Victoria

1819 – 1901

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901, and Empress of India from 1876, presiding over the longest reign of any British monarch up to that point. The Victorian era saw the British Empire expand to govern roughly a quarter of the world's land surface and population, prosecuting opium wars against China, the violent suppression of the 1857 Indian Rebellion, the partition of Africa, and a series of catastrophic Indian famines—including the Great Famine of 1876–78—in which between 12 and 30 million people died, while colonial revenue continued to flow to London. Her name has come to stand for the imperial enterprise itself.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM