FEMALE WORLD LEADERS CURRENTLY IN POWER

The following is a list of female presidents, prime ministers, and other heads of state who are presently in power as of January 22, 2015.

All data comes care of Rulers.org, WorldStatesmen.org, or Regnal Chronologies.

CURRENT TOTAL: 22



We are currently living under a record-high number of simultanious female world leaders.



For several years now, the stable status quo has been around 20 female world leaders at any given time. For much of 2014, the number was 22 — a record high.

# Country Pic Leader In office since: Notes 1 Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel Nov. 22, 2005 - elected 2 Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Jan. 16, 2006 - elected 3 Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Dec. 10, 2007 - elected 4 Bangledesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed Jan. 6, 2009 - elected 5 Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaite Jul. 12, 2009 - elected 6 Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar May 26, 2010 - elected 7 Brazil President Dilma Rousseff Jan. 1, 2011 - elected 8 Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga Apr. 7, 2011 - elected 9 Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt Oct. 3, 2011 - elected 10 Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller Jan. 5, 2012 - elected 11 South Korea President Park Geun-hye Feb. 25, 2013 - elected 12 Slovenia Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek Mar. 20, 2013 - elected 13 Cyprus (North) Prime Minister Sibel Siber Jun. 13, 2013 - appointed 14 Senegal Prime Minister Aminata Touré Sep. 3, 2013 - appointed 15 Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg Oct. 16, 2013 - elected 16 Latvia Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma Jan. 22, 2014 - elected 17

Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza Jan. 23, 2014 - appointed 18

Chile President Michelle Bachelet Mar. 11, 2014 - elected 19

Malta President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca Apr. 7, 2014 - elected 20

Poland

Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz Apr. 7, 2014 - elected 21

Switzerland

President Simonetta Sommaruga Jan. 1, 2015 -

appointed 22

Croatia



President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

Feb. 18, 2015 -

elected

"Elected" refers to women leaders who were elected in democratic elections, including both direct election and parliamentary election.

"Succeeded" refers to leaders who automatically assumed their position following the resignation or impeachment of a predecessor, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.

"Appointed" refers to leaders who were appointed to office by a ruling party or executive, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.

"Coup" refers to a leader who staged a coup or revolution to take office through force.



Sometimes leaders who were originally appointed to office managed to win election. In such cases both dates are noted.

NOTE: the "head of state" issue

In colloquial speech, a "head of state" is simply a world leader; be she a president, a prime minister, a ruling monarch, or in rare cases, some other office entirely. However, political scientists — and indeed, many national constitutions — define this term in a more narrow sense, with the "head of state" being the person who symbolically "embodies" the nation as its highest legal authority and highest-ranking ceremonial representative. A person who actually "runs" the government, in contrast, is called the "head of government." In many countries, the head of state and head of government is the same person, but in many other countries, the "head of state" is a symbolic president or monarch while the prime minister is the "head of government."

Identifying "heads of state" in this sense is a complicated matter I am not interested in here. Let it merely be noted that the women listed below consist simply of people who could be accurately described as "world leaders" of one sort or another, but some might regard it as technically incorrect to describe them as all "heads of state."

Queens or Vice-Regal Females in power

A few countries have reining female queens, or, if they are a member of the British Commonwealth, a female governor general representing Queen Elizabeth as head of state. As they are merely symbolic figureheads chosen to represent the actual head of state, they are not usually counted as "full" world leaders.



# Country Leader In office since: 1 United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II Feb. 6, 1952 - 2 Denmark Queen Margethe II Jan. 14, 1972 - 4 Saint Lucia Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy Sep. 17, 1997 - 5 Australia Governor-General Quentin Bryce Sep. 5, 2008 -

All countries with female presidents, past and present

A president is either the executive leader of a country, or a ceremonial figurehead chosen to "represent the nation" but not exercise any real political power.



