There are some countries today that still use the term sultan for a ruler or nobleman, including Oman and Malaysia. However, the word comes up most often in a historical context, especially when you're talking about the former Ottoman Empire, where the title of sultan was inherited, passed from father to son.

How many countries have sultans?

In reality, there are 26 monarchies in the world, a fascinating network of kings, queens, sultans, emperors and emirs who rule or reign over 43 countries in all. It goes without saying, of course, that most royal families have a considerably lower international profile than the Windsors.

Are there still sultans in Turkey?

Beginning in the last decades of the sixteenth century, the role of the Ottoman sultans in the government of the empire began to decrease, in a period known as the Transformation of the Ottoman Empire. ... Since 2021, the head of the House of Osman has been Harun Osman, a great-grandson of Abdul Hamid II.