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 medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In poor countries, or countries with large swaths of poverty within the population, which many predominantly Muslim nations are or have, the probability of self-employment is greater because women cannot find more established jobs. There are, however, dozens of reasons why women may be employees, employers, or self-employed that reach beyond basic macroeconomic forces or social norms and conventions. According to the ILO, more than half, 53% of all female workers in Iran are self-employed. In Egypt, slightly fewer women are self-employed than are in Iran. Fifty-two percent of Egyptian female workers have their own business