List of elected and appointed female heads of state
This is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state of their respective countries since the mid-20th century. The list does not include female monarchs, nor does it include female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers.
Below the main list are separately listed female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra. As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Elizabeth II) and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra (currently François Hollande), 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.
To date, the country with most female Heads of State is San Marino (17, including three who served twice).
Note: Before making an addition to this list, please make sure that your addition should be placed in this list, and not in the List of elected or appointed female heads of government. Golda Meir, for example, was Prime minister of Israel and thereby Head of Government, but as Israel also has a President who is head of state, she was not Head of State, and is therefore placed in the List of elected or appointed female heads of government and not in this list.
List of female heads of state
- Italics denotes an acting head of state and states that are either de facto (with limited to no international recognition) or defunct.
Name | Image | Country | Office | Mandate start | Mandate end | Term length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka | Tannu Tuva | Chairperson of the Presidium of the Little Khural | 6 April 1940 | 11 October 1944 | 4 years, 188 days | |
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa | Mongolia | Acting Chairperson of the Presidium of the State Great Khural | 7 September 1953 | 7 July 1954 | 303 days | |
Soong Ching-ling | China | Acting Co-Chairperson | 31 October 1968 | 24 April 1972 | 3 years, 176 days | |
Isabel Martínez de Perón | Argentina | President | 1 July 1974 | 24 March 1976 | 1 year, 267 days | |
Lidia Gueiler Tejada | Bolivia | Acting President | 16 November 1979 | 17 July 1980 | 244 days | |
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir | Iceland | President | 1 August 1980 | 1 August 1996 | 16 years, 0 days | |
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 1981 | 1 October 1981 | 183 days | |
Soong Ching-ling | China | Honorary President | 16 May 1981 | 28 May 1981 | 12 days | |
Agatha Barbara | Malta | President | 15 February 1982 | 15 February 1987 | 5 years, 0 days | |
Gloriana Ranocchini | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 1984 | 1 October 1984 | 183 days | |
Carmen Pereira | Guinea-Bissau | Acting President of Guinea-Bissau | 14 May 1984 | 16 May 1984 | 2 days | |
Elisabeth Kopp | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 21 October 1984 | 12 January 1989 | 4 years, 83 days | |
Corazon Aquino | Philippines | President | 25 February 1986 | 30 June 1992 | 6 years, 126 days | |
Gloriana Ranocchini | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 1989 | 1 April 1990 | 182 days | |
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot | Haiti | Acting President | 13 March 1990 | 7 February 1991 | 331 days | |
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl | East Germany | President of the People's Chamber | 5 April 1990 | 2 October 1990 | 180 days | |
Violeta Chamorro | Nicaragua | President | 25 April 1990 | 10 January 1997 | 6 years, 260 days | |
Mary Robinson | Ireland | President | 3 December 1990 | 12 September 1997 | 6 years, 283 days | |
Edda Ceccoli | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 1991 | 1 April 1992 | 183 days | |
Ruth Dreifuss | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 April 1993 | 31 December 2002 | 9 years, 296 days | |
Patrizia Busignani | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 1993 | 1 October 1993 | 183 days | |
Sylvie Kinigi | Burundi | Acting President | 27 October 1993 | 5 February 1994 | 101 days | |
Chandrika Kumaratunga | Sri Lanka | President | 12 November 1994 | 19 November 2005 | 11 years, 7 days | |
Ruth Perry | Liberia | Chairperson of the Council of State | 3 September 1996 | 2 August 1997 | 333 days | |
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano | Ecuador | Acting President | 9 February 1997 | 11 February 1997 | 2 days | |
Mary McAleese | Ireland | President | 11 November 1997 | 10 November 2011 | 13 years, 364 days | |
Janet Jagan | Guyana | President | 19 December 1997 | 11 August 1999 | 1 year, 235 days | |
Ruth Metzler-Arnold | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 January 1999 | 31 December 2003 | 4 years, 364 days | |
Rosa Zafferani | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 1999 | 1 October 1999 | 183 days | |
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga | Latvia | President | 8 July 1999 | 8 July 2007 | 8 years, 0 days | |
Mireya Moscoso | Panama | President | 1 September 1999 | 1 September 2004 | 5 years, 0 days | |
