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78-417: The imperial house recognizes 126 monarchs , beginning with Emperor Jimmu (traditionally dated to 11 February 660 BCE), and continuing up to the current emperor, Naruhito . However, scholars have agreed that there is no evidence of Jimmu's existence, that the traditional narrative of the imperial family's founding is mythical, and that Jimmu is a mythical figure. Historical evidence for the first 25 emperors

156-468: A personal union relationship under a shared monarch. Therefore, though today there are legally ten American monarchs, one person occupies each distinct position. In addition to these sovereign states, there are also a number of sub-national ones. In Bolivia , for example, the Afro-Bolivian king claims descent from an African dynasty that was taken from its homeland and sold into slavery. Though largely

234-702: A 24-piece traditional orchestra ( gagaku ) with 1,000 year-old instruments such as the koto and the shō , 30 gardeners, 25 chefs, 40 chauffeurs as well as 78 builders, plumbers and electricians. There are 30 archaeologists to protect the 895 imperial tombs. There is a silkworm breeder of the Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery. The Emperor has four doctors on standby 24 hours a day, five men manage his wardrobe and 11 assist in Shinto rites. The Imperial Palace in Tokyo has 160 servants who maintain it. This

312-622: A 622 acres (252 ha) farm which supplies produce and meat for the Imperial Family. The farm costs were £3 million per year as of 2003; the emperor and his family had a monthly water bill of approximately £50,000, also as of 2003. The Imperial Guard is a special over 900 strong police force that provides personal protection for the Emperor and other members of the Imperial Family including their residences for £48 million per year. Monarch Philosophers Works A monarch

390-525: A ceremonial title today, the position of king of the Afro-Bolivians is officially recognized by the government of Bolivia. Polynesian societies were ruled by an ariki from ancient times. The title is variously translated as "supreme chief", "paramount chief" or "king". The Kingdom of Tahiti was founded in 1788. Sovereignty was ceded to France in 1880 although descendants of the Pōmare dynasty claim

468-554: A family or cohort eligible to provide the nation's monarch. Alternatively, an individual may proclaim oneself monarch, which may be backed and legitimated through acclamation , right of conquest or a combination of means. If a young child is crowned the monarch, then a regent is often appointed to govern until the monarch reaches the requisite adult age to rule. Monarchs' actual powers vary from one monarchy to another and in different eras; on one extreme, they may be autocrats ( absolute monarchy ) wielding genuine sovereignty ; on

546-516: A king or queen. As of 2022 , in Europe there are twelve monarchies: seven kingdoms ( Belgium , Denmark , Netherlands , Norway , Spain , Sweden and the United Kingdom ), one grand duchy ( Luxembourg ), one papacy ( Vatican City ), and two principalities ( Liechtenstein and Monaco ), as well as one diarchy principality ( Andorra ). In China, before the abolition of the monarchy in 1912,

624-588: A monarch and is superior to all other titles. Nepal abolished their monarchy in 2008. Sri Lanka had a complex system of monarchies from 543 BC to 1815. Between 47–42 BC, Anula of Sri Lanka became the country's first female head of state as well as Asia's first head of state. In Malaysia 's constitutional monarchy, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the Supreme Lord of the Federation) is de facto rotated every five years among

702-408: A name and is referred to as Kōshitsu (皇室, imperial house), there are agnatic cadet branches which split during the course of centuries who received their own family names in order to distinguish them from the main line. They were considered a part of the imperial family (皇族 Kōzoku ), with members carrying the title "Imperial Highness", until the laws changed in 1947. The most important branches were

780-661: A number of Imperial farms, residences and game preserves. The Imperial Household Agency administers the Shosoin Imperial Repository in Nara . The Imperial properties are all owned by the State . The Emperor can spend £150 million of public money annually. The imperial palaces are all owned and paid for by the State . Until 2003, facts about the Japanese Imperial Family's life and finances were kept secret behind

