Republic – the origin of this legal term is the Latin term “res publica”, which literally means “public matters”. A republic is a type of ruling of a country, where it lays on the sovereign of its citizens. They choose (usually vote for) representatives to rule them and to manage the country – like a president, a government and a parliament (depending of the particular jurisdiction). The opposite of republic is a monarchy, ruled exclusively by a king, and where the nationals do not have sovereign rights. A synonym of “republic” is the term “self-government”.