WORLD FEMALE LEADERS AND THEIR COUNTRIES--ON LEADING MEN, FOW24NEWS.COM

This is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the mid-20th century. The list does not include female monarchs, however it does include female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers.
To date, the country with most female Heads of State is San Marino (16, with three of them serving two non-consecutive terms).

Name	Image	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka		Tannu Tuva	Chairperson of the Presidium of the Little Khural	6 April 1940	11 October 1944	4 years, 188 days	Head of state
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa		Mongolia	Acting Chairperson of the Presidium of the State Great Khural	7 September 1953	7 July 1954	303 days	Head of state
Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Ceylon	Prime Minister	21 July 1960	27 March 1965	4 years, 249 days	Head of government
Indira Gandhi		India	Prime Minister	24 January 1966	24 April 1977	11 years, 90 days	Head of government
Soong Ching-ling		China	Acting Co-Chairperson	31 October 1968	24 April 1972	3 years, 176 days	Head of state
Golda Meir		Israel	Prime Minister	17 March 1969	3 June 1974	5 years, 78 days	Head of government
Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Ceylon/  Sri Lanka	Prime Minister	29 May 1970	23 July 1977	7 years, 55 days	Head of government
Isabel Martínez de Perón		Argentina	President	1 July 1974	24 March 1976	1 year, 267 days	Head of state
Elisabeth Domitien		Central African Republic	Prime Minister	2 January 1975	7 April 1976	1 year, 96 days	Head of government
Margaret Thatcher		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	4 May 1979	28 November 1990	11 years, 208 days	Head of government
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo		Portugal	Prime Minister	1 July 1979	3 January 1980	186 days	Head of government
Lidia Gueiler Tejada		Bolivia	Acting President	16 November 1979	17 July 1980	244 days	Head of state
Indira Gandhi		India	Prime Minister	15 January 1980	31 October 1984	4 years, 290 days	Head of government
Dame Eugenia Charles		Dominica	Prime Minister	21 July 1980	14 June 1995	14 years, 328 days	Head of government
Gro Harlem Brundtland		Norway	Prime Minister	4 February 1981	14 October 1981	252 days	Head of government
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir		Iceland	President	1 August 1980	1 August 1996	16 years, 0 days	Head of state
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1981	1 October 1981	183 days	Head of state
Soong Ching-ling		China	Honorary President	16 May 1981	28 May 1981	12 days	Head of state
Agatha Barbara		Malta	President	15 February 1982	15 February 1987	5 years, 0 days	Head of state
Milka Planinc		Yugoslavia	Prime Minister	16 May 1982	15 May 1986	3 years, 364 days	Head of government
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1984	1 October 1984	183 days	Head of state
Carmen Pereira		Guinea-Bissau	Acting President of Guinea-Bissau	14 May 1984	16 May 1984	2 days	Head of state
Elisabeth Kopp		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	21 October 1984	12 January 1989	4 years, 83 days	Head of state
Corazon Aquino		Philippines	President	25 February 1986	30 June 1992	6 years, 126 days	Head of state
Gro Harlem Brundtland		Norway	Prime Minister	9 May 1986	16 October 1989	3 years, 160 days	Head of government
Benazir Bhutto		Pakistan	Prime Minister	2 December 1988	6 July 1990	1 year, 216 days	Head of government
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 1989	1 April 1990	182 days	Head of state
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot		Haiti	Acting President	13 March 1990	7 February 1991	331 days	Head of state
Kazimira Prunskienė		Lithuania	Prime Minister	17 March 1990	10 January 1991	299 days	Head of government
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl		East Germany	President of the People's Chamber	5 April 1990	2 October 1990	180 days	Head of state
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	President	25 April 1990	10 January 1997	6 years, 260 days	Head of state
Gro Harlem Brundtland		Norway	Prime Minister	3 November 1990	25 October 1996	5 years, 357 days	Head of government
Mary Robinson		Ireland	President	3 December 1990	12 September 1997	6 years, 283 days	Head of state
Khaleda Zia		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	27 February 1991	30 March 1996	5 years, 32 days	Head of government
Édith Cresson		France	Prime Minister	15 May 1991	2 April 1992	323 days	Head of government
Edda Ceccoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 1991	1 April 1992	183 days	Head of state
Hanna Suchocka		Poland	Prime Minister	11 July 1992	25 October 1993	1 year, 106 days	Head of government
