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A monarch is a hereditary ruler, figurehead or head of state, except in certain states
like the former Kingdom of Poland and the Kalmar Union which featured an elective monarchy, and current-day Malaysia (see Yang di-Pertuan
Agong) which uses a system of rotational selection from regional hereditary rulers.
A nation or state that is ruled by a monarch is called a kingdom. A system of governance involving a monarch is known as a monarchy.
Kings and queens
The term "King" designates a male monarch, unless he uses another title such as emperor (in the case of a male monarch who rules over an empire or
imperial realm) or tsar (in the case of a male monarch who rules over Imperial Russia). A
female monarch is called "Queen", or in full "reigning queen" or "queen regnant", to distinguish from "queen consort", the wife of a king. In some countries in Europe, Asia, Africa,
North America and the Pacific, a "King" is the hereditary head of a nation-state, except when a queen or other head of state fills the role.
In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang, which designated
the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty, China had a number of small kingdoms, each about the size of a county and subordinate to the Emperor of China.
Other monarchical titles
When a difference exists, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.
By region
- Americas
- Cacique - Aboriginal Hispaniola
- Middle East
- Caliph - Islamic holy title
- Emir - Arabic holy title
- Khan - Mongol Emperor or Turkish, Afghan, Pashtun or other Central Asian chieftain
- Malik/Malika - Arabic leader
- Pharaoh - Ancient Egypt
- Shah - Persia/Iran, Afghanistan
- Shahenshah - Persia/Iran, "King
of Kings" or emperor
- Shaikh - Arabic leader
- Sultan/Sultana - Arabic King
General monarch titles
Monarchs today
Few monarchs today exercise absolute authority. Although there are a number of hereditary monarchies still existing in the
world, many countries with hereditary royalty are de facto ruled by a democratically elected leader such as a Prime Minister, while the monarchy continues to hold a symbolic or ceremonial
position (eg. United Kingdom; see also constitutional monarchy).
In a few cases a monarch is associated with a particular group (or nation) within a
state, such as Te Arikuini Te Atairangikaahu of the Maori (the
Maori Queen) and Osei Tutu II of the Ashanti. Malaysia provides an example of a
monarch-rich state.
The system used to determine succession to the throne, also known as the order of succession, varies from monarchy to monarchy. Traditionally, succession going to the eldest
son of the monarch has been most common; if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass either to the eldest daughter, or to
the nearest male relative, depending on whether the monarchy accepted female rulers and/or descent in the female line. Some
monarchies have abolished this preference for males, and the eldest child of the monarch ascends to the throne, be that child
male or female, e.g. some European monarchies such as Sweden. There are also elected
monarchs of elected monarchies, and dictators who proclaim
themselves rulers of a self-proclaimed
monarchy.
In some monarchies, e.g. Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne has
passed to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only to the monarch's children after that. In some other monarchies, the monarch
chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son, e.g. Jordan.
See also: Dauphin, Regent, Queen consort
Reigning monarchs
There are thirty-one reigning sovereign monarchs and thirty monarchies in the world:
Some countries have reigning monarchs who are not head of state, for
example the individual emirs of the United Arab Emirates
and the kings of the Wallis and Futuna islands.
Alternate meanings
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