Selim II

About Selim II

Selim II, reigning as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 to 1574, inherited one of the world's most powerful states. His historical significance, which places him at an HPI Rank of #345, is largely defined by his role in securing and managing this vast domain during its peak period of influence. While not known for the military conquest of his father, Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II oversaw the Ottoman conquest of Yemen and Cyprus, cementing Ottoman naval control in the Mediterranean and expanding influence into North Africa.

In terms of modern internet visibility, Selim II experiences a notable attention gap, registering only 417K Wikipedia views in 2025. This level of attention is comparatively low for a figure of his historical weight. To illustrate, he garners roughly half the attention of Henry IV of France (#485 importance, 880K views) and significantly less than Mary, Queen of Scots (#532 importance, 3.2M views), both of whom are ranked lower by the Pantheon project. This suggests that despite being a key figure in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire, his online footprint is modest relative to his historical importance. The data also indicates a slight cooling of online interest, with his 2025 annualized views showing a year-over-year change of -4.4%, and a -11% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of the year.