Country Leader Term Notes Argentina (1st time) President Isabel Peron Jul. 1, 1974 - Mar. 24, 1976 succeeded, wife Iceland President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Aug. 1, 1980 - Jul. 31, 1996 elected Malta (1st time) President Agatha Barbara Feb. 15, 1982 - Feb. 15, 1987 elected Philippines (1st time) President Corazon Aquino Feb. 25, 1986 - Jun. 30, 1992 elected, wife* Nicaragua President Violeta de Chamorro Apr. 25, 1990 - Jan. 10, 1997 elected Ireland (1st time) President Mary Robinson Dec, 3, 1990 - Sep. 12, 1997 elected Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga Nov. 12, 1994 - Nov. 19, 2005 elected, daughter Ireland (2nd time) President Mary McAleese Nov. 11, 1997 - Nov. 11, 2011 elected Guyana President Janet Jagan Dec. 19, 1997 - Aug. 11, 1999 elected, wife Switzerland (1st time) President Ruth Dreifuss Jan. 1, 1999 - Dec. 31, 1999 appointed Latvia President Vaira Vike-Freiberga Jul. 8, 1999 - Jul. 8, 2007 elected Panama President Mireya Moscoso Sep. 1, 1999 - Sep. 1, 2004 elected, wife Finland President Tarja Halonen Mar. 1, 2000 - elected Philippines (2nd time) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Jan. 20, 2001 - June 30, 2010 succeeded 2001, elected 2004, daughter Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri Jul. 23, 2001 - Oct. 20, 2004 succeeded, daughter Serbia President Natasa Micic Dec. 30, 2002 - Jan. 27, 2004 appointed Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Jan. 16, 2006 - elected Chile President Michelle Bachelet Mar. 11, 2006 - Mar. 11, 2010 elected Switzerland (2nd time) President Micheline Calmy-Rey Jan. 1, 2007 - Dec. 31, 2007 appointed Bosnia & Herzegovina President Borjana Kristo Feb. 22, 2007 - Mar. 17, 2011 elected India President Pratibha Patil Jul. 25, 2007 - Jul. 25, 2012 elected Argentina (2nd time) President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Dec. 10, 2007 - elected, wife Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaite Jul. 12, 2009 - elected Switzerland (3rd time) President Doris Leuthard Jan. 1, 2010 - Dec. 31, 2011 appointed Kyrgyzstan President Rosa Otunbayeva Apr. 7, 2010 - Dec. 1, 2011 coup Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla May 8, 2010 - May 8, 2014

elected Brazil President Dilma Rousseff Jan. 1, 2011 - elected Switzerland (4th time) President Micheline Calmy-Rey Jan. 1, 2011 - Dec. 31, 2011 appointed Switzerland (5th time) President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf Jan. 1, 2012 - Dec. 31, 2013 appointed Malawi President Joyce Banda Apr. 7, 2012 - May 31, 2014

succeeded South Korea President Park Geun-hye Feb. 25, 2013 - elected, daughter Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza Jan. 23, 2014 - appointed Chile (2nd time) President Michelle Bachelet Mar. 11, 2014 - elected Malta (2nd time) President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca Apr. 7, 2014 - elected Switzerland (6th time) President Simonetta Sommaruga Jan. 1, 2015 -

appointed Croatia

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

Feb. 18, 2015 -

elected

"Wife" indicates leaders whose husband was also president at one time.

"Daughter" indicates leaders whose father was also president at one time.

* though not a wife of a president, Ms. Aquino's political career was largely the result of her marriage to a very prominent senator, who was later assasinated. Her son, interestingly, would also later serve as president.

Less than a year in power (acting, interim leaders, etc)

The following female leaders all assumed office on some sort of interim basis and cannot be properly regarded as a "full" president. They often held the presidency while simultaniously holding some other office of government, usually speaker of parliament..

Country Leader Term Mongolia President Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa Sep. 23, 1953 - Jul. 7, 1954 Bolivia President Lydia Gueiler Tejada Nov. 17, 1980 - Jul. 18, 1980 Guinea-Bissau President Carmen Pereira May 14, 1984 - May 16, 1984 Haiti President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot Mar. 13, 1990 - Jan. 7, 1991 East Germany President Sabine Bergmann-Pohl Apr. 5, 1990 - Oct. 2, 1990 Liberia President Ruth Perry Sep. 3, 1996 - Aug. 2, 1997 Ecuador President Rosalía Arteaga Serrano Feb. 9, 1997 - Feb. 11, 1997 Georgia (1st time) President Nino Burjanadz Nov. 23, 2003 - Jan. 25, 2004 Georgia (2nd time) President Nino Burjanadz Nov. 25, 2007 - Jan. 20, 2008 Israel President Dalia Itzik Jan. 25, 2007 - Jul. 15, 2007 South Africa President Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri Sep. 25, 2008 Gabon President Rose Francine Rogombé Jun. 10, 2009 - Oct. 16, 2009 Mauritius President Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau Mar. 31, 2012 - Jul. 21. 2012 Serbia President Slavica Djukic Dejanovic Apr. 4, 2012 - May 31, 2012

