General Knowledge - Current Affairs- AllGk

FEMALE WORLD LEADERS CURRENTLY IN POWER

The following is a list of female presidents and prime ministers who are presently in power as of MARCH 8, 2011.
CURRENT TOTAL: 18

#	Country	Leader	In office since:	Notes
1	Ireland	President Mary McAleese	Nov. 11, 1997 -	elected
2	Finland (1st)	President Tarja Halonen	Mar. 1, 2000 -	elected
3	Germany	Chancellor Angela Merkel	Nov. 22, 2005 -	elected
4	Liberia	President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf	Jan. 16, 2006 -	elected
5	India	President Pratibha Patil	Jul. 25, 2007 -	elected
6	Argentina	President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner	Dec. 10, 2007 -	elected
7	Bangledesh	Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed	Jan. 6, 2009 -	elected
8	Iceland	Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardóttir	Feb. 1, 2009 -	appointed 2009, elected 2009
9	Croatia	Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor	Jul. 6, 2009 -	appointed
10	Lithuania	President Dalia Grybauskaite	Jul. 12, 2009 -	elected
11	Kyrgyzstan	President Rosa Otunbayeva	Apr. 7, 2010 -	coup
12	Costa Rica	President Laura Chinchilla	May 8, 2010 -	elected
13	Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar	May 26, 2010 -	elected
14	Finland (2nd)	Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi	Jun. 22, 2010 -	appointed
15	Australia	Prime Minister Julia Gillard	Jun. 24, 2010 -	appointed 2010, elected 2010
16	Slovakia	Prime Minister Iveta Radicova	Jul. 8, 2010 -	elected
17	Brazil	President Dilma Rousseff	Jan. 1, 2011 -	elected
18	Switzerland	President Micheline Calmy-Rey	Jan. 1, 2011 -	appointed

“Elected” refers to women leaders who were elected in democratic elections.
“Succeeded” refers to leaders who automatically assumed their position following the resignation or impeachment of a predecessor, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.
“Appointed” refers to leaders who were appointed to office by a ruling party or executive, and were thus not specifically elected to their post.
“Coup” refers to a leader who staged a coup or revolution to take office through force.
Sometimes leaders who were originally appointed to office managed to win election. In such cases both dates are noted.
Queens or Vice-Regal Females in power
A few countries have reining female queens, or, if they are a member of the British Commonwealth, a female governor general representing Queen Elizabeth as Head of State. As they are merely symbolic rulers, they do not officially “count” as female world leaders in the same way politicians do.

#	Country	Leader	In office since:
1	United Kingdom	Queen Elizabeth II	Feb. 6, 1952 -
2	Denmark	Queen Margethe II	Jan. 14, 1972 -
3	Netherlands	Queen Beatrix	Apr. 30, 1980 -
4	Saint Lucia	Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy	Sep. 17, 1997 -
5	Antigua and Barbuda	Governor-General Dame Louise Lake-Tack	Jul. 17, 2007 -
6	Australia	Governor-General Quentin Bryce	Sep. 5, 2008 -

