Even King Charles is amazed – these 43 countries are still monarchies today

number of monarchies

There are still 43 monarchies in recognized independent states around the world. 42 of them are members of the UN. Only Vatican City is represented by the Holy See. This means that about a quarter of all countries in the world are monarchies. Most of them (32) are considered kingdoms.

The monarchies are spread all over the world. However, each can also differ within the three main groups. So applies Malaysia like an elective monarchy. Nine of the thirteen states are sultanates, electing a king from among themselves every five years. He is then called the «supreme ruler».

form of monarchy

Monarchy does not equal monarchy. absolute Monarchies, i.e. those in which the monarch has sole state power, five still exist:

The monarch has much less say in the constitutional Monarchy; in the parliamentary Monarchy, he has little or no influence over state affairs. In the United Kingdom, the monarch is also head of the Crown Dependencies (Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man) and some overseas territories such as the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Bermuda.

We have opted for the simplified explanation from Wikipedia for the explanation:

Subnational monarchies

In addition to the monarchies mentioned above, there are 38 other monarchies that are only part of an internationally recognized state. In these nations one still finds such monarchies with different powers today.

The richest monarchs

Finally, we look at the wealth of the monarchs. The most recent estimates date back to 2019. The king of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, owns about 30 billion dollars. The richest monarch in Europe is Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, with a fortune of around $4 billion.

According to 2019 estimates, Queen Elizabeth II owned about $530 to $600 million.