On this Independence Day here in the U.S., a country which has been a continuous republic for over 200 years, we thought it would fun to look at the countries that still have monarchies in 2015. Most are constitutional monarchies with a limited or ceremonial role, but it still begs the question of why bother with such an expensive and anachronistic institution?
| Brunei | Absolute monarchy |
| Oman | Absolute monarchy |
| Qatar | Absolute monarchy |
| Saudi Arabia | Absolute monarchy |
| Swaziland | Absolute monarchy |
| Vatican City | Absolute monarchy |
| Andorra | Constitutional monarchy |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Constitutional monarchy |
| Australia | Constitutional monarchy |
| The Bahamas | Constitutional monarchy |
| Bahrain | Constitutional monarchy |
| Barbados | Constitutional monarchy |
| Belgium | Constitutional monarchy |
| Belize | Constitutional monarchy |
| Bhutan | Constitutional monarchy |
| Cambodia | Constitutional monarchy |
| Canada | Constitutional monarchy |
| Denmark | Constitutional monarchy |
| Grenada | Constitutional monarchy |
| Jamaica | Constitutional monarchy |
| Japan | Constitutional monarchy |
| Jordan | Constitutional monarchy |
| Kuwait | Constitutional monarchy |
| Lesotho | Constitutional monarchy |
| Liechtenstein | Constitutional monarchy |
| Luxembourg | Constitutional monarchy |
| Malaysia | Constitutional monarchy |
| Monaco | Constitutional monarchy |
| Morocco | Constitutional monarchy |
| Netherlands | Constitutional monarchy |
| New Zealand | Constitutional monarchy |
| Norway | Constitutional monarchy |
| Papua New Guinea | Constitutional monarchy |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Constitutional monarchy |
| Saint Lucia | Constitutional monarchy |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Constitutional monarchy |
| Solomon Islands | Constitutional monarchy |
| Spain | Constitutional monarchy |
| Sweden | Constitutional monarchy |
| Tonga | Constitutional monarchy |
| Tuvalu | Constitutional monarchy |
| United Arab Emirates | Constitutional monarchy |
| United Kingdom | Constitutional monarchy |
Beyond actual countries, monarchies and hereditary rulers continue to be a fixture in the fantasy-novel genre, many of which are directly influences by Tolkein’s rather conservative Middle Earth. Most perplexing of all, however, is the obsession of some Americans with British royalty, the dynasty of the country we declared independence from 239 years ago today.