Countries by form of government

Presidential republic71

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Algeria	presidential republic
Angola	presidential republic
Argentina	presidential republic
Azerbaijan	presidential republic
Belarus	presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Benin	presidential republic
Bolivia	presidential republic
Brazil	federal presidential republic
Burkina Faso	presidential republic
Burundi	presidential republic
Cameroon	presidential republic
Central African Republic	presidential republic
Chad	presidential republic
Chile	presidential republic
Colombia	presidential republic
Comoros	federal presidential republic
Congo	presidential republic
Costa Rica	presidential republic
Côte d'Ivoire	presidential republic
Cyprus	Republic of Cyprus - presidential republic; self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC) - parliamentary republic with enhanced presidency
Djibouti	presidential republic
Dominican Republic	presidential republic
Ecuador	presidential republic
Egypt	presidential republic
El Salvador	presidential republic
Equatorial Guinea	presidential republic
Gabon	presidential republic
Gambia	presidential republic
Ghana	presidential republic
Guatemala	presidential republic
Guinea	presidential republic
Honduras	presidential republic
Indonesia	presidential republic
Kazakhstan	presidential republic
Kenya	presidential republic
Kiribati	presidential republic
Liberia	presidential republic
Malawi	presidential republic
Maldives	presidential republic
Mauritania	presidential republic
Mexico	federal presidential republic
Mozambique	presidential republic
Namibia	presidential republic
Nicaragua	presidential republic
Nigeria	federal presidential republic
Palau	presidential republic in free association with the US
Panama	presidential republic
Paraguay	presidential republic
Peru	presidential republic
Philippines	presidential republic
Rwanda	presidential republic
Senegal	presidential republic
Seychelles	presidential republic
Sierra Leone	presidential republic
South Korea	presidential republic
South Sudan	presidential republic
Sri Lanka	presidential republic
Sudan	presidential republic
Suriname	presidential republic
Tajikistan	presidential republic
Tanzania	presidential republic
Togo	presidential republic
Turkey	presidential republic
Turkmenistan	presidential republic; authoritarian
Uganda	presidential republic
United States	constitutional federal republic
Uruguay	presidential republic
Uzbekistan	presidential republic; highly authoritarian
Venezuela	federal presidential republic
Zambia	presidential republic
Zimbabwe	presidential republic

Semi-presidential republic16

Country	In the Factbook’s words
DR Congo	semi-presidential republic
France	semi-presidential republic
Georgia	semi-presidential republic
Guinea-Bissau	semi-presidential republic
Haiti	semi-presidential republic
Lithuania	semi-presidential republic
Madagascar	semi-presidential republic
Mali	semi-presidential republic
Mongolia	semi-presidential republic
Portugal	semi-presidential republic
Romania	semi-presidential republic
Russia	semi-presidential federation
São Tomé and Principe	semi-presidential republic
Taiwan	semi-presidential republic
Timor-Leste	semi-presidential republic
Ukraine	semi-presidential republic

Parliamentary republic52

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Albania	parliamentary republic
Armenia	parliamentary democracy; note - constitutional changes adopted in December 2015 transformed the government to a parliamentary system
Austria	federal parliamentary republic
Bangladesh	parliamentary republic
Barbados	parliamentary republic; a Commonwealth realm
Bosnia and Herzegovina	parliamentary republic
Botswana	parliamentary republic
Bulgaria	parliamentary republic
Cabo Verde	parliamentary republic
Croatia	parliamentary republic
Czechia	parliamentary republic
Dominica	parliamentary republic
Estonia	parliamentary republic
Ethiopia	federal parliamentary republic
Fiji	parliamentary republic
Finland	parliamentary republic
Germany	federal parliamentary republic
Greece	parliamentary republic
Guyana	parliamentary republic
Hungary	parliamentary republic
Iceland	unitary parliamentary republic
India	federal parliamentary republic
Iraq	federal parliamentary republic
Ireland	parliamentary republic
Israel	parliamentary democracy
Italy	parliamentary republic
Kyrgyzstan	parliamentary republic
Latvia	parliamentary republic
Lebanon	parliamentary democratic republic
Malta	parliamentary republic
Marshall Islands	mixed presidential-parliamentary system in free association with the US
Mauritius	parliamentary republic
Micronesia	federal republic in free association with the US
Moldova	parliamentary republic
Montenegro	parliamentary republic
Nauru	parliamentary republic
Nepal	federal parliamentary republic
North Macedonia	parliamentary republic
Pakistan	federal parliamentary republic
Poland	parliamentary republic
Samoa	parliamentary republic
San Marino	parliamentary republic
Serbia	parliamentary republic
Singapore	parliamentary republic
Slovakia	parliamentary republic
Slovenia	parliamentary republic
Somalia	federal parliamentary republic
South Africa	parliamentary republic
Switzerland	federal republic (formally a confederation)
Trinidad and Tobago	parliamentary republic
Tunisia	parliamentary republic
Vanuatu	parliamentary republic