Tarja Halonen | Finland | President | 1 March 2000 | 1 March 2012 | 12 years, 0 days | |
Maria Domenica Michelotti | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2000 | 1 October 2000 | 183 days | |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Philippines | President | 20 January 2001 | 30 June 2010 | 9 years, 161 days | |
Megawati Sukarnoputri | Indonesia | President | 23 July 2001 | 20 October 2004 | 3 years, 89 days | |
Micheline Calmy-Rey | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 January 2003 | 31 December 2011 | 8 years, 364 days | |
Valeria Ciavatta | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 2003 | 1 April 2004 | 183 days | |
Nino Burjanadze | Georgia | Acting President | 23 November 2003 | 25 January 2004 | 63 days | |
Barbara Prammer | Austria | Co-acting President | 6 July 2004 | 8 July 2004 | 2 days | |
Fausta Morganti | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2005 | 1 October 2005 | 183 days | |
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Liberia | President | 16 January 2006 | Incumbent | 10 years, 326 days | |
Michelle Bachelet | Chile | President | 11 March 2006 | 11 March 2010 | 4 years, 0 days | |
Doris Leuthard | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 August 2006 | Incumbent | 10 years, 128 days | |
Dalia Itzik | Israel | Acting President | 25 January 2007 | 15 July 2007 | 171 days | |
Pratibha Patil | India | President | 25 July 2007 | 25 July 2012 | 5 years, 0 days | |
Nino Burjanadze | Georgia | Acting President | 25 November 2007 | 20 January 2008 | 56 days | |
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner | Argentina | President | 10 December 2007 | 10 December 2015 | 8 years, 0 days | |
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 January 2008 | 31 December 2015 | 7 years, 364 days | |
Rosa Zafferani | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2008 | 1 October 2008 | 183 days | |
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri | South Africa | Acting President | 24 September 2008 | 25 September 2008 | 14 hours[2][3] | |
Assunta Meloni | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 2008 | 1 April 2009 | 182 days | |
Rose Francine Rogombé | Gabon | Acting President | 10 June 2009 | 16 October 2009 | 128 days | |
Dalia Grybauskaitė | Lithuania | President | 12 July 2009 | Incumbent | 7 years, 148 days | |
Roza Otunbayeva | Kyrgyzstan | President | 7 April 2010 | 1 December 2011 | 1 year, 238 days | |
Laura Chinchilla | Costa Rica | President | 8 May 2010 | 8 May 2014 | 4 years, 0 days | |
Simonetta Sommaruga | Switzerland | Member of the Swiss Federal Council | 1 November 2010 | Incumbent | 6 years, 36 days | |
Dilma Rousseff | Brazil | President | 1 January 2011 | 31 August 2016 | 5 years, 243 days | |
Maria Luisa Berti | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2011 | 1 October 2011 | 183 days | |
Atifete Jahjaga | Kosovo | President | 7 April 2011 | 7 April 2016 | 5 years, 0 days | |
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau | Mauritius | Acting President | 31 March 2012 | 21 July 2012 | 112 days | |
Slavica Đukić Dejanović | Serbia | Acting President | 5 April 2012 | 31 May 2012 | 56 days | |
Joyce Banda | Malawi | President | 7 April 2012 | 31 May 2014 | 2 years, 54 days | |
Denise Bronzetti | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 2012 | 1 April 2013 | 182 days | |
Park Geun-hye | South Korea | President | 25 February 2013 | Incumbent | 3 years, 286 days | |
Antonella Mularoni | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2013 | 1 October 2013 | 183 days | |
Anna Maria Muccioli | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 2013 | 1 April 2014 | 182 days | |
Catherine Samba-Panza | Central African Republic | Acting President | 23 January 2014 | 30 March 2016 | 2 years, 67 days | |
Michelle Bachelet | Chile | President | 11 March 2014 | Incumbent | 2 years, 271 days | |
Valeria Ciavatta | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 April 2014 | 1 October 2014 | 183 days | |
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca | Malta | President | 4 April 2014 | Incumbent | 2 years, 247 days | |
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović | Croatia | President | 19 February 2015 | Incumbent | 1 year, 292 days | |
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau | Mauritius | Acting President | 29 May 2015 | 5 June 2015 | 7 days | |
Ameenah Gurib | Mauritius | President | 5 June 2015 | Incumbent | 1 year, 185 days | |
Lorella Stefanelli | San Marino | Captain Regent | 1 October 2015 | 1 April 2016 | 183 days | |
Bidhya Devi Bhandari | Nepal | President | 29 October 2015 | Incumbent | 1 year, 39 days | |
Hilda Heine | Marshall Islands | President | 28 January 2016 | Incumbent | 314 days | |
Tsai Ing-wen | Taiwan | President | 20 May 2016 | Incumbent | 201 days | |
Doris Bures | Austria | Co-Acting President | 8 July 2016 | 26 January 2017 | 152 days | |
Kersti Kaljulaid | Estonia | President | 10 October 2016 | Incumbent | 58 days |