858-526: A stock farm in the Chiba region. They were all transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries . Imperial property holdings were further reduced since 1947 after several handovers to the government. When Emperor Shōwa died, he left a personal fortune of £11 million in 1989. In 2017, Emperor Akihito had an estimated net worth of US$ 40 million. Currently the primary Imperial properties are

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936-486: A usurper who would often install his own family on the throne. A series of pharaohs ruled Ancient Egypt over the course of three millennia ( c.  3150 BC to 31 BC) until it was conquered by the Roman Empire . In the same time period several kingdoms flourished in the nearby Nubia region, with at least one of them, that of the so-called A-Group culture, apparently influencing the customs of Egypt itself. From

1014-425: A variety of titles – king or queen , prince or princess (e.g., Sovereign Prince of Monaco ), emperor or empress (e.g., Emperor of China , Emperor of Ethiopia , Emperor of Japan , Emperor of India ), archduke , duke or grand duke (e.g., Grand Duke of Luxembourg ), emir (e.g., Emir of Qatar ), sultan (e.g., Sultan of Oman ), or pharaoh . Monarchy is political or sociocultural in nature, and

1092-465: A £2 million-a-year clinic with 42 staff and 8 medical departments. An example of lavish spending is the prior redecoration of a room for £140,000 where Crown Princess Masako gave birth to Princess Aiko in 2001. Emperor Akihito spent £140,000 on building a wine cellar. It has 4,500 bottles of 11 types of white wine and seven types of red such as Chateau Mouton Rothschild (1982) and champagne Dom Perignon (1992). The Imperial properties includes

1170-442: Is a head of state for life or until abdication , and therefore the head of state of a monarchy . A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state , or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Usually, a monarch either personally inherits the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights (often referred to as the throne or the crown ) or is selected by an established process from

1248-587: Is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a time. Hereditary succession within one patrilineal family has been most common (but see the Rain Queen ), with a preference for children over siblings, and sons over daughters. In Europe, some peoples practiced equal division of land and regalian rights among sons or brothers, as in the Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire, until after

1326-524: Is generally (but not always) associated with hereditary rule . Most monarchs, both historically and in the present day, have been born and brought up within a royal family (whose rule over a period of time is referred to as a dynasty ) and trained for future duties. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood (male preference or absolute), primogeniture , agnatic seniority , Salic law , etc. While traditionally most monarchs have been male, female monarchs have also ruled, and

1404-469: Is partly due to demarcation rules, such as a maid who wipes a table cannot also wipe the floor. There are also separate stewards in charge of handling silverware and the crystal. The Kyoto Imperial Palace has a staff of 78 people. There are also 67 who care for the horses at the Tochigi ranch. There are scores of additional staff for the summer palaces at the beach and in the mountains. The Imperial Palace has

1482-550: Is scant, and they are considered mythical, but there is sufficient evidence of an unbroken agnatic line since the early 6th century. Historically, verifiable emperors of Japan start from 539 CE with Emperor Kinmei , the 29th tennō . The earliest historic written mentions of Japan were in Chinese records, where it was referred to as Wa (倭 later 和), which later evolved into the Japanese name of Wakoku (倭國). Suishō (帥升, ca. 107 CE)

1560-657: Is the head of the Japanese imperial family. Article 3 and 4 of the Law for Special Exception of the Imperial House Law concerning Abdication, etc. of Emperor ( 天皇の退位等に関する皇室典範特例法 , Tennō no taii nado ni kansuru Kōshitsu Tenpan Tokureihō ) define the Emperor Emeritus ( 上皇 , jōkō ) and Empress Emerita ( 上皇后 , jōkōgō ) . Article 5 of the Imperial Household Law ( 皇室典範 , Kōshitsu Tenpan ) defines

1638-809: Is therefore numerous. Other terms used for the dynasty are also Kōka (皇家, Imperial House). Formerly the term Kyūshitsu (宮室, Palace Household) was also used under the old Imperial Constitution and the Imperial Household Law, as well as Teishitsu (帝室, Imperial Household). The Emperor The Empress The Emperor Emeritus The Empress Emerita Naruhito [REDACTED] Fumihito [REDACTED] Shigeru Ishiba ( LDP ) Second Ishiba Cabinet ( LDP – Komeito coalition ) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Fukushiro Nukaga Kōichirō Genba [REDACTED] Masakazu Sekiguchi Hiroyuki Nagahama Saburo Tokura Kazuo Ueda The emperor ( 天皇 , tennō )

