A minister-president or minister president is the

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, a ...

in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It is an alternative term for

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 ...

, premier, chief minister, or

first minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

and very similar to the title of president of the council of ministers.

Terminology

In English-speaking countries, similar institutions may be called premiers or first ministers (typically at the subnational level) or prime ministers (typically at the national level). The plural is sometimes formed by adding an ''s'' to ''minister'' and sometimes by adding an ''s'' to ''president''. The term is used, for instance, as a translation (

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

) of the German word ''Ministerpräsident''.

Austria

From 1867 to 1918, the first minister of the government was known as ''Ministerpräsident'' (minister-president), before that ''

Staatskanzler Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

'' (state chancellor). Today the head of the Austrian Federal Government is called the ''Bundeskanzler'' (federal chancellor), while the head of a state government is called the '' Landeshauptmann'' (literally "state captain"), not ''Ministerpräsident''. In the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

the head of the state government is called the ''Bürgermeister und Landeshauptmann'' (Mayor and state captain). See: List of ministers-president of Austria.

Belgium

The term minister-president ( Dutch: ''minister-president'',

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''ministre-président'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Ministerpräsident'') is also used in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

to describe the head of government of a Belgian region or linguistic community, but not the head of the Belgian federal government who is referred to as the

(Dutch: ''eerste minister'', French: ''premier ministre'', German: ''Premierminister''). According to the

Belgian constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...

, the federal prime minister is appointed by the king, and approved by the federal parliament with a vote of confidence (in practice the king usually appoints the leader of the winning party as ''"formateur"'' to form a government). The federal ministers later swear an oath of allegiance to the king. The ministers-president of the regions and linguistic communities are not appointed by the king, but are directly appointed by their respective parliament. Ministers of the regions and linguistic communities are not required to swear allegiance to the king but simply take an oath in their respective parliament. See: * Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region *

Minister-President of Flanders The Minister-President of Flanders ( nl, Minister-president van Vlaanderen) is the head of the Flemish Government, which is the executive branch of the Flemish Region and Flemish Community.See the communities, regions and language areas of Bel ...

Minister-President of the French Community The minister-president of the French Community of Belgium () is the head of the Government of the French Community of Belgium. List of officeholders Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 rig ...

* Minister-President of Wallonia *

Minister-President of the German-speaking Community The Minister-President of the German-speaking Community () is the head of the Government of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, one of the three Communities of the country. List of officeholders Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:a ...

Germany

A Minister President (''Ministerpräsident'') is the

in 13 of the 16 States of Germany. Exceptions are the city-states of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and Bremen, where the head of government is called, respectively, the Governing Mayor (''Regierender Bürgermeister''), First Mayor (''Erster Bürgermeister'') and Mayor and President of the Senate (''Bürgermeister und Präsident des Senates''). On the federal level, the head of the federal government (with an effectively identical function as leader of the cabinet) is called the Chancellor or Federal Chancellor (''Kanzler'' or ''Bundeskanzler''). The positions of Minister-president in the German states (during the monarchy days) were mostly established in response to the 1848 German revolutions. The Minister-President of Prussia usually served simultaneously as the Imperial Chancellor.

Hungary

The title of Hungary's

in Hungarian is ''miniszterelnök'' which literally translated means "minister-president". However, because "prime minister" or "premier" is the more usual title in a parliamentary system for a head of government in English-speaking nations, "miniszterelnök" is almost always translated as "prime minister."

Latvia

The Minister president is the

. "Minister-President" in the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-funct ...

of February 15, 1922, arose when the German term ''Ministerpräsident'' (minister-president) was translated; the term ''ministru prezidents'' (in Latvian) was coined by the member of the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia, Latvian writer

Kārlis Skalbe Kārlis Skalbe ( — 1945 April 14) was a Latvian writer, poet, and activist. He is best known for his 72 fairy tales which are really written for adults. He has been called the 'King of Fairytales', and his words, ''Tēvzemei un Brīvībai'' ('' ...

Netherlands

In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

the

is officially referred to as "minister-president", although the informal term "premier" is also frequently used. His responsibilities are defined in the constitution of 1848 as the "voorzitter van de ministerraad" (chair of the council of ministers). The title of minister-president has been in use since 1945 and officially added to the constitution in 1983.

Norway

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, Vidkun Quisling, head of the collaborationist government from 1942 to 1945 during the

occupation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, held the title of Minister-President (in Norwegian, ''ministerpresident'').

Russian Republic

During the short lived

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...

, the role of a Minister-President was established.

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Novem ...

was chosen to lead the provisional government.

Notes

{{Types of heads of government Gubernatorial titles Heads of government Positions of subnational authority Titles of national or ethnic leadership Ministers-President of communities and regions of Belgium