List of elected or appointed female heads of state

This is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state of their respective countries. This 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 Nicolas Sarkozy), 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.

Contents

List of female heads of state

  Denotes incumbent head of state
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 &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000188000000188 days
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa  Mongolia Acting Chairperson of the Presidium of the State Great Khural 23 September 1953 7 July 1954 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000287000000287 days
Soong Ching-ling  People's Republic of China Acting Co-Chairperson 31 October 1968 24 April 1972 &100000000000000030000003 years, &10000000000000176000000176 days
Isabel Martínez de Perón  Argentina President 1 July 1974 24 March 1976 &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000267000000267 days
Lidia Gueiler Tejada  Bolivia Acting President 16 November 1979 17 July 1980 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000244000000244 days
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir  Iceland President 1 August 1980 1 August 1996 &1000000000000001600000016 years, &100000000000000000000000 days
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 1981 1 October 1981 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Soong Ching-ling  People's Republic of China President 16 May 1981 28 May 1981 &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000001200000012 days
Agatha Barbara  Malta President 15 February 1982 15 February 1987 &100000000000000050000005 years, &100000000000000000000000 days
Gloriana Ranocchini  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 1984 1 October 1984 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Carmen Pereira  Guinea-Bissau President of Guinea-Bissau 14 May 1984 16 May 1984 &100000000000000000000000 years, &100000000000000020000002 days
Elisabeth Kopp  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 21 October 1984 12 January 1989 &100000000000000040000004 years, &1000000000000008300000083 days
Corazon Aquino  Philippines President 25 February 1986 30 June 1992 &100000000000000060000006 years, &10000000000000126000000126 days
Gloriana Ranocchini  San Marino Captain Regent 1 October 1989 1 April 1990 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000182000000182 days
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot  Haiti Acting President 13 March 1990 7 February 1991 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000331000000331 days
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl  East Germany President of the People's Chamber 5 April 1990 2 October 1990 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000180000000180 days
Violeta Chamorro  Nicaragua President 25 April 1990 10 January 1997 &100000000000000060000006 years, &10000000000000260000000260 days
Mary Robinson  Ireland President 3 December 1990 12 September 1997 &100000000000000060000006 years, &10000000000000283000000283 days
Edda Ceccoli  San Marino Captain Regent 1 October 1991 1 April 1992 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Ruth Dreifuss  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 April 1993 31 December 2002 &100000000000000090000009 years, &10000000000000296000000296 days
Patricia Busignani  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 1993 1 October 1993 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Sylvie Kinigi  Burundi Acting President 27 October 1993 5 February 1994 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000101000000101 days
Chandrika Kumaratunga  Sri Lanka President 12 November 1994 19 November 2005 &1000000000000001100000011 years, &1000000000000001700000017 days
Ruth Perry  Liberia Chairperson of the Council of State 3 September 1996 2 August 1997 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000333000000333 days
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano  Ecuador Acting President 9 February 1997 11 February 1997 &100000000000000000000000 years, &100000000000000020000002 days
Mary McAleese  Ireland President 11 November 1997 10 November 2011 &1000000000000001300000013 years, &10000000000000364000000364 days
Janet Jagan  Guyana President 19 December 1997 11 August 1999 &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000235000000235 days
Ruth Metzler-Arnold  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 May 1999 31 December 2003 &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000295000000295 days
Rosa Zafferani  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 1999 1 October 1999 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga  Latvia President 8 July 1999 8 July 2007 &100000000000000080000008 years, &100000000000000000000000 days
Mireya Moscoso  Panama President 1 September 1999 1 September 2004 &100000000000000050000005 years, &100000000000000000000000 days
Tarja Halonen  Finland President 1 March 2000 Incumbent &1000000000000001100000011 years, &10000000000000357000000357 days
Maria Domenica Michelotti  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 2000 1 October 2000 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo  Philippines President 20 January 2001 30 June 2010 &100000000000000090000009 years, &10000000000000161000000161 days
Megawati Sukarnoputri  Indonesia President 23 July 2001 20 October 2004 &100000000000000030000003 years, &1000000000000008900000089 days
Micheline Calmy-Rey  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 January 2003 31 December 2011 &100000000000000080000008 years, &10000000000000364000000364 days
Valeria Ciavatta  San Marino Captain Regent 1 October 2003 1 April 2004 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Nino Burjanadze  Georgia Acting President 23 November 2003 25 January 2004 &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000006300000063 days
Fausta Morganti  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 2005 1 October 2005 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf  Liberia President 16 January 2006 Incumbent &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000003600000036 days
Michelle Bachelet  Chile President 11 March 2006 11 March 2010 &100000000000000040000004 years, &100000000000000000000000 days
Doris Leuthard  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 August 2006 Incumbent &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000204000000204 days
Dalia Itzik  Israel Acting President 25 January 2007 15 July 2007 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000171000000171 days
Pratibha Patil  India President 25 July 2007 Incumbent &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000211000000211 days
Nino Burjanadze  Georgia Acting President 25 November 2007 20 January 2008 &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000005600000056 days
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner  Argentina President 10 December 2007 Incumbent &100000000000000040000004 years, &1000000000000007300000073 days
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 January 2008 Incumbent &100000000000000040000004 years, &1000000000000005100000051 days
Rosa Zafferani  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 2008 1 October 2008 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Assunta Meloni  San Marino Captain Regent 1 October 2008 1 April 2009 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000182000000182 days
Rose Francine Rogombé  Gabon Acting President 10 June 2009 16 October 2009 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000128000000128 days
Dalia Grybauskaitė  Lithuania President 12 July 2009 Incumbent &100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000224000000224 days
Roza Otunbayeva  Kyrgyzstan President 7 April 2010 1 December 2011 &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000238000000238 days
Laura Chinchilla  Costa Rica President 8 May 2010 Incumbent &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000289000000289 days
Simonetta Sommaruga  Switzerland Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1 November 2010 Incumbent &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000112000000112 days
Dilma Rousseff  Brazil President 1 January 2011 Incumbent &100000000000000010000001 year, &1000000000000005100000051 days
Maria Luisa Berti  San Marino Captain Regent 1 April 2011 1 October 2011 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000183000000183 days
Atifete Jahjaga  Kosovo President 7 April 2011 Incumbent &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000320000000320 days

