List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government facts for kids

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).

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", although not in multiparty, free and fair elections. The wife of the nation's Supreme Leader, she is the first woman to be elected Chairman of a country. She became the chairwoman of the country's presidium in 1940.

The first woman to be 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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 January 2009, for a combined total of 20 years.

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. Honduras, the Marshall Islands, and Peru are republics where the female President is the combined head of state and government.

Elected or appointed female chief executives

This list includes women who were appointed by a governing committee or parliament where heads of state or government are not directly elected by citizens. The list does not include women chosen by a hereditary monarch. Interim heads of state or government are listed in italics.
     Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government	Executive or non-executive
Khertek Anchimaa-Toka		Tannu Tuva	Chairwoman of the Presidium of the Little Khural	1940-04-06 6 April 1940	1944-10-11 11 October 1944	4 years, 188 days	Head of state
Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Ceylon/  Sri Lanka	Prime Minister	1960-07-21 21 July 1960	1965-03-27 27 March 1965	4 years, 249 days	Head of government	Executive
				1970-05-29 29 May 1970	1977-07-23 23 July 1977	7 years, 55 days
				1994-11-14 14 November 1994	2000-08-09 9 August 2000	5 years, 269 days
Indira Gandhi		India	Prime Minister	1966-01-24 24 January 1966	1977-04-24 24 April 1977	11 years, 90 days	Head of government	Executive
				1980-01-15 15 January 1980	1984-10-31 31 October 1984 (assassinated)	4 years, 290 days
Golda Meir		Israel	Prime Minister	1969-03-17 17 March 1969	1974-06-03 3 June 1974	5 years, 78 days	Head of government	Executive
Isabel Perón		Argentina	President	1974-07-01 1 July 1974	1976-03-24 24 March 1976	1 year, 267 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Elisabeth Domitien		Central African Republic	Prime Minister	1975-01-02 2 January 1975	1976-04-07 7 April 1976	1 year, 96 days	Head of government
Margaret Thatcher		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	1979-05-04 4 May 1979	1990-11-28 28 November 1990	11 years, 208 days	Head of government	Executive
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo		Portugal	Prime Minister	1979-08-01 1 August 1979	1980-01-03 3 January 1980	155 days	Head of government	Executive
Lidia Gueiler Tejada		Bolivia	President	1979-11-16 16 November 1979	1980-07-17 17 July 1980	244 days	Head of state	Executive
Eugenia Charles		Dominica	Prime Minister	1980-07-21 21 July 1980	1995-06-14 14 June 1995	14 years, 328 days	Head of government	Executive
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir		Iceland	President	1980-08-01 1 August 1980	1996-08-01 1 August 1996	16 years, 0 days	Head of state
Gro Harlem Brundtland		Norway	Prime Minister	1981-02-04 4 February 1981	1981-10-14 14 October 1981	252 days	Head of government	Executive
				1986-05-09 9 May 1986	1989-10-16 16 October 1989	3 years, 160 days
				1990-11-03 3 November 1990	1996-10-25 25 October 1996	5 years, 357 days
Soong Ching-ling		China	Honorary President	1981-05-16 16 May 1981	1981-05-28 28 May 1981	12 days	Head of state
Agatha Barbara		Malta	President	1982-02-15 15 February 1982	1987-02-15 15 February 1987	5 years	Head of state
Milka Planinc		Yugoslavia	Prime Minister	1982-05-16 16 May 1982	1986-05-15 15 May 1986	3 years, 364 days	Head of government	Executive
Corazon Aquino		Philippines	President	1986-02-25 25 February 1986	1992-06-30 30 June 1992	6 years, 126 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Stella Sigcau		Transkei	Prime Minister	1987-10-05 5 October 1987	1987-12-30 30 December 1987	86 days	Head of government	Executive
Benazir Bhutto		Pakistan	Prime Minister	1988-12-02 2 December 1988	1990-07-06 6 July 1990	1 year, 216 days	Head of government	Executive
				1993-10-19 19 October 1993	1996-11-05 5 November 1996	3 years, 17 days
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot		Haiti	President	1990-03-13 13 March 1990	1991-02-07 7 February 1991	331 days	Head of state
Kazimira Prunskienė		Lithuania	Prime Minister	1990-03-11 11 March 1990	1991-01-10 10 January 1991	299 days	Head of government	Executive
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl		East Germany	President of the People's Chamber	1990-04-05 5 April 1990	1990-10-02 2 October 1990	180 days	Head of state
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	President	1990-04-25 25 April 1990	1997-01-10 10 January 1997	6 years, 260 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Mary Robinson		Ireland	President	1990-12-03 3 December 1990	1997-09-12 12 September 1997	6 years, 283 days	Head of state
Khaleda Zia		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	1991-02-27 27 February 1991	1996-03-30 30 March 1996	5 years, 32 days	Head of government	Executive
