Female head of state and female head of government
Female prime minister/state counselor acting as deputy to the combined head of state and government (de facto leader)
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). 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. The list does not include any presidents of the United States, nor Queens regnant who are heads of state (but not of government).[b]
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka, of the mostly unrecognized and now defunct Tuvan People's Republic, is regarded as the "first ever elected woman head of state in the world", although not in multiparty, free and fair elections. The wife of the nation's Supreme Leader, she is the first woman to be elected Chairman of a country. She became the chairwoman of the country's presidium in 1940.[1][2]
The first woman to serve as president of a country was Isabel Perón of Argentina, who served as the country's vice president and succeeded to the presidency in July 1974 upon the death of her husband.[4][2]
The first woman elected president of a country was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who won the 1980 presidential election as well as three subsequent elections, remaining in office for a total of 16 years, which makes her the longest-serving non-hereditary female head of state in history.[5][2]
The longest-tenured female non-hereditary head of government is Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. She served as the country's prime minister from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 until August 2024, for a combined total of over 20 years.[8]
Currently, Barbados is the only republic in the world where both the serving head of state and head of government are women. Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Peru, and Tanzania are republics where the female President is the combined head of state and government.
Elected or appointed female chief executives
This list includes women who were appointed by a governing committee or parliament where heads of state or government are not directly elected by citizens. The list does not include women chosen by a hereditary monarch. Interim heads of state or government are listed in italics.
Below are women who have been appointed representatives of heads of state, such as female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra. As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Charles III) and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra (currently Emmanuel Macron), they act as heads of state and carry out on a regular basis the functions and duties associated with such a role in the Commonwealth realms (excluding the United Kingdom, which has no governor-general, as the monarch of the Commonwealth realms primarily resides there) and Andorra, respectively.
↑ As of 2024, there is one female monarch of a sovereign state, Ntfombi of Eswatini (as Queen Mother and co-head of state with her son, King Mswati III).
A head of state is the public persona of a state or sovereign state. The specific naming of the head of state depends on the country's form of government and separation of powers; the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.
These are lists of incumbents, including heads of states or of subnational entities.
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for life or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic, to fully autocratic, and may have representational, executive, legislative, and judicial functions.
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rather the head of government, serving as the chief of the executive under either a monarch or a president in a republican form of government.
In the executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a group of ministers or secretaries who lead executive departments.
The prime minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The incumbent prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023.
The president of Iceland is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 presidential election.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996. Vigdís is the first woman in the world to be democratically elected as president. Having served as president of Iceland for 16 years, she is the longest-serving elected female head of state in history. She is the first female president in Icelandic history, while later being followed by the current president, Halla Tómasdóttir as the second female president. Vigdís is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and a member of the Club of Madrid.
The prime minister of Denmark is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Before the creation of the modern office, the kingdom did not initially have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the monarch, in whom the executive authority was vested. The Constitution of 1849 established a constitutional monarchy by limiting the powers of the monarch and creating the office of premierminister. The inaugural holder of the office was Adam Wilhelm Moltke.
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa was a Mongolian politician. As Chairwoman of the Presidium of the State Great Khural, she became the second woman in history to be a non-hereditary head of state after Khertek Anchimaa-Toka of Tannu Tuva, and the first in a sovereign country. She was the widow of Mongolian revolutionary leader Damdin Sükhbaatar.
Government in Australia is elected by universal suffrage and Australian women participate in all levels of the government of the nation. In 1902, the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia became the first nation on earth to enact equal suffrage, enabling women to both vote and stand for election alongside men Women have been represented in Australian state parliaments since 1921, and in the Federal Parliament since 1943. The first female leader of an Australian State or Territory was elected in 1989, and the first female Prime Minister took office in 2010. In 2019 for the first time, a majority of members of the Australian Senate were women. At the time of its foundation in 1901, and again from 1952 to 2022, Australia has had a female monarch as ceremonial Head of State, while the first female Governor of an Australian State was appointed in 1991, and the first female Governor-General of Australia took office in 2008.
An order, line or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. This sequence may be regulated through descent or by statute.
Khertek Amyrbitovna Anchimaa-Toka was a Tuvan and Soviet politician who was the Chairwoman of Little Khural of the Tuvan People's Republic from 1940 to 1944, and was the first non-royal female head of state in history. She was the wife of Salchak Toka, who was the republic's general secretary from 1932 to 1973.
Movements for Muslim women to seek roles in national leadership have increased rapidly. Greater opportunities for women in education have further encouraged their involvement in politics. The most prominent and important Muslim female leaders are former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004), former Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller (1993–1996), former Senegalese Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye (2001–2002), Bangladeshi Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, former Iranian Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar (1997–2005), former Malian Prime Minister Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé (2011–2012), Kosovan President Atifete Jahjaga (2011–2016), former President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib (2015–2018), former President of Singapore Halimah Yacob (2017–2023) and current President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan
In many countries, women have been underrepresented in the government and different institutions. This historical tendency still persists, although women are increasingly being elected to be heads of state and government.
This is a list of 2005 events that occurred in Europe.
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