All the countries that had a woman leader before the U.S.

Hillary Clinton is one step closer to becoming the first woman to lead the United States. But there are 59 other countries that beat America to that milestone.*

1960s

Sri Lanka Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960

India Indira Gandhi, 1966

Israel Golda Meir, 1969

1970s

Argentina Isabel Perón, 1974

Central African Republic Elisabeth Domitien, 1975

Portugal Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, 1979

United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, 1979

1980s

Dominica Eugenia Charles, 1980

Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, 1980

Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1981

Malta Agatha Barbara, 1982

Philippines Corazon Aquino, 1986

Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, 1988

1990s

Ireland Mary Robinson, 1990

Lithuania Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, 1990

Nicaragua Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, 1990

Bangladesh Khaleda Zia, 1991

France Édith Cresson, 1991

Poland Hanna Suchocka, 1992

Burundi Sylvie Kinigi, 1993

Canada Kim Campbell, 1993

Rwanda Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 1993

Turkey Tansu Çiller, 1993

Haiti Claudette Werleigh, 1995

Guyana Janet Rosenberg, 1997

New Zealand Jenny Shipley, 1997

Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, 1999

Panama Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, 1999

Switzerland Ruth Dreifuss, 1999

2000s

Finland Tarja Halonen, 2001

Indonesia Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001

Senegal Mame Madior Boye, 2001

São Tomé and Príncipe Maria das Neves, 2002

Peru Beatriz Merino, 2003

Macedonia Radmila Šekerinska, 2004

Mozambique Luísa Diogo, 2004

Germany Angela Merkel, 2005

Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, 2005

Chile Michelle Bachelet, 2006

Jamaica Portia Simpson-Miller, 2006

Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2006

South Korea Han Myung-sook, 2006

Moldova Zinaida Greceanîi, 2008

Croatia Jadranka Kosor, 2009

2010s

Australia Julia Gillard, 2010

Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla, 2010

Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva, 2010

Slovakia Iveta Radičová, 2010

Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 2010

Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011

Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga, 2011

Mali Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, 2011

Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra, 2011

Malawi Joyce Banda, 2012

Slovenia Alenka Bratušek, 2013

Brazil Dilma Rousseff, 2014

Mauritius Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, 2015

Namibia Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, 2015

*This list is sorted by the date each country elected or appointed its first female president or prime minister. It does not include acting or interim leaders who were not later elected or confirmed.



Editor's Note: This interactive originally included The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. CNN has removed it from the list as it is a self-declared state and is not officially recognized by the United Nations.