List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government

The following is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939). The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also be heads of government, as well as female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers. The list does not include female monarchs who are heads of state (but not of government).[lower-alpha 5]

Khertek Anchimaa-Toka, of the mostly unrecognized and now defunct Tuvan People's Republic, is regarded as "first ever elected woman head of state in the world". She became the chairwoman of the country's presidium in 1940.[1][2]

The first woman to be democratically elected as prime minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), when she led her party to victory in the July 1960 general election.[3][2]

The first woman to serve as president of a country was Isabel Perón of Argentina, who served as the country's vice president and succeeded to the presidency in July 1974 upon the death of her husband.[4][2]

The first woman elected president of a country was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who won the 1980 presidential election as well as three subsequent elections, remaining in office for a total of 16 years, which makes her the longest-serving non-hereditary female head of state in history.[5][2]

The first democratically elected female prime minister of a Muslim majority country was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, who led her party to victory in the 1988 general election and later in 1993, making her the first woman democratically elected leader of any Muslim nation.[6] Bhutto was also the first of only two non-hereditary female world leaders who gave birth to a child while serving in office, the other being Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.[7]

The longest-tenured female non-hereditary head of government and longest-serving female leader of a country is Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. She served as the country's prime minister from 1996 to 2001 and again since 2009, for a combined total of over 19 years.[8]

The prime ministers of Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Peru, and Uganda are included in the list of elected or appointed female deputy heads of government but not in the list of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state, as they are neither heads of government, nor deputy heads of state due to the existence of the office of vice president in these countries, whereas the prime ministers of South Korea are included in both of those lists.

Currently, Barbados is the only republic in the world where both the serving head of state and head of government are women.