All countries with female prime ministers, past and present

A prime minister is, in most circumstances, the leader of the national parliament. How much power she exercises can vary greatly based on the country, and how strong the president (or in some cases, monarch) that sits above her is.



Country Leader Term Notes Sri Lanka (1st time) Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike Jul. 21, 1960 - Mar. 27, 1965 elected, wife India (1st time) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Jan. 19, 1966 - Mar. 24, 1977 elected, daughter Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir Mar. 17, 1969 - Jun. 3, 1974 appointed 1969, elected 1971 Sri Lanka (2nd time) Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike May 29, 1970 - Jul. 23, 1977 " Central African Republic Prime Minister Elisabeth Domitien Jan. 2, 1975 - Apr. 7, 1976 appointed* United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher May 4, 1979 - Nov. 28, 1990 elected India (2nd time) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Jan. 14, 1980 - Oct. 31, 1984 " Dominica Prime Minister Dame Eugenia Charles Jul. 21, 1980 - Jun. 14, 1995 elected Norway (1st time) Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland Feb. 4, 1981 - Oct. 14, 1981 elected Yugoslavia Prime Minister Milka Planinc May 16, 1982 - May 15, 1986 appointed* Norway (2nd time) Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland May 9, 1986 - Oct. 16, 1989 " Pakistan (1st time) Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Dec. 2, 1988 - Aug. 6, 1990 elected, daughter Norway (3rd time) Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland Nov. 3, 1990 - Oct. 25, 1996 " Bangledesh (1st time) Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Mar. 20, 1991 - Mar. 30, 1996 elected, daughter Poland Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka Jul. 8, 1992 - Oct. 26, 1993 appointed Turkey Prime Minister Tansu Çiller Jun. 25, 1992 - Mar. 6, 1996 appointed Pakistan (2nd time) Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Oct. 19, 1993 - Nov. 5, 1996 " Sri Lanka (3rd time) Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike Nov. 14, 1994 - Aug. 10, 2000 " New Zealand (1st time) Prime Minister Jenny Shippley Dec. 8, 1997 - Dec. 10, 1999 appointed New Zealand (2nd time) Prime Minister Helen Clark Dec. 10, 1999 - Nov. 19, 2008 elected Senegal (1st time) Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye Mar. 2, 2001 - Nov. 4, 2002 appointed Bangledesh (2nd time) Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Oct. 10, 2001 - Oct. 29. 2006 " São Tomé and Príncipe Prime Minister Maria das Neves Oct. 7, 2002 - Sep. 18, 2004 appointed Mozambique Prime Minister Luísa Diogo Feb. 17, 2004 - Jan. 16, 2010 appointed 2004, elected 2009 Ukraine (1st time) Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko Jan. 24, 2005 - Sep. 8, 2005 elected Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel Nov. 22, 2005 - elected Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller Mar. 30, 2006 - Sep. 11, 2007 appointed South Korea Prime Minister Han Myung Sook Ap. 19, 2006 - Mar. 7, 2007 appointed Ukraine (2nd time) Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko Dec. 18, 2007 - Mar. 11, 2010 " Haiti (2nd time) Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis Sep. 5, 2008 - Nov. 11, 2009 appointed Bangledesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed Jan. 6, 2009 - elected Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir Feb. 1, 2009 - May 23, 2013 appointed 2009, elected 2009 Croatia Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor Jul. 6, 2009 - Dec. 2011 appointed Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar May 26, 2010 - elected Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard Jun. 24, 2010 - Jun. 27, 2013 appointed 2010, elected 2010 Finland Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi Jun. 22, 2010 - Jun. 22, 2011 appointed Slovakia Prime Minister Iveta Radicová Jul. 8, 2010 - Apr. 4, 2012 elected Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Aug. 8, 2011 - May 7, 2014

elected Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt Oct. 3, 2011 - elected Jamaica (2nd time) Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller Jan. 5, 2012 - elected Slovenia Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek Mar. 20, 2013 - Sep. 18, 2014

elected Norway (3rd time) Prime Minister Erna Solberg Oct. 16, 2013 - elected Latvia Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma Jan. 22, 2014 - elected