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1716-577: The Dangun as a collection of nationalistic legends. The monarchs of Goguryeo and some monarchs of Silla used the title Taewang , meaning "Greatest King". The early monarchs of Silla used the titles of Geoseogan , Chachaung , Isageum , and finally Maripgan until 503. The title Gun (prince) can refer to the dethroned rulers of the Joseon dynasty as well. Under the Korean Empire (1897–1910),

1794-556: The Deji , has to be chosen by an electoral college of nobles from amongst a finite collection of royal princes of the realm upon the death or removal of an incumbent. Within the Holy Roman Empire different titles were used by nobles exercising various degrees of sovereignty within their borders (see below). Such titles were granted or recognized by the emperor or pope. Adoption of a new title to indicate sovereign or semi-sovereign status

1872-550: The Shinnōke of which the most senior branch Fushimi-no-miya (伏見宮) is first in the order of succession . Out of the Fushimi branch the Ōke branches split, which are the Kuni (久邇), Kaya (賀陽), Asaka (朝香), Higashikuni (東久邇) and Takeda (竹田) families as of 2024. Furthermore there are branches created from sons of the emperor who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into

1950-577: The 1987 Constitution . Bhutan has been an independent kingdom since 1907. The first Druk Gyalpo ( Dragon King ) was elected and thereafter became a hereditary absolute monarchy. It became a constitutional monarchy in 2008. Tibet was a monarchy since the Tibetan Empire in the 6th century. It was ruled by the Yuan dynasty following the Mongol invasion in the 13th century and became an effective diarchy with

2028-689: The Achaemenid dynasty . Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East , expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. Thailand and Bhutan are like

2106-719: The Bank of Japan , other major Japanese banks, the Imperial Hotel and Nippon Yusen . After World War II , all of the 11 collateral branches of the Imperial Family were abolished under the Allied occupation of Japan , and the subsequent constitutional reforms imposed under Allied supervision forced those families to sell their assets to private or government owners. Staff numbers of the Imperial Household Ministry were slashed from roughly 6000 to about 1000. The Imperial Estates and

2184-739: The Christianised nobility called the Principalía . After the Spanish–American War , the country was ceded to the United States of America and made into a territory and eventually a Commonwealth , thus ending monarchism. While the Philippines is currently a republic, the Sultan of Sulu and Sultan of Maguindanao retain their titles only for ceremonial purposes but are considered ordinary citizens by

2262-630: The Dalai Lama as co-ruler. It came under the rule of the Chinese Qing dynasty from 1724 until 1912 when it gained de facto independence. The Dalai Lama became an absolute temporal monarch until the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1951. Nepal was a monarchy for most of its history until becoming a federal republic in 2008. The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before

2340-740: The Fushimi-no-miya . The Japanese monarchy was considered to be among the wealthiest in the world until the end of World War II . Before 1911, there was no distinction between the Imperial Crown Estates and the Emperor's personal properties. When the Imperial Property Law was enacted in January 1911, two categories were established namely hereditary (crown estates) and personal property of the Imperial Family. The Imperial Household Minister had

2418-451: The Nashimoto branch in 1951, Kachō or Kwachō branch in 1970, Yamashina branch in 1987, and Kitashirakawa branch in 2018. The main Fushimi branch will become extinct upon the death of the current head, Fushimi Hiroaki (b. 1932), as he has no male offspring to succeed him; although he does not have any sons, his adoptive grandnephew has male issue who can be expected to become the head of

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2496-625: The Pahlavi dynasty that used the title of "Shahanshah" (or "King of Kings"). The last Iranian Shahanshah was King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , who was forced to abdicate the throne as a result of a revolution in Iran. In fact the Persian (Iranian) kingdom goes back to about 2,700 BC (see list of Kings of Persia ), but reached its ultimate height and glory when King Cyrus the Great (known as "The Great Kourosh" in Iran) started

