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The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also be heads of government, as well as female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers.
Learn about the 29 countries that have female leaders as of September 2022, including their names, positions, and service durations. See examples of female heads of state and their achievements in various fields and challenges.
- Sirimavo Bandaranaike - Sri Lanka
- Indira Gandhi - India
- Golda Meir - Israel
- Margaret Thatcher - United Kingdom
- Vigdís Finnbogadóttir - Iceland
- Angela Merkel - Germany
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - Liberia
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Elected prime minister of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, in 1960, Bandaranaike was the first woman to be elected head of a government in the modern world. She had entered politics the previous year, after her husband was assassinated by a Buddhist monk while serving as prime minister. In the wake of his death, Bandaranaike took over leadership of...
As the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru (who became India’s first prime minister), Indira Gandhi joined the movement for independence from Britain at an early age, and rose to become a key figure in the dominant Congress Party. In 1966, she was appointed party leader, and thus prime minister; she was elected to the post the following year, then twice r...
By the time Meir became Israel’s fourth prime minister in 1969, she had spent 40 years serving her nation. Born in Ukraine, she immigrated to the United States as a child, and was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After moving to what was then British Palestine to help establish the state of Israel, she became a leading spokesperson for the Zionist c...
Raised in an apartment above her family’s grocery store, Margaret Thatcher attended Oxford and worked as an industrial chemist before launching her career in politics. She rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party, becoming its leader in 1975 and, four years later, the nation’s first female prime minister and the first woman to lead a major ...
In 1980, as a divorced, single mother, Finnbogadóttir won election as Iceland’s first female leader, becoming the first woman in the world to be democratically elected president. (Argentina’s Isabel Perón, the first woman to hold the title of president, had been sworn in only after her husband died in office; she was his vice president.) Known for ...
Raised in the former East Germany, Angela Merkel earned a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a research scientist before entering politics soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. When she served in Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s cabinet, he would sometimes condescendingly refer to her as “mein Mädchen” (my girl). In 2000, Merkel rose to lead the Christ...
After earning degrees from U.S. universities—including a master’s in public administration from Harvard—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf launched a career in public service in her native Liberia, the African nation founded by freed U.S. slaves in the 19th century. She lived in exile in Kenya and the United States during Liberia’s long civil war, working in th...
Learn about the historic achievements and legacies of seven women who became prime ministers or presidents of their countries, from Sri Lanka to Liberia. See photos, facts and challenges they faced in their roles.
- Sarah Pruitt
- 1 min
Jul 2, 2019 · Global women political leaders: female prime ministers and presidents from 1960 to 2000. Discover the 46 women who held this high political office.
- Jone Johnson Lewis
The Council of Women World Leaders, created in 1996, is a network of 83 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initiative also involves current and former cabinet ministers and secretaries in the work of the council.
Connect with the Council of Women World Leaders. The Council of Women World Leaders is a network of 83 current and former women Prime Ministers and Presidents. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government.
Learn about the remarkable achievements of women who broke the glass ceiling and became the first female leaders of their countries. Explore the profiles, photos, and videos of 100 women trailblazers from different regions and fields.
