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More than a third of the countries of the world have been led by a woman. Learn which women became the first to lead their country and what year they came to power.
Three former sovereign states had a female head of state or government in the 20th century: East Germany, Tannu Tuva and Yugoslavia. The following is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939).
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.
A new report by the Pew Research Center revealed that only a third of United Nations member states have ever had a female leader, and women currently serve as leaders in 13 of the 193 member nations.
The map illustrates the number of elected or appointed female heads of government or state by country since 1946. It excludes monarchs and those appointed by them, as well as acting, interim, or honorary positions. The data is current as of April 2024 and sourced from the Council on Foreign Relations. Key color coding:
Overall, 60 UN member states (31%) have ever had a woman serve as head of government. The first was Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, where Sirimavo Bandaranaike began her first term as prime minister in 1960.
Just seven currently have a female head of state or government (excluding monarchies): three in Europe, two in South Asia, and two in Latin America. The United States—with no female leaders thus...
China, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and Saudi Arabia have not had a female leader in modern times, along with the U.S. Canada and France have each seen one woman take power and hand it over within a year, while Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was briefly acting president in South Africa.
In these 193 Member States, 21% of Prime Ministers and 26% of Parliamentarians are women. Female leaders also make up 34% of local government positions. Bangaldesh, Iceland, Italy, Aruba, Uganda, and Samoa are just some of the countrues with female Prime Ministers.
Since then, more than 70 countries have followed suit, electing women to lead their governments. Notable figures include Indira Gandhi (India), Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), and Angela Merkel (Germany).