You Won’t Believe How Many Places Around the World Are Named After Queen Elizabeth
Updated: Sep. 28, 2018
Who knew it would be this many?
How Many Places Are Named After Queen Elizabeth?
Around the world, people seem to have a thing for the British royals, whether they’re Queen Elizabeth II’s subjects or not. It’s no surprise, then, that Her Majesty has quite a large number of places named after her.
Between towns, cities, parks, and even mountain ranges, there are at least 46 places around the world bearing the monarch’s name—and that’s not even including roads, buildings, and monuments. A Wikipedia list names 51 spots, but a closer search showed some were redundant or named after a different Elizabeth. (If you know an Anglophile, check out these London attractions frequented by Princess Diana.)
Canada has the most places named after Her Majesty, with 22 places named after the country’s queen, including two sets of Queen Elizabeth Islands and the mountainous Queen Elizabeth Ranges. That’s probably not a surprise, considering Canada is the country Queen Elizabeth has been to the most. (Here’s a look back at the Canadian milestones from the monarch’s 64 years on the throne.)
Weirdly enough, the queen also has two places in Antarctica named after her: Princess Elizabeth Land (named in 1931, before she was crowned queen) and Queen Elizabeth Land to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee marking her 60th year on the throne. (Even when it isn’t a jubilee year, find out why Queen Elizabeth celebrates two birthdays.)
Two American places even made it onto the list. Originally named The British Garden at Hanover Square, the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in New York City honours members of the commonwealth who were killed in the September 11 attacks, and also gives a nod to Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. In Fremont, California, the manmade Lake Elizabeth is dedicated to the town’s sister city of Elizabeth, Australia, which was named after the queen.
Other surprising spots included Zimbabwe’s Princess Elizabeth Island—which was named at the request of her father, George VI—and Queenstown, Singapore, which got its name a year after her coronation. (Guess the crazy amount of money the royal family spends on travel every year makes some friends overseas.)
Once you start looking at buildings, roads, and other spots, the number grows even more. As of 2015, Queen Elizabeth had a whopping 237 U.K. roads named after her, compared to 153 named for Queen Victoria, according to BBC.
Looking for more? Don’t miss these fascinating facts about Queen Elizabeth II.
