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A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled by an individual who normally rules for life or until abdication, and typically inherits the throne by birth. Monarchs may be autocrats (as in many absolute monarchies) or may be ceremonial figureheads who exercise only reserve power, with actual authority vested in a parliament or other governing bodies (as in many constitutional monarchies). In many cases, a monarch will also be linked with a state religion.

Most states only have a single monarch at any given time, although a regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, not present, or otherwise incapable of ruling. Cases in which two monarchs rule simultaneously over a single state, as is the current situation in Andorra, are known as dyarchies.

Monarchs are distinguished by their titles and styles, which in most cases are defined by tradition, and guaranteed under the state's constitution. A variety of titles are applied in English; for example, "king" and "queen", "prince" and "princess", "emperor" and "empress". Although they will be addressed differently in their local languages, the names and titles in the list below have been styled using the common English equivalent. In the same way, while the European practice of using distinguishing Roman numerals for rulers has been applied below where typical, in most cases these are not actually used according to local custom.

In political and sociocultural studies, monarchies are normally associated with hereditary rule; most monarchs, in both historical and contemporary contexts, have been born and raised within a royal family. Succession has been defined using a variety of distinct formulae, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. Some monarchies, however, are not hereditary, and the ruler is instead determined through an elective process. Modern examples include the throne of Malaysia, and the throne of the Vatican City. These systems defy the model concept of a monarchy, but are commonly considered as such because they retain certain associative characteristics. Many systems use a combination of hereditary and elective elements, where the election or nomination of a successor is restricted to members of a royal bloodline.

Entries below are listed beside their respective dominions, which are organised alphabetically. These monarchs reign as head of state in their respective sovereign states. For monarchs reigning over a constituent division, cultural or traditional polity, see constituent monarchs. For current claimants to abolished thrones, see pretenders.

Monarchs by country

State	Monarch	Since	House	Type	Succession	Standard	Refs
Andorra	Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives Sicília Co-Prince Nicolas Sarkozy	12 May 2003 16 May 2007	N/A	Constitutional	Ex officio	N/A
Antigua and Barbuda	Queen Elizabeth II	1 November 1981	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Australia	Queen Elizabeth II	6 February 1952	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary
Bahamas	Queen Elizabeth II	10 July 1973	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Bahrain	King Hamad ibn Isa	6 March 1999	Al Khalifah	Mixed	Hereditary
Barbados	Queen Elizabeth II	30 November 1966	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary
Belgium	King Albert II	9 August 1993	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Constitutional	Hereditary
Belize	Queen Elizabeth II	21 September 1981	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Bhutan	King Jigme Khesar Namgyel	14 December 2006	Wangchuck	Constitutional	Hereditary
Brunei	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah	4 October 1967	Bolkiah	Absolute	Hereditary
Cambodia	King Norodom Sihamoni	14 October 2004	Norodom	Constitutional	Hereditary and elective
Canada	Queen Elizabeth II	6 February 1952	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary
Denmark	Queen Margrethe II	14 January 1972	Glücksburg	Constitutional	Hereditary
Grenada	Queen Elizabeth II	7 February 1974	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Jamaica	Queen Elizabeth II	6 August 1962	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary
Japan	Emperor Akihito	7 January 1989	Yamato	Constitutional	Hereditary
Jordan	King Abdullah II	7 February 1999	Hāshim	Constitutional	Hereditary
Kuwait	Emir Sabah al-Ahmad	29 January 2006	Al Sabah	Mixed	Hereditary and elective
Lesotho	King Letsie III	7 February 1996	Moshesh	Constitutional	Hereditary and elective
Liechtenstein	Prince Hans-Adam II	13 November 1989	Liechtenstein	Constitutional	Hereditary
Luxembourg	Grand Duke Henri	7 October 2000	Nassau-Weilburg	Constitutional	Hereditary
Malaysia	King Mizan Zainal Abidin	13 December 2006	Terengganu	Constitutional	Elective and hereditary
Monaco	Prince Albert II	6 April 2005	Grimaldi	Constitutional	Hereditary
Morocco	King Mohammed VI	23 July 1999	Alawi	Constitutional	Hereditary
Netherlands	Queen Beatrix	30 April 1980	Orange-Nassau	Constitutional	Hereditary
New Zealand	Queen Elizabeth II	6 February 1952	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	File:Royal Standard of New Zealand.svg
Norway	King Harald V	17 January 1991	Glücksburg	Constitutional	Hereditary
Oman	Sultan Qaboos bin Said	23 July 1970	Al Bu Sa‘id	Absolute	Hereditary
Papua New Guinea	Queen Elizabeth II	16 September 1975	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Qatar	Emir Hamad bin Khalifa	27 June 1995	Al Thani	Absolute	Hereditary	N/A
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Queen Elizabeth II	19 September 1983	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Saint Lucia	Queen Elizabeth II	22 February 1979	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Queen Elizabeth II	27 October 1979	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Saudi Arabia	King Abdullah bin Abdul‘aziz	1 August 2005	Al Saud	Absolute	Hereditary and elective
Solomon Islands	Queen Elizabeth II	7 July 1978	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
Spain	King Juan Carlos I	22 November 1975	Bourbon	Constitutional	Hereditary
Swaziland	King Mswati III	25 April 1986	Dlamini	Absolute	Hereditary and elective	File:Royal Flag of Swaziland.png
Sweden	King Carl XVI Gustaf	15 September 1973	Bernadotte	Constitutional	Hereditary
Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	9 June 1946	Chakri	Constitutional	Hereditary
Tonga	King Siaosi Tupou V	11 September 2006	Tupou	Constitutional	Hereditary
Tuvalu	Queen Elizabeth II	1 October 1978	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary	N/A
United Arab Emirates	President Khalifa bin Zayed	3 November 2004	Al Nahyan	Mixed	Elective and hereditary
United Kingdom	Queen Elizabeth II	6 February 1952	Windsor	Constitutional	Hereditary
Vatican City	Pope Benedict XVI	19 April 2005	N/A	Absolute	Ex officio

