Which countries have had women leaders?

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In 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the right to vote to women. Dozens more would do so in the years following World War I, and as a wave of countries gained independence after World War II, equal voting rights for men and women were often guaranteed in their constitutions. It would not be until July 21, 1960, however, that Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) would be sworn in as the world’s first female prime minister. Two decades later, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland would become the first woman to be elected president. Since then, women have made enormous political strides; by 2024, more than a third of the countries of the world had been led by a woman.

country year first female leader title
Argentina 1974 Isabel Perón president
Aruba 2017 Evelyn Wever-Croes prime minister
Australia 2010 Julia Gillard prime minister
Austria 2019 Brigitte Bierlein chancellor
Bangladesh 1991 Khaleda Zia prime minister
Barbados 2018 Mia Mottley prime minister
Belgium 2019 Sophie Wilmès prime minister
Bermuda 1997 Pamela Gordon premier
Bolivia 1979 Lidia Gueiler Tejada president
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022 Borjana Krišto chair of the Council of Ministers
Brazil 2011 Dilma Rousseff president
Bulgaria 1994 Reneta Indzhova prime minister
Burundi 1993 Sylvie Kinigi prime minister
Canada 1993 Kim Campbell prime minister
Central African Republic 1975 Elisabeth Domitien prime minister
Chile 2006 Michelle Bachelet president
Democratic Republic of the Congo 2024 Judith Suminwa Tuluka prime minister
Costa Rica 2010 Laura Chinchilla president
Croatia 2009 Jadranka Kosor prime minister
Denmark 2011 Helle Thorning-Schmidt prime minister
Dominica 1980 Eugenia Charles prime minister
Estonia 2021 Kaja Kallas prime minister
Faroe Islands 1993 Marita Petersen prime minister
Finland 2000 Tarja Halonen president
Georgia 2018 Salome Zurabishvili president
Germany 2005 Angela Merkel chancellor
Greenland 2013 Aleqa Hammond prime minister
Guyana 1997 Janet Jagan president
Honduras 2022 Xiomara Castro president
Hong Kong 2017 Carrie Lam chief executive
Iceland 1980 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir president
Iceland 2009 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir prime minister
India 1966 Indira Gandhi prime minister
Indonesia 2001 Megawati Sukarnoputri president
Ireland 1990 Mary Robinson president
Israel 1969 Golda Meir prime minister
Italy 2022 Giorgia Meloni prime minister
Jamaica 2006 Portia Simpson Miller prime minister
Kyrgyzstan 2010 Roza Otunbayeva president
Liberia 2006 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf president
Lithuania 2009 Dalia Grybauskaitė president
Malawi 2012 Joyce Banda president
Mali 2011 Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé prime minister
Marshall Islands 2016 Hilda Heine president
Mexico 2024 Claudia Sheinbaum president
Moldova 2008 Zinaida Greceanȋi prime minister
Mozambique 2004 Luísa Diogo prime minister
New Zealand 1997 Jennifer Shipley prime minister
Nicaragua 1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro president
Norway 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland prime minister
Pakistan 1988 Benazir Bhutto prime minister
Panama 1999 Mireya Moscoso president
Peru 2022 Dina Boluarte president
Philippines 1986 Corazon Aquino president
Poland 1992 Hanna Suchocka prime minister
Portugal 1979 Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo prime minister
Romania 2018 Viorica Dăncilă prime minister
Rwanda 1993 Agathe Uwilingiyimana prime minister
Samoa 2021 Fiame Naomi Mata’afa prime minister
San Marino 1981 Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini captain regent
Sao Tome and Principe 2002 Maria das Neves prime minister
Senegal 2001 Mame Madior Boye prime minister
Serbia 2017 Ana Brnabić prime minister
Sint Maarten 2010 Sarah Wescot-Williams prime minister
Slovakia 2010 Iveta Radičová prime minister
Slovenia 2013 Alenka Bratusek prime minister
South Korea 2013 Park Geun-Hye president
Sri Lanka 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike prime minister
Sweden 2021 Magdalena Andersson prime minister
Switzerland 1999 Ruth Dreifuss president
Taiwan 2016 Tsai Ing-wen president
Tanzania 2021 Samia Suluhu Hassan president
Thailand 2011 Yingluck Shinawatra prime minister
Trinidad and Tobago 2010 Kamla Persad-Bissessar prime minister
Tunisia 2021 Najla Bouden Romdhane prime minister
Turkey 1993 Tansu Çiller prime minister
United Kingdom 1979 Margaret Thatcher prime minister
Wallis and Futuna 2013 Nivaleta Iloai president
Michael Ray