List of current monarchs of sovereign states Facts for Kids

Monarchs of various countries:

Examples of absolute monarchs (top row):
Examples of executive monarchs (middle row):
Examples of ceremonial monarchs (bottom row):
- Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms
- Naruhito, Emperor of Japan
- Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

A monarch is the head of a monarchy, a form of government in which a state 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 all absolute monarchies) or may be ceremonial figureheads, exercising only limited or no reserve powers at all, with actual authority vested in a legislature and/or executive cabinet (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 coregencies.

A variety of titles are applied in English; for example, "king" and "queen", "prince" and "princess", "grand duke" and "grand duchess", "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. Roman numerals, used to distinguish related rulers with the same name, have been applied where typical.

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; a modern example is the throne of Malaysia. 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. Monarchs reigning over a constituent division, cultural or traditional polity are listed under constituent monarchs. For a list of former ruling families or abolished thrones, see: former ruling families.

Monarchs by country

Title	Monarch	Date of birth	Sovereign state(s)	Since (Length)	House	Type	Heir to the throne
Co-Prince	Joan Enric Vives i Sicília	(1949-07-24) 24 July 1949 (age 75)	Andorra	12 May 2003 (21 years, 157 days)	N/A	Ceremonial	Ex officio
Co-Prince	Emmanuel Macron	(1977-12-21) 21 December 1977 (age 46)	Andorra	14 May 2017 (7 years, 155 days)	N/A	Ceremonial	Ex officio
King	Charles III	(1948-11-14) 14 November 1948 (age 75)	Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Belize Canada Grenada Jamaica New Zealand Papua New Guinea Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Tuvalu United Kingdom	8 September 2022 (2 years, 38 days)	Windsor	Ceremonial	William, Prince of Wales
King	Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa	(1950-01-28) 28 January 1950 (age 74)	Bahrain	6 March 1999 (25 years, 224 days)	Khalifa Al Khalifa	Executive	Salman, Crown Prince of Bahrain
King	Philippe	(1960-04-15) 15 April 1960 (age 64)	Belgium	21 July 2013 (11 years, 87 days)	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Ceremonial	Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant
Druk Gyalpo	Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck	(1980-02-21) 21 February 1980 (age 44)	Bhutan	9 December 2006 (17 years, 312 days)	Wangchuck Wangchuck	Executive	Jigme Namgyel
Sultan	Hassanal Bolkiah	(1946-07-15) 15 July 1946 (age 78)	Brunei	5 October 1967 (57 years, 11 days)	Bolkiah Bolkiah	Absolute	Al-Muhtadee Billah
King	Norodom Sihamoni	(1953-05-14) 14 May 1953 (age 71)	Cambodia	14 October 2004 (20 years, 2 days)	Norodom Norodom	Ceremonial	Hereditary and elective
King	Frederik X	(1968-05-26) 26 May 1968 (age 56)	Denmark	14 January 2024 (276 days)	Glucksburg Glücksburg (official) Monpezat (agnatic)	Ceremonial	Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark
King	Mswati III	(1968-04-19) 19 April 1968 (age 56)	Eswatini	25 April 1986 (38 years, 174 days)	Dlamini Dlamini	Absolute	Hereditary and elective
Emperor	Naruhito	(1960-02-23) 23 February 1960 (age 64)	Japan	1 May 2019 (5 years, 168 days)	z Yamato	Ceremonial	Fumihito, Prince Akishino (Heir presumptive)
King	Abdullah II	(1962-01-30) 30 January 1962 (age 62)	Jordan	7 February 1999 (25 years, 252 days)	Hashim Al Hāshim	Executive	Hereditary and elective (presumably Hussein bin Abdullah)
Emir	Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	(1940-09-27) 27 September 1940 (age 84)	Kuwait	16 December 2023 (305 days)	Sabah Al Sabah	Executive	Hereditary and elective (presumably Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah)
King	Letsie III	(1963-07-17) 17 July 1963 (age 61)	Lesotho	7 February 1996 (28 years, 252 days)	Moshesh Moshesh	Ceremonial	Lerotholi Seeiso
Prince	Hans-Adam II	(1945-02-14) 14 February 1945 (age 79)	Liechtenstein	13 November 1989 (34 years, 338 days)	Liechtenstein Liechtenstein	Executive	The Hereditary Prince Alois (currently Prince Regent)
Grand Duke	Henri	(1955-04-16) 16 April 1955 (age 69)	Luxembourg	7 October 2000 (24 years, 9 days)	Nassau Luxembourg-Nassau	Ceremonial	Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (currently Lieutenant-Representative)
Yang di-Pertuan Agong	Ibrahim Iskandar	(1958-11-22) 22 November 1958 (age 65)	Malaysia	31 January 2024 (259 days)	Temenggong Temenggong	Ceremonial & Federal	Elective (presumably Nazrin Shah)
Prince	Albert II	(1958-03-14) 14 March 1958 (age 66)	Monaco	6 April 2005 (19 years, 193 days)	Grimaldi Grimaldi	Executive	Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco
King	Mohammed VI	(1963-08-21) 21 August 1963 (age 61)	Morocco	23 July 1999 (25 years, 85 days)	Alawi Alawi	Executive	Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco
King	Willem-Alexander	(1967-04-27) 27 April 1967 (age 57)	Netherlands	30 April 2013 (11 years, 169 days)	Orange Orange-Nassau	Ceremonial	Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange
King	Harald V	(1937-02-21) 21 February 1937 (age 87)	Norway	17 January 1991 (33 years, 273 days)	Glucksburg Glücksburg	Ceremonial	Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
Sultan	Haitham bin Tariq	(1955-10-11) 11 October 1955 (age 69)	Oman	11 January 2020 (4 years, 279 days)	Al Said Al Said	Absolute	Theyazin bin Haitham
Emir	Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani	(1980-06-03) 3 June 1980 (age 44)	Qatar	25 June 2013 (11 years, 113 days)	Thani Al Thani	Executive	Abdullah bin Hamad
King	Salman	(1935-12-31) 31 December 1935 (age 88)	Saudi Arabia	23 January 2015 (9 years, 267 days)	Saud Al Saud	Absolute	Mohammed bin Salman
King	Felipe VI	(1968-01-30) 30 January 1968 (age 56)	Spain	19 June 2014 (10 years, 119 days)	Bourbon Borbón-Anjou	Ceremonial	Leonor, Princess of Asturias (Heir presumptive)
King	Carl XVI Gustaf	(1946-04-30) 30 April 1946 (age 78)	Sweden	15 September 1973 (51 years, 31 days)	Bernadotte Bernadotte	Ceremonial	Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
King	Vajiralongkorn	(1952-07-28) 28 July 1952 (age 72)	Thailand	13 October 2016 (8 years, 3 days)	Chakri Chakri	Ceremonial	Dipangkorn Rasmijoti (Heir presumptive)
King	Tupou VI	(1959-07-12) 12 July 1959 (age 65)	Tonga	18 March 2012 (12 years, 212 days)	Tupou Tupou	Executive	Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala
President	Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan	(1961-03-11) 11 March 1961 (age 63)	United Arab Emirates	14 May 2022 (2 years, 155 days)	Nahyan Al Nahyan	Executive & Federal	Hereditary and elective (presumably Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan)
Pope	Francis	(1936-12-17) 17 December 1936 (age 87)	Vatican City (Holy See)	13 March 2013 (11 years, 217 days)	N/A	Absolute	Elective

List of current monarchs of sovereign states facts for kids

Monarchs by country

See also