Currently, there are sixteen of them. They elect their own primate, whose pastoral jurisdiction depends on a patriarch chosen by a synod. Many of these jurisdictions correspond to the territories of one or more countries - for example, the Moscow Patriarchate corresponds to the territory of Russia and some other post-Soviet states.
They may also include metropolises, bishoprics, parishes, monasteries, and even be outside the country where the patriarch resides. An example is Constantinople, whose jurisdiction is partly in northern Greece and the east. In Bessarabia (part of Moldova and Ukraine), the patriarchs of Bucharest and Moscow jurisdictions overlap.