Less than a year in power (acting, interim leaders, etc)

Country Leader Term Portugal Prime Minister Maria de Lurdes Pintassilgo Aug. 1, 1979 - Jan. 3, 1980 Lithuania (1st time) Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskien Mar. 17, 1990 - Jan. 10, 1991 France Prime Minister Edith Cresson May 15, 1991 - Apr. 2, 1992 Burundi Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi Jul. 10, 1993 - Feb. 7, 1994 Canada Prime Minister Kim Campbell Jun. 25, 1993 - Nov. 4, 1993 Rwanda Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana Jul. 18, 1993 - Apr. 7, 1994 Bulgaria Prime Minister Reneta Indzhova Oct. 17, 1994 - Jan. 25, 1995 Sri Lanka Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga Aug. 19, 1994 - Nov. 12, 1994 Haiti Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh Nov. 7, 1995 - Mar. 6, 1996 Guyana Prime Minister Janet Jagan Mar. 17, 1997 - Dec. 22, 1997 Lithuania (2nd time) Prime Minister Irena Degutiene May 4, 1999 - May 18, 1999 Lithuania (3rd time) Prime Minister Irena Degutiene Oct. 27, 1999 - Nov. 3, 1999 Mongolia Prime Minister Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa Jul. 22, 1999 - Jul. 30, 1999 South Korea Prime Minister Chang Sang Jul. 11, 2002 - Jul. 31, 2002 Finland Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki Apr. 17, 2003 - Jun. 24, 2003 Peru (1st time) Prime Minister Beatriz Merino June 28, 2003 - Dec. 15, 2003 Macedonia (1st time) Prime Minister Radmila Sekerinska May 12, 2004 - Jun. 2, 2004 Macedonia (2nd time) Prime Minister Radmila Sekerinska Nov. 18, 2004 - Dec. 17, 2004 São Tomé and Príncipe Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira Jun. 8, 2005 - Apr. 21, 2006 Moldova Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanîi Mar. 31, 2008 - Sep. 14, 2009 Madagascar Prime Minister Cécile Manorohanta

Dec. 18, 2009 - Dec. 20, 2009 Peru (2nd time) Prime Minister Rosario Fernández Mar. 19, 2011 - Jul. 28, 2011 Mali Prime Minister Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé Apr. 3, 2011 - March 22, 2012 Cyprus (North) Prime Minister Sibel Siber Jun. 13, 2013 - Sep. 2, 2013 Senegal (2nd time) Prime Minister Aminata Touré Sep. 3, 2013 - Jul. 14, 2014



All countries with female governor-generals

In a Commonwealth country, a governor general is a politician appointed by the prime minister to serve as "acting" head of state on behalf of the British monarch, the legal chief of state.

Canada (1st time) Governor-General Jeanne Sauvé May 14, 1984 - Jan. 29, 1990 Barbados Governor-General Dame Nita Barrow Jun. 6, 1990 - Dec. 19, 1995 New Zealand (1st time) Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard Nov. 20, 1990 - Mar. 21, 1996 Saint Lucia Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy Sep. 17, 1997 - Canada (2nd time) Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson Oct. 7, 1999 - Sep. 27, 2005 New Zealand (2nd time) Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright Apr. 4, 2001 - Aug. 23, 2006 Bahamas Governor-General Dame Ivy Dumont Nov. 13, 2001 - Nov. 25, 2005 Canada (3rd time) Governor-General Michaelle Jean Sep. 27, 2005 - Oct. 1, 2010 Antigua and Barbuda Governor-General Dame Louise Lake-Tack Jul. 17, 2007 - Aug. 13, 2004

Australia Governor-General Quentin Bryce Sep. 5, 2008 - Mar. 28, 2014



Historic female monarchs

Historically speaking, the principle of heritary monarchism has tended to supercede the principle of gender discrimantion, meaning even very sexually regressive socieites have allowed female monarchs to rule them from time to time, if that's how the monarchical birth lottery goes. Here are all the historic female monarchs of countries that still exist in some form today.

