This is a list of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, detailing the monarchs and lifelong leaders who have reigned the longest, ranked by length of reign.

Monarchs of sovereign states with verifiable reigns by exact date

The following are the 25 longest-reigning monarchs of states who were internationally recognised as sovereign for most or all of their reign. Byzantine emperors Constantine VIII and Basil II, reigning for 66 years in total (962–1028) and for 65 years in total (960–1025) respectively, are not included, because for part of those periods they reigned only nominally as junior co-emperors alongside senior emperors. Regencies are not counted against monarchs, hence Louis XIV is listed first among the monarchs of sovereign states despite his mother Anne of Austria being his regent for eight years. A distinction is not made between absolute and constitutional monarchs, hence Elizabeth II is listed second despite being a figurehead her entire reign. The currently living longest-reigning monarch, Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, is not included on the list because Brunei was not a sovereign state until 1984. Bolkiah will be eligible for inclusion if he is still reigning in 2040 and surpasses Conrad I's independent rule of 56 years, 99 days.

Monarchs of dependent or constituent states with verifiable reigns by exact date

The table below contains 100 monarchs of states that were not independent sovereigns for at least a portion of their reigns.

Monarchs whose exact dates of rule are unknown

These monarchs are grouped according to length of reign by year in whole numbers. Within each year-grouping, they appear in historical order. In a given year, there may have been a wide array of actual reign lengths based on days. Thus, this table does not present a precise ranking by length of reign. The list is limited to those that might reasonably be expected to lie within the range of those in the tables above, at minimum 56 years. **** states**** were**** sovereign.**** 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 table because they are regarded as inaccurate by modern scholars. For those, see Longevity myths. Rulers with both independent and dependent rules are combined.

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