A governor is, in most cases, a public official with the power to govern the executive branch of a

non-sovereign or sub-national level of government, ranking under the head of state.

In federations, governor may be the title of the politician who governs a constituent stateand may be
either appointed or elected. The power of the individual governor can vary dramatically between
political systems, with some governors having only nominal, largely ceremonial power, while others
have complete power over the entire government.
The title Governor 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 Ministerprsident 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.
Historically, the title can also apply 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 East
India Company or the Dutch East India Company. 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 Kingdomand
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.[1] The historical
female form is governess, though female officials are referred to by the gender-neutral form
governor (without the gender specific suffix) of the noun to avoid confusion withother meanings of
the term.