See also

Notes

1. ^ Elizabeth II is currently queen regnant of sixteen separate Commonwealth realms (see separate entries), and has previously reigned as queen of sixteen other countries, which are now republics.
2. ^ Elizabeth II previously reigned over this country as Queen of the United Kingdom, from 6 February 1952 until the nation's independence and the creation of a separate crown.
3. ^ The House of Windsor is a line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which itself is a branch of the House of Wettin. "Windsor" is the official name adopted by the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.
4. Hamad ibn Isa reigned as Amir of the State of Bahrain until 14 February 2002, when he assumed the new title of King of Bahrain under a new Constitution.
5. ^ A clan of the Utbah tribe.
6. A branch of the House of Wettin.
7. Coronation took place 6 November 2008.
8. Coronation took place 1 August 1968.
9. Coronation took place 29 October 2004.
10. A branch of the Varman dynasty.
11. The king is selected for life by the Royal Council of the Throne from amongst the male descendants of kings Ang Duong, Norodom, and Sisowath.
12. ^ Officially the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, which is a branch of the House of Oldenburg.
13. "Akihito" is the current emperor's given name, but it is not his regnal name, and he is never referred to as this in Japanese. The era of Akihito's reign bears the name "Heisei", and according to custom he will be renamed "Emperor Heisei" following his death.
14. Coronation took place 12 November 1990.
15. The name "Yamato" comes from the Yamato Court (the Imperial House of Japan) that existed in Japan in the 4 Century. It was originally the name of the region where the Yamato people first settled in modern Nara Prefecture.
16. Formally enthroned on 9 June 1999.
17. A clan of the Quraysh tribe.
18. Succession is not based upon primogeniture. The reigning king selects who will be his successor.
19. The heir is appointed by the reigning emir, and the nomination must also be approved by a majority of members in the National Assembly. The throne is also traditionally alternated between the two main branches of the Al Sabah family: the Al Salem and Al Jaber. The current emir is of the Al Jaber branch.
20. Coronation took place 31 October 1997. Has previously reigned as king from 12 November 1990 until 25 January 1995.
21. A clan of the Basotho. The name is styled after Moshoeshoe I (often spelled "Moshweshwe"), a descendant of the Bakwêna tribe.
22. Formally enthroned on 15 August 1990. Prior to his accession, Hans-Adam had served as prince regent since 26 August 1984.
23. Prior to formal enthronement, Henri had served as prince regent since 3 March 1998.
24. The royal family of Luxembourg is descended from the House of Nassau and the Parma branch of the House of Bourbon.
25. Official title: Yang di-Pertuan Agong. It is commonly rendered in English as "King".
26. Coronation took place 26 April 2007. Mizan has previously served as regent from 8 October to 21 November 2001, thereafter reigning as acting Yang di-Pertuan Agong until 13 December 2001.
27. The present Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the Sultan of Terengganu (see constituent monarchs), whose ruling line is the Bendahara dynasty.
28. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Supreme Head of State) is elected to a five-year term by and from amongst the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states, who form the Council of Rulers. The position has to date been, by informal agreement, systematically rotated between the nine; the order was originally based on seniority.