Absolute monarchy7

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Brunei	absolute monarchy or sultanate
Eswatini	absolute monarchy
Oman	absolute monarchy
Qatar	absolute monarchy
Saudi Arabia	absolute monarchy
United Arab Emirates	federation of monarchies
Vatican City	ecclesiastical elective monarchy; self-described as an "absolute monarchy"

Constitutional monarchy35

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Andorra	parliamentary democracy (since March 1993) that retains its chiefs of state in the form of a co-principality; the two princes are the President of France and Bishop of Seu d'Urgell, Spain
Antigua and Barbuda	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Australia	federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Bahamas	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Bahrain	constitutional monarchy
Belgium	federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Belize	parliamentary democracy (National Assembly) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Bhutan	constitutional monarchy
Cambodia	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Canada	federal parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Canada) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm; federal and state authorities and responsibilities regulated in constitution
Denmark	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Grenada	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Jamaica	parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Japan	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Jordan	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Kuwait	constitutional monarchy (emirate)
Lesotho	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Liechtenstein	constitutional monarchy
Luxembourg	constitutional monarchy
Malaysia	federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Monaco	constitutional monarchy
Morocco	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Netherlands	parliamentary constitutional monarchy; part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
New Zealand	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Norway	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Papua New Guinea	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Saint Kitts and Nevis	federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Saint Lucia	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Solomon Islands	parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Spain	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Sweden	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Thailand	constitutional monarchy
Tonga	constitutional monarchy
United Kingdom	parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

One-party state6

Country	In the Factbook’s words
China	communist party-led state
Cuba	communist state
Eritrea	authoritarian
Laos	communist party-led state
North Korea	dictatorship, single-party communist state
Vietnam	communist party-led state

Theocracy2

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Afghanistan	theocratic; the United States does not recognize the Taliban Government
Iran	theocratic republic

Military or transitional5

Country	In the Factbook’s words
Libya	in transition
Myanmar	military regime
Niger	formerly, semi-presidential republic
Syria	transitional presidential republic
Yemen	in transition

Dependent territories38

Governed as part of, or in association with, another state — hatched on the map rather than coloured, so they never read as a form of state.

Territory	Status
Heard and McDonald Islands	Territory of Australia
Norfolk Island	Territory of Australia
Hong Kong	Territory of China
Macao	Territory of China
Faroe Islands	Territory of Denmark
Greenland	Territory of Denmark
Åland Islands	Territory of Finland
French Polynesia	Territory of France
French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Territory of France
New Caledonia	Territory of France
Saint Barthélemy	Territory of France
Saint Martin	Territory of France
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Territory of France
Wallis and Futuna	Territory of France
Aruba	Territory of Netherlands
Curaçao	Territory of Netherlands
Sint Maarten	Territory of Netherlands
Cook Islands	Territory of New Zealand
Niue	Territory of New Zealand
Anguilla	Territory of United Kingdom
Bermuda	Territory of United Kingdom
British Virgin Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
Cayman Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
Chagos Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
Falkland Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
Guernsey	Territory of United Kingdom
Isle of Man	Territory of United Kingdom
Jersey	Territory of United Kingdom
Montserrat	Territory of United Kingdom
Pitcairn Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
Saint Helena	Territory of United Kingdom
South Georgia	Territory of United Kingdom
Turks and Caicos Islands	Territory of United Kingdom
American Samoa	Territory of United States of America
Guam	Territory of United States of America
Northern Mariana Islands	Territory of United States of America
Puerto Rico	Territory of United States of America
US Virgin Islands	Territory of United States of America

No form shown for Antarctica (Governed under the Antarctic Treaty), Palestine (Status disputed), Western Sahara (Status disputed).

Questions

What is the most common form of government?

The presidential republic: 71 of 194 countries. There are 139 republics in all, and 42 monarchies.

How many countries are monarchies?

42. 7 are absolute monarchies, where the monarch rules — Brunei, Eswatini, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and 1 more. The rest are constitutional monarchies, where the monarch reigns and an elected government rules, including the Commonwealth realms that share the British monarch.

Which countries are one-party states?

China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam: one party holds power by law.

How is the form of government decided here?

By the constitution, from the CIA World Factbook’s description of each government (its final edition, January 2026). The Factbook’s own words are kept beside each country, including its notes where practice differs from the constitution — a presidential republic in name can be a dictatorship in fact. Where its wording is ambiguous the case was decided by hand.

Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain), final edition — the Factbook has been discontinued. All sources.