2574-597: The Prince Takamado , and most recently, the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Akishino , left the Imperial Family upon marriage, joining the husband's family and thus taking the surname of the husband. The living eight former imperial princesses are: Additionally, there are several people of Imperial descent in the Fushimi cadet branch ( Shinnōke ), which itself consists of a main branch and five extant sub-branches ( Ōke ). The cadet royal families lost membership in

2652-841: The Tokyo Imperial Palace and the Kyoto Imperial Palace . The estimated landholdings are 6,810 acres (2,760 ha). The Tōgū Palace is located in the larger Akasaka Estate where numerous other Imperial Family members reside. There are privately used imperial villas in Hayama , Nasu and the Suzaki Imperial Villa in Shimoda . The Katsura Imperial Villa , Shugakuin Imperial Villa and Sentō Imperial Palace are in Kyoto . There are

2730-518: The emperor of China was traditionally regarded as the ruler of " All under heaven ". "King" is the usual translation for the term wang ( 王 ), the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty , China had a number of kingdoms, each about the size of a province and subordinate to the Emperor. In Korea, Daewang (great king), or Wang (king),

2808-763: The free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Modern examples include the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (lit. "He Who is Made Lord') of Malaysia , who is appointed by the Conference of Rulers every five years or after the king's death, and the pope of the Roman Catholic Church , who serves as sovereign of the Vatican City State and is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals . In recent centuries, many states have abolished

2886-492: The medieval era and sometimes (e.g., Ernestine duchies ) into the 19th century. Other European realms practiced one or another form of primogeniture , in which a lord was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had none, by his brother, his daughters or sons of daughters. The system of tanistry practiced among Celtic tribes was semi-elective and gave weight also to ability and merit. The Salic law , practiced in France and in

2964-464: The "Chrysanthemum Curtain." Yohei Mori (former royal correspondent for the Mainichi Shimbun and assistant professor of journalism at Seijo University) revealed details about finances of the Imperial Family in his book based on 200 documents that were published with the public information law. The Japanese Imperial Family has a staff of more than 1,000 people (47 servants per royal). This includes

3042-571: The 6th to 19th centuries, Egypt was variously part of the Byzantine Empire , Islamic Empire, Mamluk Sultanate, Ottoman Empire and British Empire with a distant monarch. The Sultanate of Egypt was a short-lived protectorate of the United Kingdom from 1914 until 1922 when it became the Kingdom of Egypt and Sultan Fuad I changed his title to King. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 ,

3120-502: The Emperor's personal fortune (then estimated at $ 17.15 million in 1946, or roughly $ 270.70 million as of 2023) were transferred to state or private ownership with the exception of 6,810 acres (2,760 ha) of landholdings. The largest imperial divestments were the former imperial Kiso and Amagi forest lands in Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures, grazing lands for livestock in Hokkaido and

3198-550: The Imperial Family by the American Occupation Authorities in October 1947, as part of the abolition of collateral imperial houses and the kazoku (hereditary peerage ). However, there are still unofficial heads of the living collateral families. These are the living Kyū-Miyake ( 旧宮家 , "former Miyake") : The Higashifushimi or Komatsu collateral branch became extinct in the male line in 1922, followed by

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3276-529: The Imperial Family members ( 皇族 , kōzoku ) as the Empress ( 皇后 , kōgō ) ; the Grand empress dowager ( 太皇太后 , tai-kōtaigō ) ; the Empress dowager ( 皇太后 , kōtaigō ) ; the Emperor's legitimate sons and legitimate grandsons in the legitimate male line ( 親王 , shinnō ) , and their consorts ( 親王妃 , shinnōhi ) ; the Emperor's unmarried legitimate daughters and unmarried legitimate granddaughters in

