List of female heads of state and government
This list of female heads of state and government includes women who have been elected or appointed to a leading state office ( head of state , head of government ).
For information on royal officials, see the list of women rulers and rulers .
Current situation
18 out of 193 (9.3%) states had a female head of state and / or a head of government in office in September 2015 . Of the 7.336 billion people in January 2017, 147 million (2.0%) lived in countries with a female head of state and 487 million (6.6%) in countries with a female head of state and / or government.
Female heads of state of republics
Surname | country | Office | Term of office | annotation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chertek Anchimaa | Tuvinian People's Republic | Speaker of Parliament | 1940-1944 | |
Süchbaataryn Yandschmaa | Mongolian People's Republic | President Office. | 1953-1954 | Widow of Damdin Süchbaatar |
Isabel Perón | Argentina | President Office. | 1974-1976 | Widow of Juan Perón |
Lidia Gueiler | Bolivia | President Office. | 1979-1980 | |
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir | Iceland | President | 1980-1996 | First democratically elected female head of state worldwide |
Maria Pedini Angelini | San Marino | Co-regent | 1981 | |
Agatha Barbara | Malta | President | 1982-1987 | |
Gloriana Ranocchini | San Marino | Co-regent | 1984 1989-1990 |
|
Carmen Pereira | Guinea-Bissau | President Office. | 1984 | |
Corazón Aquino | Philippines | President | 1986-1992 | Widow of Benigno Aquino |
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot | Haiti | President Office. | 1990-1991 | |
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl | GDR | People's Chamber President | 1990 | Representing the (no longer elected) State Council Chairman |
Violeta Chamorro | Nicaragua | President | 1990-1996 | |
Mary Robinson | Ireland | President of the Republic | 1990-1997 | |
Edda Ceccoli | San Marino | Co-regent | 1991-1992 | |
Patrizia Busignani | San Marino | Co-regent | 1993 | |
Chandrika Kumaratunga | Sri Lanka | President | 1994-2005 | Daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike |
Ruth Perry | Liberia | Chairman of the State Council . | 1996-1997 | |
Rosalía Arteaga | Ecuador | President Office. | 1997 | |
Janet Jagan | Guyana | President ren. | 1997-1999 | Widow of Cheddi Jagan |
Mary McAleese | Ireland | President of the Republic | 1997-2011 | |
Rosa Zafferani | San Marino | Co-regent | 1999 2008 |
|
Mireya Moscoso | Panama | President | 1999-2004 | Widow of Arnulfo Arias |
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga | Latvia | President | 1999-2007 | Elected by parliament for a second term in 2003 |
Tarja Halons | Finland | President | 2000-2012 | |
Maria Domenica Michelotti | San Marino | Co-regent | 2000 | |
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo | Philippines | President | 2001-2010 | Daughter of Diosdado Macapagal |
Megawati Sukarnoputri | Indonesia | President ren. | 2001-2004 | Daughter of Sukarno |
Valeria Ciavatta | San Marino | Co-regent | 2003-2004 2014 |
|
Nino Burjanadze | Georgia | President Office. | 2003-2004 2008 |
On behalf of the President |
Fausta Simona Morganti | San Marino | Co-regent | 2005 | |
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf | Liberia | President | 2006-2018 | |
Michelle Bachelet | Chile | President | 2006-2010 2014-2018 |
|
Pratibha Patil | India | President of the Republic | 2007–2012 | |
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner | Argentina | President of the Republic | 2007-2015 | Wife of Néstor Kirchner Was re-elected as the first South American president. Vice President from 2019 |
Assunta Meloni | San Marino | Co-regent | 2008-2009 | |
Dalia Grybauskaitė | Lithuania | President | 2009-2019 | was elected as the first Lithuanian president and in 2014 for a second term |
Laura Chinchilla | Costa Rica | President of the Republic | 2010-2014 | |
Rosa Otunbayeva | Kyrgyzstan | State President Office. | 2010-2011 | |
Dilma Rousseff | Brazil | President of the Republic | 2011-2016 | removed from office |
Maria Luisa Berti | San Marino | Co-regent | 2011 | |
Atifete Jahjaga | Kosovo | President | 2011-2016 | |
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau | Mauritius | Transitional President | 2012 | |
Slavica Đukić Dejanović | Serbia | President | 2012 | |
Joyce Banda | Malawi | President | 2012-2014 | |
Denise Bronzetti | San Marino | Co-regent | 2012-2013 | |
Park Geun-hye | South Korea | President | 2013-2017 | was suspended from office on December 9, 2016 and removed from office on March 10, 2017 by the Constitutional Court. |
Antonella Mularoni | San Marino | Co-regent | 2013 | |