List of female representatives of heads of state
- Italics denotes acting representative of head of state
Name | Image | Country | Office | Mandate start | Mandate end | Term length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dame Elmira Minita Gordon | Belize | Governor-General | 21 September 1981 | 17 November 1993 | 12 years, 57 days | |
Jeanne Sauvé | Canada | Governor General | 14 May 1984 | 29 January 1990 | 5 years, 260 days | |
Dame Nita Barrow | Barbados | Governor-General | 6 June 1990 | 19 December 1995 | 5 years, 196 days | |
Dame Catherine Tizard | New Zealand | Governor-General | 13 December 1990 | 21 March 1996 | 5 years, 99 days | |
Dame Pearlette Louisy | Saint Lucia | Governor-General | 17 September 1997 | Incumbent | 19 years, 81 days | |
Adrienne Clarkson | Canada | Governor General | 7 October 1999 | 27 September 2005 | 5 years, 324 days | |
Dame Sian Elias | New Zealand | Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General) | 22 March 2001 | 4 April 2001 | 13 days | |
Dame Silvia Cartwright | New Zealand | Governor-General | 4 April 2001 | 4 August 2006 | 5 years, 122 days | |
Dame Ivy Dumont | The Bahamas | Governor-General | 11 November 2001 | 30 November 2005 | 4 years, 19 days | |
Monica Dacon | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Acting Governor-General | 3 June 2002 | 2 September 2002 | 91 days | |
Michaëlle Jean | Canada | Governor General | 27 September 2005 | 1 October 2010 | 5 years, 4 days | |
Dame Sian Elias | New Zealand | Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General) | 4 August 2006 | 23 August 2006 | 19 days | |
Emmanuelle Mignon | Andorra | Representative of the French Co-Prince | 6 June 2007 | 24 September 2008 | 1 year, 110 days | |
Dame Louise Lake-Tack | Antigua and Barbuda | Governor-General | 17 July 2007 | 13 August 2014 | 7 years, 27 days | |
Dame Quentin Bryce | Australia | Governor-General | 5 September 2008 | 28 March 2014 | 5 years, 204 days | |
Dame Sian Elias | New Zealand | Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General) | 23 August 2011 | 31 August 2011 | 8 days | |
Sylvie Hubac | Andorra | Representative of the French Co-Prince | 15 May 2012 | 5 January 2015 | 2 years, 235 days | |
Sandra Mason | Barbados | Acting Governor-General | 30 May 2012 | 1 June 2012 | 2 days | |
Dame Cécile La Grenade | Grenada | Governor-General | 7 May 2013 | Incumbent | 3 years, 214 days | |
Dame Marguerite Pindling | The Bahamas | Governor-General | 8 July 2014 | Incumbent | 2 years, 152 days | |
Dame Sian Elias | New Zealand | Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General) | 31 August 2016 | 28 September 2016 | 28 days | |
Dame Patsy Reddy | New Zealand | Governor-General | 28 September 2016 | Incumbent | 70 days |
See also
- List of queens regnant
- Council of Women World Leaders
- List of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state
- List of elected or appointed female heads of government
- List of female dependent territory leaders
- List of female speakers of national and territorial lower houses
- List of female speakers of national and territorial unicameral parliaments
- List of female speakers of national and territorial upper houses
- List of the first female holders of political offices
- List of current state leaders by date of assumption of office
- List of vicereines in Canada
Notes
References
- ↑ including female representatives of heads of state, such as Governors-General and French Representatives of Andorra
- ↑ http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/no-wars-no-drama-for-matsepe-casaburri-417900
- ↑ http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Emotional+farewell+as+Mbeki+holds+last+cabinet+meeting+/-/1064/1395972/-/9cwuw2/-/index.html
- ↑ "Portal del Estado Peruano". Oficina Nacional de Gobierno Electrónico e Informática. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
El Poder Ejecutivo está constituido por el Presidente, quien desarrolla las funciones de Jefe de Estado. El simboliza y representa los intereses permanentes del país. A su vez, como Jefe de Gobierno, es quien dirige la política gubernamental, respaldado por la mayoría político-electoral.
- ↑ "Constitución Política del Perú 1993" (PDF). Government of Peru. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
Artículo 118°.- Atribuciones del Presidente de la República Corresponde al Presidente de la República: 1. Cumplir y hacer cumplir la Constitución y los tratados, leyes y demás disposiciones legales. [...] 3. Dirigir la política general del Gobierno.
- ↑ UN Protocol and Liaison Service (24 August 2016). "List of Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Ministers for Foreign Affairs" (PDF). Retrieved 6 September 2016.
External links
- List of Current Women Heads of State
- Women Heads of State
- Women Presidents and Women Governors-General (Zárate's Political Collections)
- Council of Women World Leaders
- Female Presidents