Principality

A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince. Examples of principalities include the Principality of Monaco, the Grand Principality of Moscow, the Principality of Sheikhan, the Principality of Catalonia, and the Principality of Wales. The Principality of Antioch is another example of a principality, yet one created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Etymology

The word principality first appears around 1300, meaning "position of a prince," and derives from Old French principalite, which itself carried the senses of "principal matter" as well as "power" and "sovereignty", and directly from the Late Latin principalitatem, which in turn comes from the adjective principalis, meaning "first in importance" or "original, primitive." By the mid-14th century, the term had acquired the additional sense of "government by a prince," and toward the end of that same century it came to denote a "region or state ruled by a prince or monarch."

In the 20th century the term was sometimes used to define a state that was sovereign but not of equal rank to the other countries of the world. Independent but not eligible for membership in the United Nations.

Current principalities

Sovereign states

Non-sovereign principalities

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Prinicipality". Oed.com. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Definition of PRINCIPALITY". Merriam-webster.com.
  3. ↑ "Monaco | Flag, Map, Language, France, Population, Royal Family, & Facts". Britannica.com.
  4. ↑ "Grand Principality of Moscow | Ivan I, Ivan III, Muscovy". Britannica.com.
  5. ↑ "The Death of Mir Tahsin Beg and the Future of the Yezidi Community". Asia and Africa today. doi:10.31857/S032150750007023-7.
  6. ↑ Ryder, Alan (2007). The Wreck of Catalonia. Civil War in the Fifteenth Century. Oxford University Press. p. v. ISBN 978-0-19-920736-7.
  7. ↑ Jenkins, Geraint H. (2007). A Concise History of Wales. Cambridge University Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780521823678.
  8. ↑ Asbridge, Thomas S. (2000). The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098-1130. Boydell & Brewer. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-85115-661-3.
  9. ↑ "Principality - Etymology, Origin & Meaning". Etymonline.com.
  10. ↑ Kohn, Walter S. G. (1967). "The Sovereignty of Liechtenstein". The American Journal of International Law. 61 (2). Cambridge University Press: 547–557. doi:10.2307/2197053. ISSN 0002-9300. JSTOR 2197053. Retrieved 2026-10-20.