Denmark (1st time) Lady Margrethe I Aug. 10, 1387 - Jan. 23, 1396 Portugal (1st time) Queen Beatrix Oct. 22, 1383 - Apr. 6, 1385 Spain (1st time) Queen Isabella I of Castile

Dec. 11, 1474 - Nov. 26, 1504 Spain (2nd time) Queen Juana the Mad Nov. 26, 1504 - Apr. 12, 1555 England (1st time) Lady Jane Grey Jul. 6, 1553 - Jul. 19, 1553 England (2nd time) "Bloody" Mary Jul. 19, 1553 - Nov. 17, 1558 England (3rd time) Queen Elizabeth I Nov. 17, 1558 - Mar. 24, 1603 Sweden (1st time) Queen Christina Nov. 16, 1632 - Jun. 16, 1654 England (4th time) Queen Mary II Feb. 23, 1689 - Jan. 7, 1695 England (4th time) Queen Anne Mar. 19, 1702 - Aug. 12, 1714 Sweden (2nd time) Ulrica Eleonora Feb. 2, 1719 - Apr. 4, 1720 Russia (2nd time) Tsar Catherine I Feb. 8 1725 - May 17, 1727 Russia (3rd time) Tsar Anna Ivovna Feb. 13, 1730 - Oct. 28, 1740 Russia (4th time) Tsar Elizabeth Petrovna Dec. 6, 1741 - Jan. 5, 1762 Russia (5th time) Tsar Catherine II the Great Jul. 8, 1762 - Nov. 17, 1796 Portugal and Brazil (2nd time) Queen Maria

Feb. 24, 1777 - Mar. 20, 1816 Portgual (3rd time) Queen Maria II the Great Mar. 3, 1828 - Nov. 15, 1853 England (5th time) Queen Empress Victoria the Good Jun. 20, 1837 - Jan. 22, 1901 China Empress Dowager Cixi Feb. 25, 1875 - Mar. 4, 1889 Netherlands (1st time) Queen Regent Emma Dec. 8, 1890 - Aug. 31, 1898 Netherlands (2nd time) Queen Wilhelmina Aug. 31, 1898 - Sep. 4, 1948 Luxembourg (1st time) Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde Feb. 25, 1912 - Jan. 15, 1919 Luxembourg (2nd time) Grand Duchess Charlotte Jan. 15, 1919 - Nov. 12, 1964 Netherlands (3rd time) Queen Juliana Sep. 4, 1948 - Apr. 30, 1980 Netherlands (4th time) Queen Beatrix Apr. 30, 1980 - Apr. 30, 2013

Special cases

Switzerland has one of the world's most unusual political systems, with the nation's highest political authority vested in a "federal council" comprised of seven members of parliament. The chair of the council serves as president of Switzerland, but the position rotates every year. Since the federal council always contains at least one women, Switzerland has a higher than one-in-seven chance of having a female president in any given year, which explains Switzerland's unusually high tally in this regard.

The tiny European nation of San Marino elects two members of parliament to serve as "campaigns regent" for a six-month term. San Marino law (the nation has no constitution) declares that these captains serve "jointly" as head of state. Maria Lea Pedini Angelini served as San Marino's first female captain regent in 1981; since then there have been 15 others. I have elected not to include a full list of San Marino's post-1981 female captains partially ensure this most unusual of offices in this most minuscule of nations does not clutter the lists above.

Countries that have had more than one female leader (includes acting, interim leaders etc)

Switzerland (6) Six presidents* Sri Lanka (3) One president, two prime ministers Haiti (3) One president, two prime ministers Finland (3) One president, two prime ministers South Korea (3) Two prime ministers, one president Lithuania (3) One president, two prime ministers Argentina (2) Two presidents Bangledesh (2) Two prime ministers Central African Republic (2) One president, one prime minister Guyana (2) One president, one prime minister* Iceland (2) One president, one prime minister India (2) One president, one prime minister Ireland (2) Two presidents Israel (2) One president, one prime minister Liberia (2) Two presidents Philippines (2) Two presidents New Zealand (2) Two prime ministers São Tomé and Príncipe (2) Two prime ministers Sengal (2) Two prime ministers

*Switzerland has seen six female presidential terms, though two of those were held by the same woman. Guyana's tally is also debatable, since their female prime minister and female president were the same person.