List of female representatives of heads of state

  Denotes incumbent representative of head of state
Name Image Country Office Mandate start Mandate end Term length
Elmira Minita Gordon  Belize Governor-General 21 September 1981 17 November 1993 &1000000000000001200000012 years, &1000000000000005700000057 days
Jeanne Sauvé  Canada Governor General 14 May 1984 29 January 1990 &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000260000000260 days
Nita Barrow  Barbados Governor-General 6 June 1990 19 December 1995 &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000196000000196 days
Catherine Tizard  New Zealand Governor-General 13 December 1990 21 March 1996 &100000000000000050000005 years, &1000000000000009900000099 days
Pearlette Louisy  Saint Lucia Governor-General 17 September 1997 Incumbent &1000000000000001400000014 years, &10000000000000157000000157 days
Adrienne Clarkson  Canada Governor General 7 October 1999 27 September 2005 &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000324000000324 days
Sian Elias  New Zealand Acting Governor-General 22 March 2001 4 April 2001 &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000001300000013 days
Silvia Cartwright  New Zealand Governor-General 4 April 2001 4 August 2006 &100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000122000000122 days
Ivy Dumont  Bahamas Governor-General 11 November 2001 30 November 2005 &100000000000000040000004 years, &1000000000000001900000019 days
Monica Dacon  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Acting Governor-General 3 June 2002 2 September 2002 &100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000009100000091 days
Michaëlle Jean  Canada Governor General 27 September 2005 1 October 2010 &100000000000000050000005 years, &100000000000000040000004 days
Sian Elias  New Zealand Acting Governor-General 4 April 2006 23 August 2006 &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000141000000141 days
Emmanuelle Mignon  Andorra French Representative of Andorra 6 June 2007 24 September 2008 &100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000110000000110 days
Louise Lake-Tack  Antigua and Barbuda Governor-General 17 July 2007 Incumbent &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000219000000219 days
Quentin Bryce  Australia Governor-General 5 September 2008 Incumbent &100000000000000030000003 years, &10000000000000169000000169 days
Sian Elias  New Zealand Acting Governor-General 23 August 2011 31 August 2011 &100000000000000000000000 years, &100000000000000080000008 days

References

See also

External links