All countries with female presidents, past and present

Country	Leader	Term	Notes
Argentina (1st time)	President Isabel Peron	Jul. 1, 1974 – Mar. 24, 1976	succeeded, wife
Iceland	President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir	Aug. 1, 1980 – Jul. 31, 1996	elected
Malta	President Agatha Barbara	Feb. 15, 1982 – Feb. 15, 1987	elected
Philippines (1st time)	President Corazon Aquino	Feb. 25, 1986 – Jun. 30, 1992	elected, wife*
Nicaragua	President Violeta de Chamorro	Apr. 25, 1990 – Jan. 10, 1997	elected
Ireland (1st time)	President Mary Robinson	Dec, 3, 1990 – Sep. 12, 1997	elected
Sri Lanka	President Chandrika Kumaratunga	Nov. 12, 1994 – Nov. 19, 2005	elected, daughter
Ireland (2nd time)	President Mary McAleese	Nov. 11, 1997 -	elected
Guyana	President Janet Jagan	Dec. 19, 1997 – Aug. 11, 1999	elected, wife
Switzerland (1st time)	President Ruth Dreifuss	Jan. 1, 1999 – Dec. 31, 1999	appointed
Latvia	President Vaira Vike-Freiberga	Jul. 8, 1999 – Jul. 8, 2007	elected
Panama	President Mireya Moscoso	Sep. 1, 1999 – Sep. 1, 2004	elected, wife
Finland	President Tarja Halonen	Mar. 1, 2000 -	elected
Philippines (2nd time)	President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo	Jan. 20, 2001 – June 30, 2010	succeeded 2001, elected 2004, daughter
Indonesia	President Megawati Sukarnoputri	Jul. 23, 2001 – Oct. 20, 2004	succeeded, daughter
Liberia	President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf	Jan. 16, 2006 -	elected
Chile	President Michelle Bachelet	Mar. 11, 2006 – Mar. 11, 2010	elected
Switzerland (2nd time)	President Micheline Calmy-Rey	Jan. 1, 2007 – Dec. 31, 2007	appointed
India	President Pratibha Patil	Jul. 25, 2007 -	elected
Argentina (2nd time)	President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner	Dec. 10, 2007 -	elected, wife
Lithuania	President Dalia Grybauskaite	Jul. 12, 2009 -	elected
Switzerland (3rd time)	President Doris Leuthard	Jan. 1, 2010 – Dec. 31, 2011	appointed
Kyrgyzstan	President Rosa Otunbayeva	Apr. 7, 2010 -	coup
Costa Rica	President Laura Chinchilla	May 8, 2010 -	elected
Brazil	President Dilma Rousseff	Jan. 1, 2011 -	elected
Switzerland (4th time)	President Micheline Calmy-Rey	Jan. 1, 2011 -	appointed

“Wife” indicates leaders whose husband was also president at one time.
“Daughter” indicates leaders whose father was also president at one time.
* though not a wife of a president, Ms. Aquino’s political career was largely the result of her marriage to a very prominent senator, who was later assasinated. Her son, interestingly, would also later serve as president.
Less than a year in power (acting, interim leaders, etc)
The following female leaders all assumed office on some sort of interim basis and cannot be properly regarded as a “full” president. They often held the presidency while simultaniously holding some other office of government, usually speaker of the house.

Country	Leader	Term
Mongolia	President Sukhbaataryn Yanjmaa	Sep. 23, 1953 – Jul. 7, 1954
Bolivia	President Lydia Gueiler Tejada	Nov. 17, 1980 – Jul. 18, 1980
Guinea-Bissau	President Carmen Pereira	May 14, 1984 – May 16, 1984
Haiti	President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot	Mar. 13, 1990 – Jan. 7, 1991
East Germany	President Sabine Bergmann-Pohl	Apr. 5, 1990 – Oct. 2, 1990
Liberia	President Ruth Perry	Sep. 3, 1996 – Aug. 2, 1997
Ecuador	President Rosalía Arteaga Serrano	Feb. 9, 1997 – Feb. 11, 1997
Georgia (1st time)	President Nino Burjanadz	Nov. 23, 2003 – Jan. 25, 2004
Georgia (2nd time)	President Nino Burjanadz	Nov. 25, 2007 – Jan. 20, 2008
Israel	President Dalia Itzik	Jan. 25, 2007 – Jul. 15, 2007
Gabon	President Rose Francine Rogombé	Jun. 10, 2009 – Oct. 16, 2009

