List of hereditary monarchies

A hereditary monarchy is the most common style of monarchy and is the form that is used by almost all of the world's existing monarchies.

Under a hereditary monarchy, all the monarchs come from the same family, and the crown is passed down from one member to another member of the family. The hereditary system has the advantages of stability, continuity and predictability, as well as the internal stabilizing factors of family affection and loyalty.

The following list is a list of hereditary monarchies and their current (as of 2008) monarchs.

NOTE: The table comprises some sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is incomplete.

Africa

*Kingdom of Lesotho - Letsie III of Lesotho
*Kingdom of Morocco - Mohammed VI of Morocco
*Kingdom of Swaziland - Mswati III of Swaziland

Americas

*Antigua and Barbuda - Elizabeth II of Antigua and Barbuda
*The Bahamas - Elizabeth II of The Bahamas
*Barbados - Elizabeth II of Barbados
*Belize - Elizabeth II of Belize
*Canada - Elizabeth II of Canada
*Grenada - Elizabeth II of Grenada
*Jamaica - Elizabeth II of Jamaica
*Saint Kitts and Nevis - Elizabeth II of Saint Kitts and Nevis
*Saint Lucia - Elizabeth II of Saint Lucia
*Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Elizabeth II of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Asia

*Kingdom of Bhutan - Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk
*Sultanate of Brunei - Hassanal Bolkiah
*Kingdom of Cambodia - Norodom Sihamoni
*Empire of Japan - Akihito
*Kingdom of Thailand - Bhumibol Adulyadej

Middle East

*Kingdom of Bahrain - Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah
*Kingdom of Jordan - Abdullah II of Jordan
*Sultanate of Oman - Qaboos of Oman
*State of Qatar - Hamad bin Khalifa
*Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Europe

*Kingdom of Belgium - Albert II of the Belgians
*Kingdom of Denmark - Margrethe II of Denmark
*Principality of Liechtenstein - Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
*Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
*Principality of Monaco - Albert II, Prince of Monaco
*Kingdom of the Netherlands - Beatrix of the Netherlands
*Kingdom of Norway - Harald V of Norway
*Kingdom of Spain - Juan Carlos I of Spain
*Kingdom of Sweden - Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
*United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Oceania

*Commonwealth of Australia - Elizabeth II of Australia
*Realm of New Zealand - Elizabeth II of New Zealand
*Papua New Guinea - Elizabeth II of Papua New Guinea
*Solomon Islands - Elizabeth II of the Solomon Islands
*Kingdom of Tonga - George Tupou V
*Tuvalu - Elizabeth II of Tuvalu

ee also

* Commonwealth Realm
* Personal union
* Monarchy