All the countries that had a woman leader before the U.S.
By Amanda Wills, Jacque Smith and Casey Hicks
CNN
June 9, 2016
Hillary Clinton is one step closer to becoming the first woman to lead the United States. But more than 60 other countries beat America to that milestone.*
1960s
Sri Lanka
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960
India
Indira Gandhi, 1966
Israel
Golda Meir, 1969
1970s
Argentina
Isabel Perón, 1974
Central African Republic
Elisabeth Domitien, 1975
Portugal
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, 1979
United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher, 1979
1980s
Dominica
Eugenia Charles, 1980
Iceland
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, 1980
Norway
Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1981
Malta
Agatha Barbara, 1982
Philippines
Corazon Aquino, 1986
Pakistan
Benazir Bhutto, 1988
1990s
Ireland
Mary Robinson, 1990
Lithuania
Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, 1990
Nicaragua
Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, 1990
Bangladesh
Khaleda Zia, 1991
France
Édith Cresson, 1991
Poland
Hanna Suchocka, 1992
Burundi
Sylvie Kinigi, 1993
Canada
Kim Campbell, 1993
Rwanda
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 1993
Turkey
Tansu Çiller, 1993
Haiti
Claudette Werleigh, 1995
Guyana
Janet Rosenberg, 1997
New Zealand
Jenny Shipley, 1997
Latvia
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, 1999
Panama
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, 1999
Switzerland
Ruth Dreifuss, 1999
2000s
Finland
Tarja Halonen, 2001
Indonesia
Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001
Senegal
Mame Madior Boye, 2001
São Tomé and Príncipe
Maria das Neves, 2002
Peru
Beatriz Merino, 2003
Macedonia
Radmila Šekerinska, 2004
Mozambique
Luísa Diogo, 2004
Germany
Angela Merkel, 2005
Ukraine
Yulia Tymoshenko, 2005
Chile
Michelle Bachelet, 2006
Jamaica
Portia Simpson-Miller, 2006
Liberia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2006
South Korea
Han Myung-sook, 2006
Moldova
Zinaida Greceanîi, 2008
Croatia
Jadranka Kosor, 2009
2010s
Australia
Julia Gillard, 2010
Costa Rica
Laura Chinchilla, 2010
Kyrgyzstan
Roza Otunbayeva, 2010
Slovakia
Iveta Radičová, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 2010
Denmark
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011
Kosovo
Atifete Jahjaga, 2011
Mali
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, 2011
Thailand
Yingluck Shinawatra, 2011
Malawi
Joyce Banda, 2012
Slovenia
Alenka Bratušek, 2013
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Sibel Siber, 2013
Brazil
Dilma Rousseff, 2014
Mauritius
Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, 2015
Namibia
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, 2015
Nepal
Bidhya Devi Bhandari, 2015
Taiwan
Tsai Ing-wen, 2016
*This list is sorted by the date each country elected or appointed its first female president or prime minister. It does not include acting or interim leaders who were not later elected or confirmed.
June 9, 2016
Hillary Clinton is one step closer to becoming the first woman to lead the United States. But more than 60 other countries beat America to that milestone.*
1960s
Sri Lanka
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960
India
Indira Gandhi, 1966
Israel
Golda Meir, 1969
1970s
Argentina
Isabel Perón, 1974
Central African Republic
Elisabeth Domitien, 1975
Portugal
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, 1979
United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher, 1979
1980s
Dominica
Eugenia Charles, 1980
Iceland
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, 1980
Norway
Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1981
Malta
Agatha Barbara, 1982
Philippines
Corazon Aquino, 1986
Pakistan
Benazir Bhutto, 1988
1990s
Ireland
Mary Robinson, 1990
Lithuania
Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, 1990
Nicaragua
Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, 1990
Bangladesh
Khaleda Zia, 1991
France
Édith Cresson, 1991
Poland
Hanna Suchocka, 1992
Burundi
Sylvie Kinigi, 1993
Canada
Kim Campbell, 1993
Rwanda
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 1993
Turkey
Tansu Çiller, 1993
Haiti
Claudette Werleigh, 1995
Guyana
Janet Rosenberg, 1997
New Zealand
Jenny Shipley, 1997
Latvia
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, 1999
Panama
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, 1999
Switzerland
Ruth Dreifuss, 1999
2000s
Finland
Tarja Halonen, 2001
Indonesia
Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001
Senegal
Mame Madior Boye, 2001
São Tomé and Príncipe
Maria das Neves, 2002
Peru
Beatriz Merino, 2003
Macedonia
Radmila Šekerinska, 2004
Mozambique
Luísa Diogo, 2004
Germany
Angela Merkel, 2005
Ukraine
Yulia Tymoshenko, 2005
Chile
Michelle Bachelet, 2006
Jamaica
Portia Simpson-Miller, 2006
Liberia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2006
South Korea
Han Myung-sook, 2006
Moldova
Zinaida Greceanîi, 2008
Croatia
Jadranka Kosor, 2009
2010s
Australia
Julia Gillard, 2010
Costa Rica
Laura Chinchilla, 2010
Kyrgyzstan
Roza Otunbayeva, 2010
Slovakia
Iveta Radičová, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 2010
Denmark
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011
Kosovo
Atifete Jahjaga, 2011
Mali
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, 2011
Thailand
Yingluck Shinawatra, 2011
Malawi
Joyce Banda, 2012
Slovenia
Alenka Bratušek, 2013
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Sibel Siber, 2013
Brazil
Dilma Rousseff, 2014
Mauritius
Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, 2015
Namibia
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, 2015
Nepal
Bidhya Devi Bhandari, 2015
Taiwan
Tsai Ing-wen, 2016
*This list is sorted by the date each country elected or appointed its first female president or prime minister. It does not include acting or interim leaders who were not later elected or confirmed.
