Where did Queen Elizabeth reign: All of her kingdoms

New Delhi, Sep 09: Queen Elizabeth II the longest serving monarch of England passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday. During her period the footprint of the monarchy shrank dramatically.

However at the time of her death the Queen was still head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other countries known as the Commonwealth countries or realms.

At the time of her coronation in 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned queen of seven independent countries- United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon or present day Sri Lanka.

Some countries decided to keep her as the head while some did not. At the time of her death she was the head of state of Antigua and Barbuda, 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 and the UK.

While she remained queen, her role was largely ceremonial. Her duties were carried out by one of her governor generals a viceroy who effectively acts as the head of state.

During her entire reign she was head of state of 32 countries. Seventeen of those countries however decided to cut ties after becoming independent. Those countries are:

• Barbados 1966-2021
• Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1952-1972
• Fiji 1970-1987
• The Gambia 1965-1970
• Ghana 1957-1960
• Guyana 1966-1970
• Kenya 1963-1964
• Malawi 1964-1966
• Malta 1964-1974
• Mauritius 1968-1992
• Nigeria 1960-1963
• Pakistan 1952-1956
• Sierra Leone 1961-1971
• South Africa 1952-1961
• Tanganyika 1961-1962
• Trinidad and Tobago 1962-1976
• Uganda 1962-1963

The queen's reign:

Between 1983 and 1987 she was the queen of 18 countries. Fiji in 1987 and Barbados in 2021 have become republics since then. Being queen of New Zealand meant that she was the head of the Cook Islands and Niue, states that form part of the wider realm of New Zealand.

Including Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and British Antarctic Territory, Brian has 14 overseas territories over which the queen ruled. She had her shortest reigns in Kenya, Tanganyika which are now the major part of Tanzania and Uganda. These reigns lasted exactly one year between independence from Britain and becoming a republic.