Anna Maria Muccioli | San Marino | Co-regent | 2013-2014 | |
Catherine Samba-Panza | Central African Republic | President | 2014-2016 | |
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca | Malta | President | 2014-2019 | |
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović | Croatia | President | 2015-2020 | |
Ameenah Gurib | Mauritius | President | 2015-2018 | Resignation after a corruption scandal |
Lorella Stefanelli | San Marino | Co-regent | 2015-2016 | |
Bidhya Devi Bhandari | Nepal | President | since 2015 | Widow of Madan Kumar Bhandari |
Hilda Heine | Marshall Islands | President | 2016-2020 | |
Tsai Ing-wen | Republic of China | President | since 2016 | |
Doris Bures | Austria | National Council office. | 2016-2017 | As President of the National Council, she is provisionally responsible for the official business of the President with her two deputies as a college |
Kersti Kaljulaid | Estonia | President | since 2016 | |
Vanessa D'Ambrosio | San Marino | Co-regent | 2017 | |
Mimma Zavoli | San Marino | Co-regent | 2017 | |
Halimah Yacob | Singapore | President | since 2017 | |
Paula Mae Weekes | Trinidad and Tobago | President | since 2018 | |
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh | Vietnam | President Office. | 2018 | |
Sahle-Work Zewde | Ethiopia | President | since 2018 | |
Salome Zurabishvili | Georgia | President | since 2018 | |
Zuzana Čaputová | Slovakia | President | since 2019 | |
Mariella Mularoni | San Marino | Co-regent | 2019-2020 | |
Jeanine Áñez | Bolivia | President Office. | since 2019 | Interim President after Evo Morales' resignation |
Katerina Sakellaropoulou | Greece | President | since 2020 | |
Grazia Zafferani | San Marino | Co-regent | since 2020 | |
Surname | country | Office | Term of office | annotation |
er. appointed
office.officiating; Transitional Office (usually not elected)
pp.elected as prima inter pares for one year
Heads of government
Surname | country | Office | Term of office | annotation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Sri Lanka | Prime Minister | 1960-1965 1970-1977 1994-2000 |
Widow of SWRD Bandaranaike , mother of Chandrika Kumaratunga |
Indira Gandhi | India | Prime Minister | 1966-1977 1980-1984 |
Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru |
Golda Meïr | Israel | Prime Minister | 1969-1974 | |
Elisabeth Domitién | Central African Republic | Prime Minister Ren. | 1975-1976 | Appointment by President Jean-Bédel Bokassa |
Margaret Thatcher | Great Britain | Prime minister | 1979-1990 | |
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo | Portugal | Prime Minister | 1979-1980 | |
Eugenia Charles | Dominica | Prime Minister | 1980-1995 | |
Gro Harlem Brundtland | Norway | Prime Minister | 1981 1986-1999 1990-1996 |
|
Milka Planinc | Yugoslavia | Prime Minister Ren. | 1982-1986 | |
Benazir Bhutto | Pakistan | Prime Minister | 1988-1990 1993-1996 |
Daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
Kazimiera Prunskienė | Lithuania | Prime Minister | 1990-1991 | |
Khaleda Zia | Bangladesh | Prime Minister | 1991-1996 2001-2006 |
Widow of Ziaur Rahman |
Edith Cresson | France | Prime Minister Ren. | 1991-1992 | Appointed by President François Mitterrand |
Hanna Suchocka | Poland | Prime minister | 1992-1993 | failed due to a vote of no confidence, later Minister of Justice and Attorney General |
Kim Campbell | Canada | Prime minister | 1993 | |
Tansu Çiller | Turkey | Prime Minister | 1993-1996 | |
Sylvie Kinigi | Burundi | Prime Minister in office. | 1993-1994 | |
Marita Petersen | Faroe Islands | Prime Minister | 1993-1994 | |
Agathe Uwilingiyimana | Rwanda | Prime Minister Ren. | 1993-1994 | |
Chandrika Kumaratunga | Sri Lanka | Prime Minister | 1994 | Daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike |
Reneta Indschowa | Bulgaria | Prime Minister in office. | 1994-1995 | |
Claudette Werleigh | Haiti | Prime Minister | 1995-1996 | |
Hasina Wajed | Bangladesh | Prime Minister | 1996–2001 since 2009 |
Daughter of Mujibur Rahman |
Janet Jagan | Guyana | Prime Minister Ren. | 1997 | Wife of Cheddi Jagan |
Anne Enger | Norway | Prime Minister in office. | 1998 | Provisional assumption of office on behalf of Kjell Magne Bondevik |
Jenny Shipley | New Zealand | Prime minister | 1997-1999 | |
Ruth Dreifuss | Switzerland | Federal President pp. | 1999 | |
Irena Degutienė | Lithuania | Prime Minister in office. | 1999 1999 |
Two short terms |
Njam-Osoryn Tujaa | Mongolia | Prime Minister in office. | 1999 | |
Helen Clark | New Zealand | Prime minister | 1999-2008 | |
Mame Madior Boye | Senegal | Prime Minister Ren. | 2001-2002 | |
Chang Sang | South Korea | Prime Minister in office. | 2002 | |
Maria das Neves | Sao Tome and Principe | Prime Minister Ren. | 2002-2004 | |