Historic firsts

Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa of Mongolia (1953-1954) World's first female (acting) president Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka (1960-1965) World's first female prime minister Isabel Peron of Argentina (1974-1976) World's first female (non-acting) president Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom (1979-1990) World's first female prime minister who was elected without being either an incumbent or a relative of a male leader. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland (1980-1996) World's first female elected president, and first female president who was elected without being either an incumbent or a relative of a male leader. Mary McAleese of Ireland (1997- 2011) First time that a female president directly succeed another female president. Sri Lanka (1994-2000) First time that a nation possessed a female prime minister and a female president simultaneously. Sri Lanka in 1994 also marked the first time a female prime minister directly succeeded another female prime minister. Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir of Iceland (2009-2013) World's first lesbian world leader, first female world leader to wed a same-sex partner while in office.

History's most important female world leaders

Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel (1969-1974) b. 1898 - d. 1978 Born in Russia but raised in the United States, Golda Meir was one of many young Jews who emigrated to the British colony of Palestine in the early 20th century. A leading Zionist and labor activist, she was one of the signatories of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence. In 1949 she was elected as a Labor Party delegate to the first Israeli parliament, and served in a number of cabinet positions under prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Levi Eshkol, before succeeding to the office of prime minister herself, following Eshkol's 1969 death. As prime minister, Meir's term was dominated by the so-called "Yom Kippur War" of 1973, in which Israel was unexpectedly invaded by Egypt and Syria. Though the war severely tested Meir's leadership, Israel was ultimately victorious, once again demonstrating the country's military strength in the face of hostile neighbors. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India (1966-1977, 1980-1984) b. 1917 - d. 1984 Though not related to the famed Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, Indira was the daughter of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and was elected to lead his political party, the Indian National Congress in 1960, following his death. After serving in the cabinet of Prime Minister Bahadur Shastri, she in turn succeeded to the office of prime minister following his death in 1966. Gandhi's two terms were tumultuous and eventful, and saw episodes such as a 1971 war with Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir, the development of an Indian nuclear weapons program, and a so-called "Green Revolution" in farming that transformed the country's agriculture. Her tenure was not a positive time for civil liberties, however, and for much of her rule parliamentary democracy was all but suspended. She was assassinated in 1984. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom (1979-1990) b. 1925 - d. 2013 The daughter of a shopkeeper, Margaret Thatcher was elected to the British Parliament in 1959, and served in the cabinet of Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath from 1970 to 1974. In 1975 she was elected leader of the Conservatives, and was elected Britain's first female prime minister in 1979. Re-elected twice before resigning in 1990, she remains one of the longest-serving female world leaders of all time. Fiercely ideological, Thatcher was best known for steering her political party and country sharply to the right through an aggressive agenda of tax cuts, privatizations, union-busting, and cuts to government spending. In 1982 she led her country in a brief, successful war against Argentina to liberate Britain's Falkland Islands from foreign invasion. President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines (1986-1992) b. 1933 - d. 2009 Corazon Aquino rose to prominence as the wife of Benigno Aquino, a leading opposition politician under the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Following her husband's assassination in 1983, she assumed the leadership of the anti-Marcos opposition, eventually emerging as the leading opposition candidate in the 1986 presidential election, which she won, despite massive fraud from the Marcos campaign. Her inspirational story earned her the title of TIME magazine's 1986 "Person of the Year." As president, Aquino led a highly reformist government that introduced a new, democratic constitution and removed the various political restrictions that had contributed to the repression of the Marcos years. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan (1988-1990, 1993-1996) b. 1953 - d. 2007 Educated in England, Benazir Bhutto assumed the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party in 1979, following the execution of her father, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. A leading opposition figure under the dictatorship of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, she was elected prime minister of a coalition government in 1988 after his death. Bhutto's two terms in office helped democratize Pakistan after years of dictatorship, but her government was also accused of widespread corruption. After losing office a second time in 1996, she spent much of her later life once again in opposition, this time to the new dictatorship of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. After a period of exile, she was assassinated in 2007, shortly after returning to the country. Her husband was then elected president in her place.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany (2005- ) b. 1954 Merkel grew up in East Germany where she worked as a chemist. She became active in politics following the reunification of east and west Germany, and in 1991 she was elected to the unified parliament under the conservative Christian Democratic Party and served as a cabinet minister under the government of Helmut Kohl. In 2000, she became head of the party and in 2005 was elected chancellor (prime minister). Following the crippling worldwide economic recession of 2008, Merkel has emerged as one of the world's most powerful leaders, due to her tight command of the Europe Union's largest economy. Though her government has been financially generous towards some of Europe's more troubled nations, she has also pressed hard for austerity reforms to play a prominent role in any plan for long-term economic recovery, both at home and abroad. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (2006 - ) b. 1938 An economist by profession, Sirleaf was educated in the United States before returning to Liberia to serve in the government of President William Tolbert, until his overthrow in 1980. Living mostly in exile, for the next 25 years she would make numerous attempts at a political comeback, but routinely faced jail terms and charges of treason for her activities. In 2005 she assumed the leadership of the united opposition to new dictator Charles Taylor and in 2006 was elected president following his exile. Sirleaf's presidency has focused mostly on rebuilding Liberia's democratic institutions and fostering national reconciliation after decades of civil war and oppression, as well as helping modernize the country's economy. In 2011 she became the first-ever female world leader to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Has there ever been a female dictator?