All countries with female prime ministers, past and present

Country	Leader	Term	Notes
Sri Lanka (1st time)	Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike	Jul. 21, 1960 – Mar. 27, 1965	elected, wife
India (1st time)	Prime Minister Indira Gandhi	Jan. 19, 1966 – Mar. 24, 1977	elected, daughter
Israel	Prime Minister Golda Meir	Mar. 17, 1969 – Jun. 3, 1974	appointed 1969, elected 1971
Sri Lanka (2nd time)	Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike	May 29, 1970 – Jul. 23, 1977	“
Central African Republic	Prime Minister Elisabeth Domitien	Jan. 2, 1975 – Apr. 7, 1976	appointed*
United Kingdom	Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher	May 4, 1979 – Nov. 28, 1990	elected
India (2nd time)	Prime Minister Indira Gandhi	Jan. 14, 1980 – Oct. 31, 1984	“
Dominica	Prime Minister Dame Eugenia Charles	Jul. 21, 1980 – Jun. 14, 1995	elected
Norway (1st time)	Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland	Feb. 4, 1981 – Oct. 14, 1981	elected
Yugoslavia	Prime Minister Milka Planinc	May 16, 1982 – May 15, 1986	appointed*
Norway (2nd time)	Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland	May 9, 1986 – Oct. 16, 1989	“
Pakistan (1st time)	Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto	Dec. 2, 1988 – Aug. 6, 1990	elected, daughter
Norway (3rd time)	Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland	Nov. 3, 1990 – Oct. 25, 1996	“
Bangledesh (1st time)	Prime Minister Khaleda Zia	Mar. 20, 1991 – Mar. 30, 1996	elected, daughter
Poland	Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka	Jul. 8, 1992 – Oct. 26, 1993	appointed
Turkey	Prime Minister Tansu Çiller	Jun. 25, 1992 – Mar. 6, 1996	appointed
Pakistan (2nd time)	Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto	Oct. 19, 1993 – Nov. 5, 1996	“
Sri Lanka (3rd time)	Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike	Nov. 14, 1994 – Aug. 10, 2000	“
New Zealand (1st time)	Prime Minister Jenny Shippley	Dec. 8, 1997 – Dec. 10, 1999	appointed
New Zealand (2nd time)	Prime Minister Helen Clark	Dec. 10, 1999 – Nov. 19, 2008	elected
Senegal	Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye	Mar. 2, 2001 – Nov. 4, 2002	appointed
Bangledesh (2nd time)	Prime Minister Khaleda Zia	Oct. 10, 2001 – Oct. 29. 2006	“
São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister Maria das Neves	Oct. 7, 2002 – Sep. 18, 2004	appointed
Mozambique	Prime Minister Luisa Diogo	Feb. 17, 2004 – Jan. 16, 2010	appointed 2004, elected 2009
Ukraine (1st time)	Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko	Jan. 24, 2005 – Sep. 8, 2005	elected
Germany	Chancellor Angela Merkel	Nov. 22, 2005 -	elected
Jamaica	Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller	Mar. 30, 2006 – Sep. 11, 2007	appointed
South Korea	Prime Minister Han Myung Sook	Ap. 19, 2006 – Mar. 7, 2007	appointed
Ukraine (2nd time)	Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko	Dec. 18, 2007 – Mar. 11, 2010	“
Haiti (2nd time)	Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis	Sep. 5, 2008 – Nov. 11, 2009	appointed
Bangledesh	Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed	Jan. 6, 2009 -	elected
Iceland	Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardóttir	Feb. 1, 2009 -	appointed 2009, elected 2009
Croatia	Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor	Jul. 6, 2009 -	appointed
Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar	May 26, 2010 -	elected
Australia	Prime Minister Julia Gillard	Jun. 24, 2010 -	appointed
Finland	Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi	Jun. 22, 2010 -	appointed
Slovakia	Prime Minister Iveta Radicová	Jul. 8, 2010 -	elected

* Ms. Milka Planinc served as head of government in Yugoslavia’s Communist regime. Élisabeth Domitién served under the dictatorship of the insane “Emperor” Bokassa. They are the only two female prime ministers who ruled in non-democratic countries.
Less than a year in power (acting, interim leaders, etc)

