Monarchies in the World

Over the years monarchies have been abolished and have been replaced by Republics and elected leaders. In the world there are currently 46 countries ruled by a monarch and there 30 monarchies left. Most monarchs today only have sovereignty in one nation, except The United Kingdom, whose Queen has rule over 16 different nations, including the UK.

Most monarchies today are constitutional monarchs, for example the UK, which means that Queen Elizabeth has limited power and must follow a constitution, work with parliament to pass and make laws, and mostly serves as figure head and symbol for the UK.

Out of the 30 monarchies, only 6 of them are absolute monarchies. These are the nations of Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, and Vatican City. In an absolute monarchy, the monarch has complete rule over the state and government.

When I think of kings and queens I tend to think that the king or queen became the ruler after it being passed down from their family, which is true in many cases like the UK (Video about how to become a British Monarch). 

Myself I have wondered if there once was or is a country where the people elected someone for king for life or for a number of years. But I guess they really wouldn't be a king if they had no blood line or some sort of royalty, or they would just be like any other elected president. However some monarchs are elected in. There are 3 nations that have elected monarchs, the 3 being Vatican City, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. These elected monarchs are not voted by the people, but are voted in by a elite group. In Vatican City the Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals (Video about how to become the Pope), and the Federal King of Malaysia is voted in by the sultans of Malaysia and the King serves for a 5 year term. 

Coming from the point of view of someone from a country with an elected leader, the concept of having a king or queen rule is odd. But I understand that at least in the case of Great Britain and probably many other monarchies is that it is used for tradition and national unity for the people of the nation. Has time goes it seems as thou there are more monarchies being abolished, the most recent one being in Nepal in 2008.

A amusing remark about the decline of monarchy.

 "Soon there will be only five Kings left — the King of England, the King of Spades, the King of Clubs, the King of Hearts, and the King of Diamonds." - King Farouk, The Last King of Egypt 

List of Monarchies