights or is selected by an established process from a family or cohort eligible to provide the nation's monarch. Alternatively, an individual may proclaim oneself monarch, which may be backed and legitimated through acclamation, right of conquest or a combination of means.
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic, to fully autocratic, and can span across executive, legislative, and judicial domains.
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Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III is Sultan of Brunei since 1967 and the prime minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.