A governor is a governing official, usually the executive (at least nominally, to different degrees also politically and administratively) of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constituent state.
In countries, the heads of the constitutive states, provinces, communities and regions may be titled Governor, although this is less common in parliamentary systems such as in some European nations and many of their former colonies, which use titles such as President of the Regional Council in France, President of the Regional Junta (commonly called Governatore in recent years) in Italy and Ministerpräsident in Germany, where in some states there are governorates (German: Regierungsbezirke) as sub-state administrative regions. Other countries using different titles for sub-national units include Mexico, United States and Switzerland.
The title also lies, historically, to executive officials acting as representatives of a chartered company which has been granted exercise of sovereignty in a colonial area, such as the British HEIC or the Dutch VOC. These companies operate as a major state within a state with its own armed forces.
There can also be non-political governors: high-ranking officials in private or similar governance such as commercial and non-profit management, styled governor(s), who simply govern an institution, such as a corporation or a bank. For example, in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries there are prison governors ("wardens" in the United States), school governors and bank governors.
The adjective pertaining to a governor is gubernatorial, from the Latin root gubernare. The correct female form is governess, though especially in the US, female officials are often referred to by the male form of the noun to avoid confusion with other meanings of the term.
Read more about Governor: Pre-Roman Empires, Holy Roman/ Habsburg Empires and Successor States, Turkish Rule, British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations, Russia and Former Soviet Union, Other Colonial Empires, Other Modern Countries in South America, Modern Equivalents, Other Meanings of The Word
Other articles related to "governor, governors":
... The word governor can also refer to an administrator and/or supervisor (individually or collectively, see Board of Governors) the Governor of a national bank often holds ministerial rank ... Federal Reserve Board of Governors Governor of the Bank of Canada Governor of the National Bank of Romania List of governors of national banks of Serbia and Yugoslavia Governors ...
... He was the 60th Governor of Mississippi from January 14, 1992, until January 11, 2000 ... He was the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction-era governor Adelbert Ames, who served from 1874 to 1876 ...
... The first, the "digit veto", was first used by Governor Patrick Lucey in 1973 ... Governor Anthony Earl edited a 121-word, five-sentence paragraph down to a one-sentence, 22-word paragraph to change an appeals process from the courts to the ... The final version, the "reduction veto", was introduced in 1993 by Governor Tommy Thompson ...
... She served as the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002 under governor Tony Knowles, becoming the first female elected to statewide ... Ulmer worked with Jay Hammond, the Republican governor from 1975 through 1981 ... From 1994 to 2002 she served as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Tony Knowles (D) ...
... The head of government is the Governor of Puerto Rico, who is elected every four years in a general election ... The position is similar in nature, responsibility, and power as those of a governor of a U.S ... The position of Governor has the overall responsibility of the state of the commonwealth, equivalent to the state of the union in the U.S ...
Famous quotes containing the word governor:
“President Lowell of Harvard appealed to students to prepare themselves for such services as the Governor may call upon them to render. Dean Greenough organized an emergency committee, and Coach Fisher was reported by the press as having declared, To hell with football if men are needed.”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“There are times when even the most potent governor must wink at transgression, in order to preserve the laws inviolate for the future.”
—Herman Melville (18191891)
“It is better to have the power of self-protection than to depend on any man, whether he be the Governor in his chair of State, or the hunted outlaw wandering through the night, hungry and cold and with murder in his heart.”
—Lillie Devereux Blake (18351913)