Most observers would probably say no, though it does depend somewhat on how you define "dictator." There has certainly never been a female equivalent of someone like Saddam Hussein or Kim Jong Il, which is to say, an all-powerful tyrant who led a totalitarian regime of extreme murder and oppression. There have been, however, a few women who served as prime ministers in undemocratic regimes, came to power through undemocratic means, or ran governments that can be fairly described as "authoritarian."



Élisabeth Domitién (1925-2005) served as prime minister of the Central African Republic for little over a year under the government of President Jean-Bédel Bokassa. Bokassa — who would later declare himself emperor — was a mad and eccentric tyrant often considered one of Africa's worst dictators, and is associated with many horrific human rights abuses. Prime Minister Domitién was certainly aware of these, but the prime minister's office was extraordinarily weak under Bokassa, so it is probably unfair to consider her too culpable in his crimes — particularly given her short tenure.



Milka Planinc (1924-2010) served as prime minister of Yugoslavia from 1982 to 1986, at a time when it was still a Communist republic. Following the death of longtime dictator Joseph Broz Tito in 1980, the presidency of Yugoslavia reverted back to a collective, with a chairmanship that rotated every year. This increased the power of the prime ministership, and Planinc was unquestionably the most powerful politician in the country during this time. Her regime was moderate, but committed to the Communist system. It would be fair to consider her a dictator, if perhaps not a particularly flashy one.

Biljana Plavsi (b. 1930) became president of the Serb Republic within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996. Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared itself independent from Yugoslavia in 1992, and the Serb Republic was declared around the same time. The Republic's first president was the infamous Radovan Karadzic, who waged a vicious war of "ethnic cleansing" against non-Serbs in the region. When he was forced to resign amid western pressure in 1996, Vice President Plavsi took over, and largely continued her predecessors' brutal policies. Both were eventually charged with crimes against humanity. Though Plavsi is perhaps the most infamous female politician of modern times, her regime was at least nominally democratic. The Bosnian "Serb Republic" (not to be confused with the Republic of Serbia) is also not a sovereign country, though it considered itself independent during the Yugoslav civil war.



Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (b. 1946) in her capacity as head of the East German parliament, served the final, acting head of state of Communist East Germany for a few months in 1990 at a time when the country was in the process of being incorporated into West Germany. Though she was nominally in charge of a Communist regime, her caretaker rule was too short and transient to be seriously considered here.



Rosa Otunbayeva

Indira Gandhi

MAP SUMMARY:

Light pink - acting heads of government / state, Dark pink - full-term heads of state / government

World's 10 most populous nations and female leader status:

1 China No 2 India Yes 3 United States No 4 Indonesia Yes 5 Brazil Yes 6 Pakistan Yes 7 Bangladesh Yes 8 Nigeria No 9 Russia No 10 Japan No

See also my list of gay and lesbian world leaders.

email me: jjmccullough@gmail.com