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Absolute monarchs remain in Brunei, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates and are classified as mixed, meaning there are representative bodies of some kind, but the monarch retains most of his powers.
Feb 29, 2024 · The Full List of Countries That Are Still a Monarchy Today 1. Andorra. Andorra is a landlocked country in Europe that is tucked away in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. It's interesting that it's a parliamentary monarchy, with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Joan-Enric Vives, a bishop from Spain, serving as co-princes.
Jul 5, 2024 · While some countries may have representative governments, others still have royal families. These royal families range from figureheads to singular ruling bodies and come from countries all over the world. These are the forty-one countries with royal families and their current monarchs.
- Brunei
- Swaziland
- Saudi Arabia
- Bhutan
- Monaco
- Bahrain
- Liechtenstein
- Vatican City
- United Arab Emirates
- Oman
Brunei is small enough to escape most people's notice. It sits on a speck of land along the northern coast of the island of Borneo, almost completely surrounded by Malaysia. Its leader is known as the Sultan of Brunei. Worth about $20 billion thanks to his tiny nation'soil wealth, the sultan, whose given name is Hassanal Bolkiah, is part of a rulin...
Swaziland, a tiny nation that is squeezed in between South Africa and Mozambique, has a political dynamic that is not unlike Brunei's. The current king, Mswati III, took the throne at the young age of 18 after his father died. He directly appoints many parliament members, though a few MPs are chosen by popular vote. Mswati is known for his lavish l...
Saudi Arabia has one of the most well-known absolute monarchies in the world. King Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) took the throne in 2005 after the death of King Fahd, who was his half-brother. In practice, he has ruled as regent since the mid-1990s because of Fahd's poor health in the last years of his life. Since the early 1920s, all S...
The current king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, started his reign in 2006. He is part of the Wangchuck family, which has ruled Bhutan since the early 20th century. Wangchuck has overseen dramatic democratic reforms, which were begun by his father. Over the past few years, Bhutan has transformed from a absolute monarchy into a constituti...
Monaco is the second-smallest independent country on earth in terms of area. Its ruler, Prince Albert II, is the official head of state, and he holds a significant amount of political power. Albert is a member of the House of Grimaldi, a family that has ruled Monaco, on and off, for centuries. The prince is responsible for introducing new laws, whi...
A tiny peninsula in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain has been in the international news over the past few years because of violent pro-democracy protests. The country is ruled by Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, who became “king” in 2002 after changing his title from “emir.” In practice, he has ruled since 1999. His uncle, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, h...
Along with Prince Albert of Monaco, Liechtenstein’s Prince Hans-Adam II is one of the last remaining monarchs in Europe to have actual political power. Thanks to a new monarch-friendly constitution, he retains the power to veto laws and to appoint judges. The prince is also charged with choosing government officials, including the prime minister. H...
Though it is quite different from the other monarchies on this list, the world's smallest sovereign state, Vatican City, is technically an absolute monarchy. However, it is a unique “elective monarchy,” with a college of cardinals electing a pope, currently Pope Francis, to rule over the world's Roman Catholic Church and also to be the political le...
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven different kingdoms (emirates), each with its own ruler. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the most well-known of the emirates and their absolute monarchs hold the most power of the seven members. However, all seven emirs sit on the Federal Supreme Council, which, in effect, oversees all operations of the coun...
Yet another nation on the Arabian Peninsula to have a king (actually the official title here is “sultan”), Oman has been ruled by Qaboos bin Said al Said since 1970. He came to power in a palace coup, overthrowing his father, who was exiled to England where he died two years later. Recently, Sultan Qaboos has brought about political reforms, allowi...
After World War I, however, most European monarchies were abolished. There remain, as of 2024, twelve sovereign monarchies in Europe. Seven are kingdoms: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Three are principalities: Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.
In six countries, the monarch, sheikh or emir is the absolute ruler without parliamentary or judicial control: Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and the ...
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Sep 19, 2022 · Culture. Mapped: Which Countries Still Have a Monarchy? By. Staff. In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the question of monarchy is brought sharply into focus. However, a surprising number of countries have ruling monarchs, and in this visual we break down the kinds of royal leadership across the 43 countries that still have them.