Country	Leader	Term
Portugal	Prime Minister Maria de Lurdes Pintassilgo	Aug. 1, 1979 – Jan. 3, 1980
Lithuania (1st time)	Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskien	Mar. 17, 1990 – Jan. 10, 1991
France	Prime Minister Edith Cresson	May 15, 1991 – Apr. 2, 1992
Burundi	Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi	Jul. 10, 1993 – Feb. 7, 1994
Canada	Prime Minister Kim Campbell	Jun. 25, 1993 – Nov. 4, 1993
Rwanda	Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana	Jul. 18, 1993 – Apr. 7, 1994
Bulgaria	Prime Minister Reneta Indzhova	Oct. 17, 1994 – Jan. 25, 1995
Sri Lanka	Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga	Aug. 19, 1994 – Nov. 12, 1994
Haiti	Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh	Nov. 7, 1995 – Mar. 6, 1996
Guyana	Prime Minister Janet Jagan	Mar. 17, 1997 – Dec. 22, 1997
Lithuania (2nd time)	Prime Minister Irena Degutiene	May 4, 1999 – May 18, 1999
Lithuania (3rd time)	Prime Minister Irena Degutiene	Oct. 27, 1999 – Nov. 3, 1999
Mongolia	Prime Minister Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa	Jul. 22, 1999 – Jul. 30, 1999
South Korea	Prime Minister Chang Sang	Jul. 11, 2002 – Jul. 31, 2002
Finland	Prime Minister Anneli Jaatteenmaki	Apr. 17, 2003 – Jun. 24, 2003
Peru	Prime Minister Beatriz Merino	June 28, 2003 – Dec. 15, 2003
Macedonia (1st time)	Prime Minister Radmila Sekerinska	May 12, 2004 – Jun. 2, 2004
Macedonia (2nd time)	Prime Minister Radmila Sekerinska	Nov. 18, 2004 – Dec. 17, 2004
São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira	Jun. 8, 2005 – Apr. 21, 2006

All countries with female governor-generals

Canada (1st time)	Governor-General Jeanne Sauvé	May 14, 1984 – Jan. 29, 1990
Barbados	Governor-General Dame Nita Barrow	Jun. 6, 1990 – Dec. 19, 1995
New Zealand (1st time)	Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard	Nov. 20, 1990 – Mar. 21, 1996
Saint Lucia	Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy	Sep. 17, 1997 -
Canada (2nd time)	Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson	Oct. 7, 1999 – Sep. 27, 2005
New Zealand (2nd time)	Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright	Apr. 4, 2001 – Aug. 23, 2006
Bahamas	Governor-General Dame Ivy Dumont	Nov. 13, 2001 – Nov. 25, 2005
Canada (3rd time)	Governor-General Michaelle Jean	Sep. 27, 2005 – Oct. 1, 2010
Antigua and Barbuda	Governor-General Dame Louise Lake-Tack	Jul. 17, 2007 -
Australia	Governor-General Quentin Bryce	Sep. 5, 2008 -

Countries that have had more than one female leader (includes acting, interim leaders etc)

Switzerland (4)	Four presidents*
Sri Lanka (3)	One president, two prime ministers
Haiti (3)	One president, two prime ministers
Finland (3)	One president, two prime ministers
Argentina (2)	Two presidents
Bangledesh (2)	Two prime ministers
Guyana (2)	One president, one prime minister*
Iceland (2)	One president, one prime minister
India (2)	One president, one prime minister
Ireland (2)	Two presidents
Israel (2)	One president, one prime minister
Lithuania (2)	One president, two prime ministers
Liberia (2)	Two presidents
Philippines (2)	Two presidents
New Zealand (2)	Two prime ministers
São Tomé and Príncipe (2)	Two prime ministers
South Korea (2)	Two prime ministers

Switzerland has seen four female presidential terms, though two of those were held by the same woman. Guyana’s double-status is debatable, since their female prime minister and female president were the same person.
Historic figures

Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa of Mongolia (1953-1954)	World’s first female (acting) president
Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka (1960-1965)	World’s first female prime minister
Isabel Peron of Argentina (1974-1976)	World’s first female (non-acting) president
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland (1980-1996)	World’s first female elected president, and first female world leader who did not have a father or husband who was also leader at one time.
Mary McAleese of Ireland (1997- )	First time that a female president directly succeed another female president.
Sri Lanka (1994-2000)	First time that a nation possessed a female prime minister and a female president simultaneously. Sri Lanka in 1994 also marked the first time a female prime minister directly succeeded another female prime minister.
Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir of Iceland (2009- )	World’s first lesbian world leader, first female world leader to wed a same-sex partner while in office.

MAP SUMMARY:

Light pink- acting heads of government / state, Dark pink- full-term heads of state / government
World’s 10 most populous nations and female leader status:

1	China	No
2	India	Yes
3	United States	No
4	Indonesia	Yes
5	Brazil	Yes
6	Pakistan	Yes
7	Bangladesh	Yes
8	Nigeria	No
9	Russia	No
10	Japan	No