Ruth Dreifuss		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 April 1993	31 December 2002	9 years, 296 days	Head of state
Patrizia Busignani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1993	1 October 1993	183 days	Head of state
Tansu Çiller		Turkey	Prime Minister	13 June 1993	6 March 1996	2 years, 267 days	Head of government
Kim Campbell		Canada	Prime Minister	25 June 1993	4 November 1993	132 days	Head of government
Sylvie Kinigi		Burundi	Prime Minister	10 July 1993	27 October 1993	109 days	Head of government
Agathe Uwilingiyimana		Rwanda	Prime Minister	18 July 1993	7 April 1994	263 days	Head of government
Benazir Bhutto		Pakistan	Prime Minister	19 October 1993	5 November 1996	3 years, 17 days	Head of government
Sylvie Kinigi		Burundi	Acting President	27 October 1993	5 February 1994	101 days	Head of state
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	Prime Minister[b]	19 August 1994	12 November 1994	85 days	Head of government
Chandrika Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	President	12 November 1994	19 November 2005	11 years, 7 days	Head of state
Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Sri Lanka	Prime Minister[b]	14 November 1994	9 August 2000	5 years, 269 days	Head of government
Reneta Indzhova		Bulgaria	Acting Prime Minister	17 October 1994	25 January 1995	100 days	Head of government
Claudette Werleigh		Haiti	Prime Minister	7 November 1995	27 February 1996	112 days	Head of government
Sheikh Hasina		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	12 June 1996	15 July 2001	5 years, 33 days	Head of government
Ruth Perry		Liberia	Chairperson of the Council of State	3 September 1996	2 August 1997	333 days	Head of state
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano		Ecuador	Acting President	9 February 1997	11 February 1997	2 days	Head of state
Mary McAleese		Ireland	President	11 November 1997	10 November 2011	13 years, 364 days	Head of state
Jenny Shipley		New Zealand	Prime Minister	5 December 1997	5 December 1999	2 years, 0 days	Head of government
Janet Jagan		Guyana	Prime Minister	6 December 1997	11 August 1999	1 year, 327 days	Head of government
Janet Jagan		Guyana	President	19 December 1997	11 August 1999	1 year, 235 days	Head of state
Anne Enger Lahnstein		Norway	Acting Prime Minister	30 August 1998	23 September 1998	24 days	Head of government
Ruth Metzler		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 1999	31 December 2003	4 years, 364 days	Head of state
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1999	1 October 1999	183 days	Head of state
Irena Degutienė		Lithuania	Acting Prime Minister	4 May 1999	18 May 1999	14 days	Head of government
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga		Latvia	President	8 July 1999	8 July 2007	8 years, 0 days	Head of state
Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa		Mongolia	Acting Prime Minister	22 July 1999	30 July 1999	8 days	Head of government
Mireya Moscoso		Panama	President	1 September 1999	1 September 2004	5 years, 0 days	Head of state
Irena Degutienė		Lithuania	Acting Prime Minister	27 October 1999	3 November 1999	7 days	Head of government
Helen Clark		New Zealand	Prime Minister	5 December 1999	19 November 2008	8 years, 350 days	Head of government
Tarja Halonen		Finland	President	1 March 2000	1 March 2012	12 years, 0 days	Head of state
Maria Domenica Michelotti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2000	1 October 2000	183 days	Head of state
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo		Philippines	President	20 January 2001	30 June 2010	9 years, 161 days	Head of state
Mame Madior Boye		Senegal	Prime Minister	3 March 2001	4 November 2002	1 year, 246 days	Head of government
Megawati Sukarnoputri		Indonesia	President	23 July 2001	20 October 2004	3 years, 89 days	Head of state
Khaleda Zia		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	1 October 2001	29 October 2006	5 years, 28 days	Head of government
Chang Sang		South Korea	Acting Prime Minister	11 July 2002	31 July 2002	20 days	Head of government
Maria das Neves		São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	3 October 2002	18 September 2004	1 year, 351 days	Head of government
Micheline Calmy-Rey		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2003	31 December 2011	8 years, 364 days	Head of state
Anneli Jäätteenmäki		Finland	Prime Minister	17 April 2003	24 June 2003	68 days	Head of government
Beatriz Merino		Peru	President of the Council of Ministers[a]	28 June 2003	15 December 2003	170 days	Head of government
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2003	1 April 2004	183 days	Head of state
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	23 November 2003	25 January 2004	63 days	Head of state
