A chief minister is an elected or appointed

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

of – in most instances – a

sub-national entity Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

(and sometimes a union territory) in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

; a territory of Australia; a province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

; a federal province in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

; an autonomous region of Philippines; or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-governance. It is also used as the English version of the title given to the heads of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

s of the Malay states without a

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy ...

. The title is also used in the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man (since 1986), in Guernsey (since 2004), and in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

(since 2005). In 2018 Sierra Leone, a presidential republic, created the role of an appointed chief minister, which is similar to a

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in a semi-presidential system. Before that, only Milton Margai had the same position between 1954 and 1958.''Centre of Sierra Leone Studies – The politics of Sierra Leone.'' The University of Makeni.
Retrieved 15 May 2018.

Meaning and role

The title has a similar construction and role as a first minister or minister-president but usually with a lower rank. The role has context within the Westminster system of government where a constitutional

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state (polity), state#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international p ...

(usually sub-national) is advised by ministers who usually head executive government departments ( ministries). A chief minister is understood to be "first among equals". They would be the chief adviser to the nominal head of their state, the chair of

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and leader of the main governing

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

legislature A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

Chief ministers around the world

Chief Ministers in Sri Lanka Chief ministers in Sri Lanka are elected heads of the provincial boards of ministers, bodies which aid and advice the governors, the heads of the provincial government, in the exercise of their executive power. The governor appoints as chief minis ...

Chief Minister of Mandalay Region The Chief Minister of the Mandalay Region is the Head of the Mandalay Region Government, which is a sub-cabinet of the Government of Myanmar and the regional government of Mandalay Region The current Chief Minister is Maung Ko appointed by Min ...

List of chief ministers of Galmudug The Chief Minister of Galmudug was the head of government of Galmudug state of Somalia located in central Somalia. According to the 14-point power-sharing agreement between Galmudug and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, the Chief Minister will preside over th ...

(Somalia)

Informal chief ministers

* Chief minister of France * English chief ministers

References

{{Types of heads of government Heads of government Positions of subnational authority Gubernatorial titles

Meaning and role

Chief ministers around the world

Informal chief ministers

See also

References