Anneli Jäätteenmäki | Finland | Prime Minister | 2003 | |
Beatriz Merino | Peru | Prime minister | 2003 | |
Radmila Šekerinska | Macedonia | Prime Minister in office. | 2004 2004 |
Two short terms |
Luísa Diogo | Mozambique | Prime Minister Ren. | 2004-2010 | |
Yulia Tymoshenko | Ukraine | Prime Minister Ren. | 2005 2007-2010 |
|
Maria do Carmo Silveira | Sao Tome and Principe | Prime Minister Ren. | 2005-2006 | |
Angela Merkel | Germany | Chancellor | since 2005 | |
Portia Simpson Miller | Jamaica | Prime Minister | 2006–2007 2012–2016 |
|
Han Myung-sook | South Korea | Prime Minister | 2006-2007 | |
Micheline Calmy-Rey | Switzerland | Federal President pp. | 2007 2011 |
|
Zinaida Greceanîi | Moldova | Prime Minister | 2008-2009 | |
Michèle Pierre-Louis | Haiti | Prime Minister | 2008-2009 | |
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir | Iceland | Prime Minister | 2009-2013 | |
Jadranka Kosor | Croatia | Prime Minister | 2009-2011 | |
Doris Leuthard | Switzerland | Federal President pp. | 2010 2017 |
|
Kamla Persad-Bissessar | Trinidad and Tobago | Prime Minister | 2010-2015 | |
Mari Kiviniemi | Finland | Prime Minister | 2010-2011 | |
Julia Gillard | Australia | Prime Minister | 2010-2013 | |
Iveta Radičová | Slovakia | Prime Minister | 2010–2012 | |
Rosario Fernández | Peru | Prime minister | 2011 | |
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé | Mali | Prime Minister | 2011–2012 | |
Yingluck Shinawatra | Thailand | Prime Minister | 2011-2014 | Sister of Thaksin Shinawatra ; deposed by the Thai Constitutional Court |
Helle Thorning-Schmidt | Denmark | Prime Minister | 2011-2015 | |
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf | Switzerland | Federal President pp. | 2012 | Daughter of Leon Schlumpf |
Adiato Diallo Nandigna | Guinea-Bissau | Prime Minister | 2012 | |
Alenka Bratušek | Slovenia | Prime Minister | 2013-2014 | |
Aleqa Hammond | Greenland | Prime Minister | 2013-2014 | |
Aminata Touré | Senegal | Prime Minister | 2013-2014 | |
Sibel Siber | Northern Cyprus | Prime Minister | 2013 | Transitional government |
Erna Solberg | Norway | Prime Minister | since 2013 | General election September 9th 2013 |
Laimdota Straujuma | Latvia | Prime Minister | 2014-2016 | Appointment by President Andris Berzins from December 7, 2015 to February 11, 2016 only provisionally |
Tatiana Mikhailovna Turanskaya | Transnistria | Prime minister | 2013-2015 | |
Cynthia Ligeard | New Caledonia | District President | 2014 | |
Ewa Kopacz | Poland | Prime minister | 2014-2015 | previously Minister of Health and Speaker of Parliament |
Ana Jara | Peru | Prime minister | 2014-2015 | removed from office |
Simonetta Sommaruga | Switzerland | Federal President pp. | 2015 since 2020 |
|
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila | Namibia | Prime minister | since 2015 | |
Vasiliki Thanou-Christofilou | Greece | Prime Minister in office. | 2015 | provisional assumption of office |
Beata Szydło | Poland | Prime minister | 2015-2017 | resigned despite having passed a vote of no confidence for internal party reasons |
Theresa May | Great Britain | Prime minister | 2016-2019 | |
Aung San Suu Kyi | Myanmar | State advisor | since 2016 | |
Ana Brnabić | Serbia | Prime Minister | since 2017 | |
Carrie Lam | Hong Kong | Chief administrator | since 2017 | |
Mercedes Aráoz | Peru | Prime minister | 2017-2018 | |
Jacinda Ardern | New Zealand | Prime minister | since 2017 | |
Katrín Jakobsdóttir | Iceland | Prime Minister | since 2017 | |
Viorica Dăncilă | Romania | Prime Minister | 2018-2019 | |
Mia Mottley | Barbados | Prime minister | since 2018 | |
Brigitte Bierlein | Austria | Chancellor | 2019-2020 | appointed by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen as Federal Chancellor of a transitional government |
Maia Sandu | Moldova | Prime Minister | 2019 | voted out by a vote of no confidence |
Mette Frederiksen | Denmark | Prime Minister | since 2019 | |
Sophie Wilmès | Belgium | Prime Minister | since 2019 | appointed by King Philippe as Executive Prime Minister |
Sanna Marin | Finland | Prime Minister | since 2019 | meanwhile youngest head of government worldwide |
Surname | country | Office | Term of office | Remarks |
3 appointed
4thofficiating; Transitional Office (usually not elected)
5elected as prima inter pares for one year
See also
- List of rulers and regents
- List of women ministers
- List of countries according to the proportion of women in the state parliament
- Title of ancient Egyptian queens
- List of Amun's wives of God
- List of Roman Empresses
- List of queens of France
- List of queens of Portugal
- List of queens of Sweden
- List of queens of Spain
- List of the queens of Aragon
- Women in politics (shares and famous women politicians)