How the world is governed

Every kind, counted

The presidential republic is the most common by far: 63 countries, where an elected president leads the government as well as the state.^[1] Next come 39 parliamentary republics, where the government answers to parliament and the president, if there is one, has a smaller role, and 31 constitutional monarchies, which work the same way under a king, queen or emir.^[1]

Semi-presidential republics, 16 of them, split power between a president and a prime minister; France is the best-known.^[1] Some labels belong to one country each: Switzerland (federal directorial republic), Russia (federal semi-presidential republic), the United Arab Emirates (federation of absolute monarchies), Afghanistan (Islamic emirate), Myanmar (military junta), Andorra (parliamentary co-principality), Vatican City (theocratic absolute monarchy) and Iran (theocratic republic).^[1]

#	Kind of government	Countries	People
1	Presidential republic	63	1.6 billion
2	Parliamentary republic	39	460 million
3	Constitutional monarchy	31	454 million
4	Semi-presidential republic	16	360 million
5	Federal parliamentary republic	9	2.0 billion
6	Federal presidential republic	8	999 million
7	One-party state	6	1.6 billion
8	Absolute monarchy	5	47 million
9	Military-led government	5	162 million
10	Federal constitutional monarchy	4	117 million
11	Transitional government	3	45 million
12	Federal directorial republic	1	9 million
13	Federal semi-presidential republic	1	144 million
14	Federation of absolute monarchies	1	12 million
15	Islamic emirate	1	44 million
16	Military junta	1	55 million
17	Parliamentary co-principality	1	83,000
18	Theocratic absolute monarchy	1	1,000
19	Theocratic republic	1	92 million

Monarchies

In all, 43 countries have a monarch as head of state, about one in five.^[1] Most are constitutional: the monarch reigns, but an elected government rules.^[1] In five the monarch still holds power directly: Brunei, Eswatini, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.^[1] The United Arab Emirates is a federation of such monarchies, and Vatican City is ruled by the Pope.^[1]

Federations

There are 24 federations, countries where states or provinces have powers the national government can't take away: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, the Comoros, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Iraq, Malaysia, Mexico, Micronesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Venezuela.^[1] They are few, but they are big. Together they hold 3.3 billion people, 41% of the world's, because India, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Russia and Mexico are among them.^[1][2]

One party, the army, or no settled government

Six countries are one-party states, where the constitution gives a single party the leading role: China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam.^[1] Between them they hold 1.6 billion people, most of them in China.^[2]

In six, the armed forces have taken power: Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Niger and Sudan.^[1] Three more, Haiti, Libya and Syria, have transitional governments, in place until a new constitution or election settles who rules.^[1] These are the labels that change most often, so they are the first to go out of date.^[1]