Sovereignty, in the political and legal sense, is the ultimate authority to govern a territory and its population. It is generally owned or held by a person, body, or institution that has the highest authority within a state or territory. This authority can be vested in different entities depending on the system of governance:

• Internal Sovereignty : The supreme authority within a state, often vested in a monarch historically, or in modern times, in the people or their elected representatives (public sovereignty). For example, in monarchies, sovereignty was held by the monarch (e.g., Louis XIV of France), while in democracies, sovereignty is vested in the people as expressed through elected governments

• Domestic Sovereignty : Control exercised by an authority organized within the state over its territory and population

• International Legal Sovereignty : Recognition by other states of a state's right to govern itself without external interference

• Empirical Sovereignty : The actual, effective control over a state's territory and population, including the legitimacy of those in power

In modern states, sovereignty is typically held by the government or the people through democratic institutions, and it is recognized internationally as the legal right to govern a defined territory. Sovereignty can be divided into de jure (legal) sovereignty and de facto (practical) sovereignty, where a state may have legal recognition but not effective control, or vice versa

. Thus, sovereignty is "owned" by the sovereign authority within a state—either a monarch, a government, or the people—depending on the political system and is recognized by other states in the international community. (Note: The term "Sovereignty" can also refer to other unrelated entities, such as the thoroughbred racehorse owned by Godolphin, but this is distinct from the political concept of sovereignty

.)