3354-509: The Imperial Grandson and the consort of the Imperial Grandson, in addition to properties held for Imperial Family members who were minors, were exempted from taxation. Up to 1921, the Imperial Crown Estates comprised 1,112,535.58 acres (450,227.18 ha). In 1921, due to the poor economic situation in Japan, 289,259.25 acres (117,059.07 ha) of crown lands (26%) were sold or transferred to

3432-422: The Imperial properties was estimated at ¥650 million in 1935 which is approximately US$ 195 million at prevailing exchange rates and $ 19.9 billion as of 2017. Emperor Shōwa's personal fortune was an additional hundreds of millions of yen (estimated over $ 6 billion as of 2017). It included numerous family heirlooms and furnishings, purebred livestock and investments in major Japanese firms, such as

3510-413: The Italian territories of the House of Savoy , stipulated that only men could inherit the crown. In most fiefs , in the event of the demise of all legitimate male members of the patrilineage , a female of the family could succeed (semi-Salic law). In most realms, daughters and sisters were eligible to succeed a ruling kinsman before more distant male relatives (male-preference primogeniture), but sometimes

3588-404: The Japanese government and the private sector . In 1930, the Nagoya Detached Palace ( Nagoya Castle ) was donated to the city of Nagoya and six other imperial villas were sold or donated. In 1939, Nijō Castle was donated to the city of Kyoto . The former Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa shogunate which became an imperial palace in the Meiji Restoration , was donated to the city of Kyoto. At

3666-426: The United Kingdom in that they are constitutional monarchies ruled by a king. Jordan and many other Middle Eastern monarchies are ruled by a Malik and parts of the United Arab Emirates , such as Dubai , are still ruled by monarchs. Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area and the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria). It was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud in 1932, although

3744-405: The arrival of European colonialists. When the Europeans arrived they referred to these tracts of land within territories of different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, and the leaders of these groups were often referred to by the Europeans as Kings, particularly hereditary leaders. Pre-colonial titles that were used included: The first local monarch to emerge in North America after colonization

3822-409: The conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh , the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud ; succession to the throne was limited to sons of Ibn Saud until 2015, when a grandson was elevated to Crown Prince. The Saudi Arabian government has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, and designates itself as Islamic . The King bears

3900-420: The continent. Places like St. Helena , Ceuta , Melilla and the Canary Islands are ruled by the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the king of Spain . So-called "sub-national monarchies" of varying sizes can be found all over the rest of the continent, e.g., the Yoruba city-state of Akure in south-western Nigeria is something of an elective monarchy: its reigning Oba ,

3978-485: The country, such as the Xhosa and the Tswana , have also had and continue to have a series of kings and chiefs (namely the Inkosis and the Kgosis ) whose local precedence is recognised, but who exercise no legal authority. As part of the Scramble for Africa , seven European countries invaded and colonized most of the African continent. Currently, the African nations of Morocco , Lesotho , and Eswatini are sovereign monarchies under dynasties that are native to

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4056-422: The end of 1935, the Imperial Court owned 3,111,965 acres (1,259,368 ha) landed estates according to official government figures. 2,599,548 acres (1,052,000 ha) of that was the Emperor's private lands. The total landholdings of the crown estates was 512,161 acres (207,264 ha). It comprised palace complexes, forest and farm lands and other residential and commercial properties. The total economic value of

4134-399: The husband of the heiress became the ruler, and most often also received the title, jure uxoris . Spain today continues this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture . In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic. As the average life span increased, the eldest son

4212-440: The king as a largely symbolic figurehead. In the Philippines , the pre-Colonial Filipino nobility, variously titled the harì (today meaning "king"), Lakan , Raja and Datu belonged to the caste called Uring Maharlika (Noble Class). When the islands were annexed to the Spanish Empire in the late 16th century, the Spanish monarch became the sovereign while local rulers often retained their prestige as part of

4290-414: The last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a communist coup . Various Somali Sultanates also existed, including the Adal Sultanate (led by the Walashma dynasty of the Ifat Sultanate ), Sultanate of Mogadishu , Ajuran Sultanate , Warsangali Sultanate, Geledi Sultanate , Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo . Central and Southern Africa were largely isolated from other regions until