29. Albert II was formally enthroned as prince in a two-part ceremony, in accordance with tradition, on 12 July and 19 November 2005.
30. Coronation took place 30 July 1999.
31. The Dutch royal family is descended from the Houses of Nassau and Lippe.
32. Formally enthroned on 21 January 1991, and consecrated on 23 June 1991. Prior to his accession, Harald had served as prince regent since 1 June 1990.
33. ^ Monarchy is constitutional by law, but remains absolute in practice.
34. Elizabeth II previously reigned over Papua New Guinea as Queen of Australia, from 6 February 1952 until the nation's independence and the creation of a separate crown.
35. A clan of the Tamim tribe.
36. Coronation took place 2 August 2005. Abdullah previously served as prince regent from 1 January 1996 until 21 February 1996.
37. A clan descended from the Hanifa tribe.
38. Succession is determined by consensus within the House of Saud as to who will be Crown Prince. This consensus may change depending on the Crown Prince's actions.
39. Formally enthroned on 27 November 1975. Juan Carlos was formally recognised by his father, the Count of Barcelona, as the sole head of the Spanish Royal Household on 14 May 1977.
40. Succession is subject to customary law, and does not follow primogeniture. A council of elders selects who among the reigning king's wives will be mother of the next king. This woman will succeed as Ndlovukati upon her son's ascension to throne, and will rule alongside him for the duration of his reign. The king's first two wives are considered ineligible.
41. Formally enthroned on 19 September 1973.
42. Name is also written as Phumiphon Adunyadet. He is also styled Rama IX, and is publicly acclaimed "the Great". Thais refer to him as "Nai Luang" or "Phra Chao Yu Hua".
43. Coronation took place 5 May 1950.
44. Coronation took place 1 August 2008.
45. A line of the Tuʻi Kanokupolu dynasty.
46. The Al Nahyan are a branch of the Al Falahi, a clan of the Yas tribe.
47. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. However, with the consent of the Supreme Council, the office is appointed by the President, who retains considerable power.
48. According to the Constitution, the President of the United Arab Emirates is elected by the Federal Supreme Council from among the individual rulers of the seven emirates. However, by informal agreement the Presidency is always passed to the head of the Al Nahyan clan, the Emir of Abu Dhabi (see constituent monarchs), which makes it a de facto hereditary position. In addition, the appointed Prime Minister has always been the head of the Al Maktoum clan and Emir of Dubai.
49. Coronation took place 2 June 1953.
50. As Sovereign of the Vatican City. The Pope's primary office is that of Bishop of Rome and, as such, spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Christian religion.
51. Inauguration took place 24 April 2005.

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22. Constitution of the Bahamas: Art. 71.
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31. Constitution of Canada: Art. 9.
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34. Constitution of Grenada: Art. 68.
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72. Constitution of the United Arab Emirates: Art. 54.
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External links

• Buyers, Christopher. "The Royal Ark: Royal and Ruling Houses of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas".
• Soszynski, Henry; University of Queensland. "Genealogical Gleanings: Royal and Noble Lineages".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

• Lists of current office-holders
• Lists of monarchs
• Reigning monarchs