Governor-General

Governor-General (or Governor General) is a term used both historically and currently to designate the appointed representative of a head of state or their government for a particular territory, historically in a colonial context, but no longer necessarily in that form. The title has been, and is still used, for representatives of the Crown in the Realms of the Commonwealth, or in countries which were once British possessions. A primary example is the position as Governor-General of India, which existed from 1773 to 1950. The Representative of the Crown is a term used in various constitutions to refer to the Governor-General.

Other Usages

• From 1636 to 1815 Sweden appointed Governors-General, typically for the Swedish Dominions on the eastern side of the Baltic and in northern Germany, but occasionally also for Scania.
• From 1644 to 1911, in Qing-dynasty China, a Governor General or zongdu (总督) was the highest official of joint military and civil affairs in one or several provinces (alternately translated, Viceroy)
• From 1691 to 1948 the Dutch appointed a Governor-General to govern the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia.
• Other Netherlands Dependent Areas:
• From 1809 to 1918 there were Russian Governors-General in the Grand Duchy of Finland and various other Governorates-General.
• From 1887 to 1945 the French appointed a Governor-General to govern French Indo-China (now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia).
• From 1905 to 1935 the Philippines was administered by a Governor General appointed by the United States.
• From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was administered by the Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan.
• From 1910 to 1945, Korea was administered by the Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
• From 1939 to 1944, during the German occupation of Poland part of the country was designated the General Government and the Nazi official Hans Frank had the title Governor-General (Generalgouverneur für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete).