Literally speaking a patriarch is a person who governs a family through paternal rights. This word is mainly used in Christianity for a Priest of high rank. Patriarchism may also be found in Shias where Imam Khumini level Imams have the main control. Imam-i-Kabba may be considered a Patriarch. Yet, among Sunni Muslims Patriarchism is not in vogue. Each Scholar considers himself to be a Patriarch. That is why we have many sets in Muslims.
A patriarchate is the country and land area covered by the spiritual jurisdiction of a Patriarch, or his area of responsibility. For example, the Patriarch of Alexandria is responsible for his patriarchate which covers Egypt and all of Africa.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church there are four ancient patriarchates, which are headed by a patriarch, being Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. A patriarch is a senior archbishop in the church. So a patriarchate is another way of saying an archdiocese which is headed by an archbishop.
The Greek Orthodox Church in the United States comes under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. So the patriarchate or area of responsibility of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is fairly large and covers many areas of the world. The largest patriarchate in the world is the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, which covers Russia's 100 million Orthodox Christians.
To use a local example, a patriarchate is like a parish, except much bigger in size. Just as a priest is responsible for the people within his parish, likewise a patriarch is responsible for the people in his patriarchate.
Patriarchate of Karlovci was created in 1848.
Palace of the Patriarchate was created in 1907.
Patriarchate of the West Indies was created in 1524.
The population of Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is 65,000.
There are not 12, but 15 autocephalous (self-governing) Eastern Orthodox Churches, all of which are in communion with each other. They are: 1) Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, 2) Patriarchate of Alexandria, 3) Patriarchate of Antioch, 4) Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 5) Moscow (Russian) Patriarchate, 6) Belgrade (Serbian) Patriarchate, 7) Romanian Patriarchate, 8) Bulgarian Patriarchate, 9) Georgian Patriarchate, 10) Church of Greece, 11) Church of Cyprus, 12) Church of Poland, 13) Church of Albania, 14) Church of Czech & Slovak, and 15) Orthodox Church in America.
The main Orthodox jurisdictions in the US are the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church of America (OCA), the Moscow Patriarchate, the Antiochian Patriarchate, the Serbian Patriarchate and the Romanian Patriarchate. All of these jurisdictions are in communion with each other. They are not denominations, but simply "sister churches" of the one Eastern Orthodox Church.
Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate was created in 1920.
The population of Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate is 150,000.
The Patriarch of Rome was regarded as "the first among equals".
Robin Darling has written: 'The patriarchate of Severus of Antioch, 512-518'
The name of the current spiritual head of the Moscow Patriarchate is His Holiness Patriarch Kyril.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, ecumenical centre of Greek Orthodoxy, is located in Fener, Istanbul.