List of elected and appointed female heads of state

Map showing countries which since independence have had (counting Governors-General as heads of state, but excluding monarchs):

Female head of government

Female head of state^[1]

Female head of state/government (combined)

Female head of state and female head of government

Three former sovereign states (East Germany, Tannu Tuva, and Yugoslavia) have also had a female Head of State or Head of Government

This is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state of their respective countries since the mid 20th century. The 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 François Hollande), 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.

To date, the country with most female Heads of State is San Marino (17, including three who served twice).

List of female heads of state

Denotes incumbent head of state

Italics denotes an acting head of state and states that are either de facto (with limited to no international recognition) or defunct.

Name	Image	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka		23x15px Tannu Tuva	Chairperson of the Presidium of the Little Khural	6 April 1940	11 October 1944	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa		Mongolia	Acting Chairperson of the Presidium of the State Great Khural	7 September 1953	7 July 1954	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Soong Ching-ling	80px	China	Acting Co-Chairperson	31 October 1968	24 April 1972	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Isabel Martínez de Perón		Argentina	President	1 July 1974	24 March 1976	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Lidia Gueiler Tejada	80px	Bolivia	Acting President	16 November 1979	17 July 1980	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir	80px	Iceland	President	1 August 1980	1 August 1996	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1981	1 October 1981	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Soong Ching-ling	80px	China	Honorary President	16 May 1981	28 May 1981	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Agatha Barbara		Malta	President	15 February 1982	15 February 1987	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1984	1 October 1984	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Carmen Pereira		Guinea-Bissau	Acting President of Guinea-Bissau	14 May 1984	16 May 1984	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Elisabeth Kopp		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	21 October 1984	12 January 1989	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Corazon Aquino		Philippines	President	25 February 1986	30 June 1992	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 1989	1 April 1990	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot		Haiti	Acting President	13 March 1990	7 February 1991	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl		East Germany	President of the People's Chamber	5 April 1990	2 October 1990	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	President	25 April 1990	10 January 1997	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Mary Robinson		Ireland	President	3 December 1990	12 September 1997	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Edda Ceccoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 1991	1 April 1992	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ruth Dreifuss		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 April 1993	31 December 2002	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Patrizia Busignani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1993	1 October 1993	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Sylvie Kinigi		Burundi	Acting President	27 October 1993	5 February 1994	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Chandrika Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	President	12 November 1994	19 November 2005	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ruth Perry		Liberia	Chairperson of the Council of State	3 September 1996	2 August 1997	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano		Ecuador	Acting President	9 February 1997	11 February 1997	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Mary McAleese		Ireland	President	11 November 1997	10 November 2011	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Janet Jagan		Guyana	President	19 December 1997	11 August 1999	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ruth Metzler-Arnold		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 1999	31 December 2003	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 1999	1 October 1999	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga		Latvia	President	8 July 1999	8 July 2007	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Mireya Moscoso		Panama	President	1 September 1999	1 September 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Tarja Halonen		Finland	President	1 March 2000	1 March 2012	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Maria Domenica Michelotti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2000	1 October 2000	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo		Philippines	President	20 January 2001	30 June 2010	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Megawati Sukarnoputri		Indonesia	President	23 July 2001	20 October 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Nataša Mićić		Serbia	Acting President	29 December 2002	27 January 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Micheline Calmy-Rey		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2003	31 December 2011	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2003	1 April 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	23 November 2003	25 January 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Barbara Prammer		Austria	Acting President	6 July 2004	8 July 2004	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Fausta Morganti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2005	1 October 2005	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf		Liberia	President	16 January 2006	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	11 March 2006	11 March 2010	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Doris Leuthard		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 August 2006	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dalia Itzik		Israel	Acting President	25 January 2007	15 July 2007	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Pratibha Patil		India	President	25 July 2007	25 July 2012	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	25 November 2007	20 January 2008	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner		Argentina	President	10 December 2007	10 December 2015	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 January 2008	31 December 2015	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2008	1 October 2008	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Assunta Meloni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2008	1 April 2009	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Rose Francine Rogombé		Gabon	Acting President	10 June 2009	16 October 2009	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dalia Grybauskaitė		Lithuania	President	12 July 2009	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Roza Otunbayeva		Kyrgyzstan	President	7 April 2010	1 December 2011	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Laura Chinchilla		Costa Rica	President	8 May 2010	8 May 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Simonetta Sommaruga		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1 November 2010	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dilma Rousseff		Brazil	President	1 January 2011	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Maria Luisa Berti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2011	1 October 2011	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Atifete Jahjaga		Kosovo	President	7 April 2011	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	31 March 2012	21 July 2012	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Slavica Đukić Dejanović		Serbia	Acting President	5 April 2012	31 May 2012	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Joyce Banda		Malawi	President	7 April 2012	31 May 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Denise Bronzetti		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2012	1 April 2013	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Park Geun-hye		South Korea	President	25 February 2013	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Antonella Mularoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2013	1 October 2013	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Anna Maria Muccioli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2013	1 April 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Catherine Samba-Panza	80px	Central African Republic	Acting President	23 January 2014	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	11 March 2014	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 April 2014	1 October 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca		Malta	President	4 April 2014	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović		Croatia	President	19 February 2015	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	29 May 2015	5 June 2015	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Ameenah Gurib		Mauritius	President	5 June 2015	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Lorella Stefanelli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1 October 2015	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Bidhya Devi Bhandari		Nepal	President	29 October 2015	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).

List of female representatives of heads of state

Denotes incumbent representative of head of state

Italics denotes acting representative of head of state

Name	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Dame Elmira Minita Gordon	Belize	Governor-General	21 September 1981	17 November 1993	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Jeanne Sauvé	Canada	Governor General	14 May 1984	29 January 1990	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Nita Barrow	Barbados	Governor-General	6 June 1990	19 December 1995	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Catherine Tizard	New Zealand	Governor-General	13 December 1990	21 March 1996	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Pearlette Louisy	Saint Lucia	Governor-General	17 September 1997	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Adrienne Clarkson	Canada	Governor General	7 October 1999	27 September 2005	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Sian Elias	New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	22 March 2001	4 April 2001	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Silvia Cartwright	New Zealand	Governor-General	4 April 2001	4 August 2006	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Ivy Dumont	The Bahamas	Governor-General	11 November 2001	30 November 2005	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Monica Dacon	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Acting Governor-General	3 June 2002	2 September 2002	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Michaëlle Jean	Canada	Governor General	27 September 2005	1 October 2010	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Sian Elias	New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	4 August 2006	23 August 2006	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Emmanuelle Mignon	Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	6 June 2007	24 September 2008	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Louise Lake-Tack	Antigua and Barbuda	Governor-General	17 July 2007	13 August 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Quentin Bryce	Australia	Governor-General	5 September 2008	28 March 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Sian Elias	New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	23 August 2011	31 August 2011	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Sylvie Hubac	Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	15 May 2012	5 January 2015	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Sandra Mason	Barbados	Acting Governor-General	30 May 2012	1 June 2012	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Cécile La Grenade	Grenada	Governor-General	7 May 2013	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).
Dame Marguerite Pindling	The Bahamas	Governor-General	8 July 2014	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).