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The world's first woman prime minister
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960.
Which countries have had women leaders?
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In 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the right to vote to women. Dozens more would do so in the years following World War I, and as a wave of countries gained independence after World War II, equal voting rights for men and women were often guaranteed in their constitutions. It would not be until July 21, 1960, however, that Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) would be sworn in as the world’s first female prime minister. Two decades later, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland would become the first woman to be elected president. Since then, women have made enormous political strides; by 2024, more than a third of the countries of the world had been led by a woman.
| country | year | first female leader | title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1974 | Isabel Perón | president |
| Aruba | 2017 | Evelyn Wever-Croes | prime minister |
| Australia | 2010 | Julia Gillard | prime minister |
| Austria | 2019 | Brigitte Bierlein | chancellor |
| Bangladesh | 1991 | Khaleda Zia | prime minister |
| Barbados | 2018 | Mia Mottley | prime minister |
| Belgium | 2019 | Sophie Wilmès | prime minister |
| Bermuda | 1997 | Pamela Gordon | premier |
| Bolivia | 1979 | Lidia Gueiler Tejada | president |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2022 | Borjana Krišto | chair of the Council of Ministers |
| Brazil | 2011 | Dilma Rousseff | president |
| Bulgaria | 1994 | Reneta Indzhova | prime minister |
| Burundi | 1993 | Sylvie Kinigi | prime minister |
| Canada | 1993 | Kim Campbell | prime minister |
| Central African Republic | 1975 | Elisabeth Domitien | prime minister |
| Chile | 2006 | Michelle Bachelet | president |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2024 | Judith Suminwa Tuluka | prime minister |
| Costa Rica | 2010 | Laura Chinchilla | president |
| Croatia | 2009 | Jadranka Kosor | prime minister |
| Denmark | 2011 | Helle Thorning-Schmidt | prime minister |
| Dominica | 1980 | Eugenia Charles | prime minister |
| Estonia | 2021 | Kaja Kallas | prime minister |
| Faroe Islands | 1993 | Marita Petersen | prime minister |
| Finland | 2000 | Tarja Halonen | president |
| Georgia | 2018 | Salome Zurabishvili | president |
| Germany | 2005 | Angela Merkel | chancellor |
| Greenland | 2013 | Aleqa Hammond | prime minister |
| Guyana | 1997 | Janet Jagan | president |
| Honduras | 2022 | Xiomara Castro | president |
| Hong Kong | 2017 | Carrie Lam | chief executive |
| Iceland | 1980 | Vigdís Finnbogadóttir | president |
| Iceland | 2009 | Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir | prime minister |
| India | 1966 | Indira Gandhi | prime minister |
| Indonesia | 2001 | Megawati Sukarnoputri | president |
| Ireland | 1990 | Mary Robinson | president |
| Israel | 1969 | Golda Meir | prime minister |
| Italy | 2022 | Giorgia Meloni | prime minister |
| Jamaica | 2006 | Portia Simpson Miller | prime minister |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2010 | Roza Otunbayeva | president |
| Liberia | 2006 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | president |
| Lithuania | 2009 | Dalia Grybauskaitė | president |
| Malawi | 2012 | Joyce Banda | president |
| Mali | 2011 | Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé | prime minister |
| Marshall Islands | 2016 | Hilda Heine | president |
| Mexico | 2024 | Claudia Sheinbaum | president |
| Moldova | 2008 | Zinaida Greceanȋi | prime minister |
| Mozambique | 2004 | Luísa Diogo | prime minister |
| New Zealand | 1997 | Jennifer Shipley | prime minister |
| Nicaragua | 1990 | Violeta Barrios de Chamorro | president |
| Norway | 1981 | Gro Harlem Brundtland | prime minister |
| Pakistan | 1988 | Benazir Bhutto | prime minister |
| Panama | 1999 | Mireya Moscoso | president |
| Peru | 2022 | Dina Boluarte | president |
| Philippines | 1986 | Corazon Aquino | president |
| Poland | 1992 | Hanna Suchocka | prime minister |
| Portugal | 1979 | Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo | prime minister |
| Romania | 2018 | Viorica Dăncilă | prime minister |
| Rwanda | 1993 | Agathe Uwilingiyimana | prime minister |
| Samoa | 2021 | Fiame Naomi Mata’afa | prime minister |
| San Marino | 1981 | Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini | captain regent |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 2002 | Maria das Neves | prime minister |
| Senegal | 2001 | Mame Madior Boye | prime minister |
| Serbia | 2017 | Ana Brnabić | prime minister |
| Sint Maarten | 2010 | Sarah Wescot-Williams | prime minister |
| Slovakia | 2010 | Iveta Radičová | prime minister |
| Slovenia | 2013 | Alenka Bratusek | prime minister |
| South Korea | 2013 | Park Geun-Hye | president |
| Sri Lanka | 1960 | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | prime minister |
| Sweden | 2021 | Magdalena Andersson | prime minister |
| Switzerland | 1999 | Ruth Dreifuss | president |
| Taiwan | 2016 | Tsai Ing-wen | president |
| Tanzania | 2021 | Samia Suluhu Hassan | president |
| Thailand | 2011 | Yingluck Shinawatra | prime minister |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2010 | Kamla Persad-Bissessar | prime minister |
| Tunisia | 2021 | Najla Bouden Romdhane | prime minister |
| Turkey | 1993 | Tansu Çiller | prime minister |
| United Kingdom | 1979 | Margaret Thatcher | prime minister |
| Wallis and Futuna | 2013 | Nivaleta Iloai | president |