Sultan to as a sultanate ( "). The term is distinct from king ( "), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance, contrasting the more secular "king", which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. A feminine form of "sultan", used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah and this title has been used legally for some (not all) Muslim women monarchs and sultan's mothers and chief consorts. However, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses "sultan" for imperial lady, as Turkish grammar—which is influenced by Persian
Female labor force in the Muslim world or among the senior management positions of most of the 100 most lucrative companies in the Arab World. In Egypt, for example, there is only one female senior executive among its five largest commercial enterprises. Orascom Telecom Holding Company, which is the 62nd largest company in the Muslim World (nations whose populations are predominantly Islamic), has one female member of its board of directors. This woman, Elena Shmatova, however, is neither Egyptian nor Muslim which does not suggest opportunity for female advancement. Egypt's other largest firms by revenue, Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, Suez Canal Authority, Orascom Construction Industries, and Telekom