Luísa Diogo		Mozambique	Prime Minister	17 February 2004	16 January 2010	5 years, 333 days	Head of government
Barbara Prammer		Austria	Co-acting President	6 July 2004	8 July 2004	2 days	Head of state
Radmila Šekerinska		Macedonia	Acting Prime Minister	12 May 2004	12 June 2004	31 days	Head of government
Radmila Šekerinska		Macedonia	Acting Prime Minister	3 November 2004	15 December 2004	42 days	Head of government
Yulia Tymoshenko		Ukraine	Prime Minister	24 January 2005	6 September 2005	225 days	Head of government
Fausta Morganti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2005	1 October 2005	183 days	Head of state
Cynthia Pratt		Bahamas	Acting Prime Minister	4 May 2005	6 June 2005	32 days	Head of government
Maria do Carmo Silveira		São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	8 June 2005	21 April 2006	317 days	Head of government
Angela Merkel		Germany	Chancellor	22 November 2005	Incumbent	11 years, 208 days	Head of government
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf		Liberia	President	16 January 2006	Incumbent (Term ends on 16 January 2018)	11 years, 153 days	Head of state
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	11 March 2006	11 March 2010	4 years, 0 days	Head of state
Portia Simpson-Miller		Jamaica	Prime Minister	30 March 2006	11 September 2007	1 year, 165 days	Head of government
Han Myeong-sook		South Korea	Prime Minister[c]	19 April 2006	7 March 2007	322 days	Head of government
Doris Leuthard		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 August 2006	Incumbent	10 years, 321 days	Head of state
Dalia Itzik		Israel	Acting President	25 January 2007	15 July 2007	171 days	Head of state
Pratibha Patil		India	President	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	5 years, 0 days	Head of state
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	25 November 2007	20 January 2008	56 days	Head of state
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner		Argentina	President	10 December 2007	9 December 2015	7 years, 364 days	Head of state
Yulia Tymoshenko		Ukraine	Prime Minister	18 December 2007	3 March 2010	2 years, 75 days	Head of government
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2008	31 December 2015	7 years, 364 days	Head of state
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2008	1 October 2008	183 days	Head of state
Zinaida Greceanîi		Moldova	Prime Minister	31 March 2008	14 September 2009	1 year, 167 days	Head of government
Michèle Pierre-Louis		Haiti	Prime Minister	5 September 2008	11 November 2009	1 year, 67 days	Head of government
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri		South Africa	Acting President	24 September 2008	25 September 2008	14 hours[2][3]	Head of state
Assunta Meloni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2008	1 April 2009	182 days	Head of state
Sheikh Hasina		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	6 January 2009	Incumbent	8 years, 163 days	Head of government
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir		Iceland	Prime Minister	1 February 2009	23 May 2013	4 years, 111 days	Head of government
Rose Francine Rogombé		Gabon	Acting President	10 June 2009	16 October 2009	128 days	Head of state
Jadranka Kosor		Croatia	Prime Minister	6 July 2009	23 December 2011	2 years, 170 days	Head of government
Dalia Grybauskaitė		Lithuania	President	12 July 2009	Incumbent (Term ends on 12 July 2019)	7 years, 341 days	Head of state
Cécile Manorohanta		Madagascar	Acting Prime Minister	18 December 2009	20 December 2009	2 days	Head of government
Roza Otunbayeva		Kyrgyzstan	President	7 April 2010	1 December 2011	1 year, 238 days	Head of state
Laura Chinchilla		Costa Rica	President	8 May 2010	8 May 2014	4 years, 0 days	Head of state
Kamla Persad-Bissessar		Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister	26 May 2010	9 September 2015	5 years, 106 days	Head of government
Mari Kiviniemi		Finland	Prime Minister	22 June 2010	22 June 2011	1 year, 0 days	Head of government
Julia Gillard		Australia	Prime Minister	24 June 2010	27 June 2013	3 years, 3 days	Head of government
Iveta Radičová		Slovakia	Prime Minister	8 July 2010	4 April 2012	1 year, 271 days	Head of government
Simonetta Sommaruga		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 November 2010	Incumbent	6 years, 229 days	Head of state
Dilma Rousseff		Brazil	President	1 January 2011	31 August 2016[4]	5 years, 243 days	Head of state
Rosario Fernández		Peru	President of the Council of Ministers[a]	19 March 2011	28 July 2011	131 days	Head of government
Maria Luisa Berti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2011	1 October 2011	183 days	Head of state
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé		Mali	Prime Minister	3 April 2011	22 March 2012	354 days	Head of government