4368-557: The legitimate male line ( 内親王 , naishinnō ) ; the Emperor's other legitimate male descendants in the third and later generations in the legitimate male line ( 王 , ō ) and their consorts ( 王妃 , ōhi ) ; and the Emperor's other unmarried legitimate female descendants in the third and later generations in the legitimate male line ( 女王 , joō ) . In English, shinnō (親王) and ō (王) are both translated as " prince " as well as shinnōhi (親王妃), naishinnō (内親王), ōhi (王妃) and joō (女王) as " princess ". After

4446-404: The modern era, but they did later feature kingdoms like the Kingdom of Kongo (1400–1914). The Zulu people formed a powerful Zulu Kingdom in 1816, one that was subsequently absorbed into the Colony of Natal in 1897. The Zulu king continues to hold a hereditary title and an influential cultural position in contemporary South Africa, although he has no direct political power. Other tribes in

4524-425: The monarch. A form of government may, in fact, be hereditary without being considered a monarchy, such as a family dictatorship. Monarchies take a wide variety of forms, such as the two co-princes of Andorra , positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic bishop of Urgel (Spain) and the elected president of France (although strictly Andorra is a diarchy ). Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia

4602-487: The monarchy and become republics . Advocacy of government by a republic is called republicanism , while advocacy of monarchy is called monarchism . A principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of national leadership, as illustrated in the classic phrase " The [old] King is dead. Long live the [new] King! ". In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure (e.g., most modern constitutional monarchies), real leadership does not depend on

4680-424: The monarchy was dissolved and Egypt became a republic. West Africa hosted the Kanem Empire (700–1376) and its successor, the Bornu principality which survives to the present day as one of the traditional states of Nigeria . In the Horn of Africa , the Kingdom of Aksum and later the Zagwe dynasty , Ethiopian Empire (1270–1974), and Aussa Sultanate were ruled by a series of monarchs. Haile Selassie ,

4758-402: The nine Rulers of the Malay states of Malaysia (those nine of the thirteen states of Malaysia that have hereditary royal rulers), elected by Majlis Raja-Raja ( Conference of Rulers ). Under Brunei 's 1959 constitution, the Sultan of Brunei is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers, since 1962. The Prime Minister of Brunei is a title held by the Sultan. As

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4836-429: The other they may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no direct power or only reserve powers , with actual authority vested in a parliament or other body ( constitutional monarchy ). A monarch can reign in multiple monarchies simultaneously. For example, the 15 Commonwealth realms are all separate sovereign states, but share the same monarch through personal union . Monarchs, as such, bear

4914-410: The prime minister, the Sultan presides over the cabinet. Cambodia has been a kingdom since the 1st century. The power of the absolute monarchy was reduced when it became the French Protectorate of Cambodia from 1863 to 1953. It returned to an absolute monarchy from 1953 until the establishment of a republic following the 1970 coup . The monarchy was restored as a constitutional monarchy in 1993 with

4992-442: The prime ministers of the sixteen Commonwealth Realms at the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia , succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother and so on through his other brothers, and only after them to the monarch's children ( agnatic seniority ). In some other monarchies (e.g., Jordan ), the monarch chooses who will be his successor within

5070-404: The ranks of the court ( kuge ) or sword ( buke ) nobility. Such families are the Minamoto (源 also known as Genji), Taira (平 also known as Heishi) and Abe (安倍), as well as through in-laws the Tachibana (橘) for example. Out of these families further branches split through male descent who were also considered noble Japanese clans . The line of legitimate direct male descendants of emperors

5148-460: The removal of 11 collateral branches from the imperial house in October 1947, the official membership of the imperial family has effectively been limited to the male-line descendants of the Emperor Taishō , excluding females who married outside the imperial family and their descendants. There are currently 16 members of the imperial family: The following family tree shows the lineage of current members of Japanese imperial family: Notes Under

