A regent is a person selected to act as head of state (ruling or not) because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. The following is a list of regents throughout history.

Regents in extant monarchies

Those who held a regency briefly, for example during surgery, are not necessarily listed, particularly if they performed no official acts; this list is also not complete, presumably not even for all monarchies included. The list includes some figures who acted as regent, even if they did not themselves hold the title of regent.

Asia

Cambodia

Japan

Jordan

Malaysia and its constitutive monarchies

Terengganu

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Thailand

Africa

Morocco

Lesotho

Swaziland

Europe

Belgium

Denmark

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Monaco

Netherlands

Norway

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom and its predecessor realms

Kingdom of Great Britain

Kingdom of England

Kingdom of Scotland

House of Stewart

South America

Afro-Bolivian monarchy

Regents in defunct monarchies

The same notes apply; inclusion in this list reflects the political reality, regardless of claims to the throne.

Asia

China

Afghanistan

Before the 1881 unification, there were essentially four rulers' capitals: Kabul, Herat, Qandahar and Peshawar (the last now in Pakistan); all their rulers belonged to the Abdali tribal group, whose name was changed to Dorrani with Ahmad Shah Abdali. They belong either to the Saddozay segment of the Popalzay clan (typically styled padshah, king) or to the Mohammadzay segment of the Barakzay clan (typically with the style Amir, in full Amir al-Mo´menin "Leader of the Faithful"). The Mohammadzay also furnished the Saddozay kings frequently with top counselors, who served occasionally as (Minister-)regents, identified with the epithet Mohammadzay.

Ahom Kingdom

Madurai

Mughal Empire

Vijayanagara Empire

Qutub Shahi dynasty

Travancore

Both before and during the British raj (colonial rule), most of India was ruled by several hundred native princely houses, many of which have known regencies, under the raj subject to British approval

Vakataka Kingdom

Iran

Iraq

In the short-lived Hashemite kingdom, there were three regencies in the reign of the third and last king Faysal II (b. 1935 – d. 1958; also Head of the 'Arab Union', a federation with the Hashemite sister-kingdom Jordan, from 14 February 1958) :

Korea

Mongolia

Myanmar

Mysore

Nepal

Ryukyu

Tibetan Empire

Turkey

Vietnam

Africa

Egypt

Ethiopia

Americas

Brazil

Europe

Austria

Bulgaria

Finland

After the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia, the throne of the Grand Duke of Finland was vacant and according to the constitution of 1772, a regent was installed by the Finnish Parliament during the first two years of Finnish independence, before the country was declared a republic.

France

Greece

German Empire

Anhalt

Baden

Bavaria

Brunswick

Hanover

Hesse-Darmstadt

Hesse-Homburg

Hesse-Kassel

Lippe

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Prussia

Württemberg

Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Saxe-Eisenach

Saxe-Hildburghausen

Saxe-Jena

Saxe-Meiningen

Saxe-Merseburg

Saxe-Weimar

Saxony

Waldeck

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Mantua

Parma

Savoy

Kievan Rus'

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Serbia

Serbian regents abroad

Yugoslavia

Oceania

Hawaii