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A petty kingdom is an independent realm recognizing no suzerain and controlling only a portion of the territory held by a particular ethnic group or nation. Petty kingdoms were prominent before the formation of many of today's nation-states. Many of today's countries were typically ruled by multiple local kings in more or less stable kingdoms. The various small states of the Holy Roman Empire are generally not considered to be petty kingdoms since they were at least nominally subject to the Holy Roman Emperor and not fully independent.