Elizabeth II is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, and their respective overseas territories and dependencies. She holds each crown and title equally; however, she is most directly involved with the United Kingdom, her oldest realm and the place of residence of the Royal Family.
Apart from the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II is also Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, where she is represented by Governors-General. The 16 countries of which she is Queen are known as Commonwealth Realms, and their combined population is 128 million.
Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952. She is currently the third longest reigning British monarch after Victoria, who reigned for sixty-three years and George III, who reigned for fifty-nine years. As other colonies of the British Empire attained independence from the UK during her reign, she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each respective realm so that throughout her 55 years on the throne she has been Monarch of 32 nations, half of which either subsequently adopted other royal houses or became republics.