Atifete Jahjaga		Kosovo	President	7 April 2011	7 April 2016	5 years, 0 days	Head of state
Yingluck Shinawatra		Thailand	Prime Minister	3 July 2011	7 May 2014	2 years, 308 days	Head of government
Helle Thorning-Schmidt		Denmark	Prime Minister	3 October 2011	28 June 2015	3 years, 268 days	Head of government
Portia Simpson-Miller		Jamaica	Prime Minister	5 January 2012	3 March 2016	4 years, 58 days	Head of government
Adiato Djaló Nandigna		Guinea-Bissau	Acting Prime Minister	10 February 2012	12 April 2012	62 days	Head of government
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	31 March 2012	21 July 2012	112 days	Head of state
Slavica Đukić Dejanović		Serbia	Acting President	5 April 2012	31 May 2012	56 days	Head of state
Joyce Banda		Malawi	President	7 April 2012	31 May 2014	2 years, 54 days	Head of state
Denise Bronzetti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2012	1 April 2013	182 days	Head of state
Park Geun-hye		South Korea	President	25 February 2013	10 March 2017[5]	4 years, 13 days	Head of state
Alenka Bratušek		Slovenia	Prime Minister	20 March 2013	18 September 2014	1 year, 182 days	Head of government
Antonella Mularoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2013	1 October 2013	183 days	Head of state
Sibel Siber		Northern Cyprus	Prime Minister	13 June 2013	2 September 2013	81 days	Head of government
Tatiana Turanskaya		Transnistria	Prime Minister	10 June 2013	13 October 2015	2 years, 125 days	Head of government
Aminata Touré		Senegal	Prime Minister	1 September 2013	8 July 2014	310 days	Head of government
Anna Maria Muccioli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2013	1 April 2014	182 days	Head of state
Erna Solberg		Norway	Prime Minister	16 October 2013	Incumbent	3 years, 245 days	Head of government
Laimdota Straujuma		Latvia	Prime Minister	22 January 2014	11 February 2016	2 years, 20 days	Head of government
Catherine Samba-Panza		Central African Republic	Acting President	23 January 2014	30 March 2016	2 years, 67 days	Head of state
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	11 March 2014	Incumbent (Term ends on 11 March 2018)	3 years, 99 days	Head of state
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2014	1 October 2014	183 days	Head of state
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca		Malta	President	4 April 2014	Incumbent	3 years, 75 days	Head of state
Ana Jara		Peru	President of the Council of Ministers[a]	22 July 2014	2 April 2015	254 days	Head of government
Ewa Kopacz		Poland	Prime Minister	22 September 2014	16 November 2015	1 year, 55 days	Head of government
Florence Duperval Guillaume		Haiti	Acting Prime Minister	20 December 2014	16 January 2015	27 days	Head of government
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović		Croatia	President	19 February 2015	Incumbent	2 years, 119 days	Head of state
Saara Kuugongelwa		Namibia	Prime Minister	21 March 2015	Incumbent	2 years, 89 days	Head of government
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	29 May 2015	5 June 2015	7 days	Head of state
Ameenah Gurib		Mauritius	President	5 June 2015	Incumbent	2 years, 13 days	Head of state
Natalia Gherman		Moldova	Acting Prime Minister	22 June 2015	30 July 2015	38 days	Head of government
Vassiliki Thanou		Greece	Acting Prime Minister	27 August 2015	21 September 2015	25 days	Head of government
Lorella Stefanelli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2015	1 April 2016	183 days	Head of state
Maya Parnas		Transnistria	Acting Prime Minister	13 October 2015	30 November 2015	48 days	Head of government
Bidhya Devi Bhandari		Nepal	President	29 October 2015	Incumbent	1 year, 232 days	Head of state
Beata Szydło		Poland	Prime Minister	16 November 2015	Incumbent	1 year, 214 days	Head of government
Tatiana Turanskaya		Transnistria	Prime Minister	30 November 2015	2 December 2015	2 days	Head of government
Maya Parnas		Transnistria	Acting Prime Minister	2 December 2015	23 December 2015	21 days	Head of government
Hilda Heine		Marshall Islands	President	28 January 2016	Incumbent	1 year, 141 days	Head of state
Tsai Ing-wen		Taiwan	President	20 May 2016	Incumbent	1 year, 29 days	Head of state
Doris Bures		Austria	Co-Acting President	8 July 2016	26 January 2017	202 days	Head of state
Theresa May		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	13 July 2016	Incumbent	340 days	Head of government
Kersti Kaljulaid		Estonia	President	10 October 2016	Incumbent	251 days	Head of state
Mimma Zavoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2017	Incumbent	78 days	Head of state
Vanessa D'Ambrosio		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2017	Incumbent	78 days	Head of state
Ana Brnabić		Serbia	Prime Minister	June 2017	Designate		Head of government