A
lieutenant governor,
lieutenant-governor, or
vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or
lieutenant to or
ranking under a
governor — a "
second-in-command". In many
Commonwealth of Nations states, a lieutenant governor is the representative of the
monarch and acts as the nominal chief executive officer of the realm, although by convention the lieutenant governor delegates actual executive power to the premier of a province. The
Dutch political system also includes and has included lieutenant governors, who act as executors of overseas possessions. In
India, lieutenant governors are in charge of
special administrative divisions in that country.