5226-429: The responsibility for observing any judicial proceedings concerning Imperial holdings. According to the law, Imperial properties were only taxable if there was no conflict with the Imperial House Law. However, crown estates could only be used for public or imperially-sanctioned undertakings. Personal properties of certain members of the Imperial Family, such as Empress Dowager , the Empress, Crown Prince and Crown Princess,

5304-409: The royal family, who need not necessarily be his eldest son. Lastly, some monarchies are elective ( UAE , Malaysia , Holy See and Cambodia ), meaning that the monarch is elected instead of assuming office due to direct inheritance. Rules and laws regarding election vary country to country. Whatever the rules of succession, there have been many cases of a monarch being overthrown and replaced by

5382-410: The rulers of Korea were given the title of Hwangje , meaning the "Emperor". Today, Members of the Korean Imperial family continue to participate in numerous traditional ceremonies, and groups exist to preserve Korea's imperial heritage. The Japanese monarchy is now the only monarchy to still use the title of emperor. In modern history, between 1925 and 1979, Iran was ruled by two emperors from

5460-400: The term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, as distinct from a queen consort , the wife of a reigning king. Some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy , the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors , but often coming from the same dynasty) and

5538-422: The terms of the 1947 Imperial Household Law , naishinnō (imperial princesses) and joō (princesses) lose their titles and membership in the family upon marriage, unless they marry the Emperor or another male member of the imperial family. Four of the five daughters of Emperor Shōwa , the two daughters of the Prince Mikasa , the only daughter of Emperor Emeritus Akihito , the second and third daughter of

5616-726: The title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to the two holiest places in Islam: Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina . Oman is led by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said . The Kingdom of Jordan is one of the Middle East 's more modern monarchies is also ruled by a Malik . In Arab and Arabized countries, Malik (absolute King) is the absolute word to render

5694-568: The title of King of Tahiti. Masakazu Sekiguchi Masakazu Sekiguchi ( 関口 昌一 , Sekiguchi Masakazu , born June 4, 1953) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party who serves as the President of the House of Councillors since 2024. A native of Chichibu District, Saitama and graduate of Josai Dental University (predecessor of Meikai University ), he was elected to

5772-406: Was Jean-Jacques Dessalines , who declared himself Emperor of Haiti on September 22, 1804. Haiti again had an emperor, Faustin I from 1849 to 1859. In South America, Brazil had a royal house ruling as emperor between 1822 and 1889, under emperors Pedro I and Pedro II . Between 1931 and 1983, nine other previous British colonies attained independence as kingdoms. All, including Canada, are in

5850-441: Was a Chinese royal style used in many states rising from the dissolution of Gojoseon , Buyeo , Goguryeo , Baekje , Silla , Balhae , Goryeo , and Joseon . The legendary Dangun Wanggeom founded the first kingdom, Gojoseon. Some scholars maintain that the term Dangun also refers to a title used by all rulers of Gojoseon and that Wanggeom is the proper name of the founder. Gyuwon Sahwa (1675) describes The Annals of

5928-570: Was a king of Wa, the earliest Japanese monarch mentioned in Volume 85 of the Book of the Later Han from 445 CE. Further records mention the five kings of Wa (倭の五王, Wa no go ō ), of which the last one Bu of Wa is generally considered to be Emperor Yūryaku (417/18 – 479 CE). The existence of his reign has been established through modern archaeological research. While the main line of the dynasty does not have

6006-657: Was more likely to reach majority age before the death of his father, and primogeniture became increasingly favored over proximity, tanistry, seniority, and election. In 1980, Sweden became the first monarchy to declare equal primogeniture , absolute primogeniture or full cognatic primogeniture , meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other nations have since adopted this practice: Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, Denmark in 2009, and Luxembourg in 2011. The United Kingdom adopted absolute (equal) primogeniture on April 25, 2013, following agreement by

6084-412: Was not always recognized by other governments or nations, sometimes causing diplomatic problems. During the nineteenth century, many small monarchies in Europe merged with other territories to form larger entities, and following World War I and World War II , many monarchies were abolished , but of those remaining, all except Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, and Monaco were headed by

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