Top 8 Countries with Monarchy, Including Vatican City

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A monarchy is a governmental system with a monarch, a king or a queen, as its head. In the present day, many countries in the world still have a monarch as its head of state. 

Below is the list of several countries that still implement monarchy as their government:

1. The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom follows a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Meaning, a monarch is merely a sovereign symbol. The political power is held by a prime minister. Currently, the UK is headed by King Charles Philip Arthur George III. He has been reigning since 2022, after the late Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022.

2. Saudi Arabia

Differing from the UK, Saudi Arabia follows an absolute monarchy system, where the presence of a prime minister is merely symbolic. Political power is held by the royal family.  The current king of Saudi Arabia is King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, reigning since 2015.

3. Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan, known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, is located in Eastern Himalayas, between China and India. Initially, the country followed an absolute monarchy system, which changed in 2008 when a parliamentary government was elected. Since 2006, Bhutan has been headed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

4. The Netherlands

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state with a devolved unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy governmental system. As a constitutional monarchy, the prime minister of the Netherlands bears an important role in the country.

Since 2013, the Netherlands has been led by King William Alexander, a hereditary successor of the late head of state, Queen Beatrix.

5. Eswatini

Also known by its former official name, Swaziland, this country is located in Southern Africa, bordered by Mozambique and South Africa. This country follows an absolute monarchy system, ruled by King Msawi III since 1986.

King Mswati III renamed the country from Swaziland to Eswatini on April 19, 2018, to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence from British rule.

6. Thailand

Another constitutional monarchy in Asia is Thailand, with a hereditary monarch as its head of state and a prime minister as its head of government. The current head of state of Thailand is Vajiralongkorn or King Rama X, who has reigned since October 2016 after the late king passed away.

7. Norway

Norway implements a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, where the monarch exercises its authority in accordance with the constitution. Since 1991, the monarch of Norway is King of Norway, Harald V while the parliament (Storting) is divided into two chambers, odelsting and lagting to vote on legislation.

8. Vatican City

Vatican City is a landlocked city-state located within but independent of Rome, Italy. The microstate follows a unique governmental system, namely the elective absolute monarchy. This country is led by an appointed Pope, a position that cannot be passed down, as opposed to the usual hereditary monarchy.

RACHEL FARAHDIBA R

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