				2001-10-01 1 October 2001	2006-10-29 29 October 2006	5 years, 28 days
Édith Cresson		France	Prime Minister	1991-05-15 15 May 1991	1992-04-02 2 April 1992	323 days	Head of government
Hanna Suchocka		Poland	Prime Minister	1992-07-11 11 July 1992	1993-10-25 25 October 1993	1 year, 106 days	Head of government
Tansu Çiller		Turkey	Prime Minister	1993-06-13 13 June 1993	1996-03-06 6 March 1996	2 years, 267 days	Head of government
Kim Campbell		Canada	Prime Minister	1993-06-25 25 June 1993	1993-11-04 4 November 1993	132 days	Head of government	Executive
Sylvie Kinigi		Burundi	Prime Minister	1993-07-10 10 July 1993	1994-02-07 7 February 1994	109 days	Head of government
Agathe Uwilingiyimana		Rwanda	Prime Minister	1993-07-18 18 July 1993	1994-04-07 7 April 1994 (assassinated)	263 days	Head of government
Chandrika Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	President	1994-11-12 12 November 1994	2005-11-19 19 November 2005	11 years, 7 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Claudette Werleigh		Haiti	Prime Minister	1995-11-07 7 November 1995	1996-02-27 27 February 1996	112 days	Head of government
Sheikh Hasina		Bangladesh	Prime Minister	1996-06-12 12 June 1996	2001-07-15 15 July 2001	5 years, 33 days	Head of government	Executive
				2009-01-06 6 January 2009	Incumbent	15 years, 110 days
Ruth Perry		Liberia	Chairwoman of the Council of State	1996-09-03 3 September 1996	1997-08-02 2 August 1997	333 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Rosalía Arteaga		Ecuador	President	1997-02-09 9 February 1997	1997-02-11 11 February 1997	2 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Mary McAleese		Ireland	President	1997-11-11 11 November 1997	2011-11-10 10 November 2011	13 years, 364 days	Head of state
Jenny Shipley		New Zealand	Prime Minister	1997-12-08 8 December 1997	1999-12-10 10 December 1999	2 years, 2 days	Head of government	Executive
Janet Jagan		Guyana	President	1997-12-19 19 December 1997	1999-08-11 11 August 1999	1 year, 235 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga		Latvia	President	1999-07-08 8 July 1999	2007-07-07 8 July 2007	8 years	Head of state
Mireya Moscoso		Panama	President	1999-09-01 1 September 1999	2004-09-01 1 September 2004	5 years	Head of state and government	Executive
Helen Clark		New Zealand	Prime Minister	1999-12-10 10 December 1999	2008-11-19 19 November 2008	8 years, 350 days	Head of government	Executive
Tarja Halonen		Finland	President	2000-03-01 1 March 2000	2012-03-01 1 March 2012	12 years	Head of state
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo		Philippines	President	2001-01-20 20 January 2001	2010-06-30 30 June 2010	9 years, 161 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Mame Madior Boye		Senegal	Prime Minister	2001-03-03 3 March 2001	2002-11-04 4 November 2002	1 year, 246 days	Head of government	Executive
Megawati Sukarnoputri		Indonesia	President	2001-07-23 23 July 2001	2004-10-20 20 October 2004	3 years, 89 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Maria das Neves		São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	2002-10-03 3 October 2002	2004-09-18 18 September 2004	1 year, 351 days	Head of government
Anneli Jäätteenmäki		Finland	Prime Minister	2003-04-17 17 April 2003	2003-06-24 24 June 2003	68 days	Head of government	Executive
Yulia Tymoshenko		Ukraine	Prime Minister	2005-01-24 24 January 2005	2005-09-06 6 September 2005	225 days	Head of government	Executive
				2007-12-18 18 December 2007	2010-03-03 3 March 2010	2 years, 75 days
Maria do Carmo Silveira		São Tomé and Príncipe	Prime Minister	2005-06-08 8 June 2005	2006-04-21 21 April 2006	317 days	Head of government
Angela Merkel		Germany	Chancellor	2005-11-22 22 November 2005	2021-12-08 8 December 2021	16 years, 16 days	Head of government	Executive
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf		Liberia	President	2006-01-16 16 January 2006	2018-01-22 22 January 2018	12 years, 6 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	President	2006-03-11 11 March 2006	2010-03-11 11 March 2010	4 years	Head of state and government	Executive
				2014-03-11 11 March 2014	2018-03-11 11 March 2018	4 years
Portia Simpson-Miller		Jamaica	Prime Minister	2006-03-30 30 March 2006	2007-09-11 11 September 2007	1 year, 165 days	Head of government	Executive
				2012-01-05 5 January 2012	2016-03-03 3 March 2016	4 years, 58 days
Pratibha Patil		India	President	2007-07-25 25 July 2007	2012-07-25 25 July 2012	5 years	Head of state
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner		Argentina	President	2007-12-10 10 December 2007	2015-12-10 10 December 2015	8 years	Head of state and government	Executive
Zinaida Greceanîi		Moldova	Prime Minister	2008-03-31 31 March 2008	2009-09-14 14 September 2009	1 year, 167 days	Head of government	Executive
Michèle Pierre-Louis		Haiti	Prime Minister	2008-09-05 5 September 2008	2009-11-11 11 November 2009	1 year, 67 days	Head of government
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir		Iceland	Prime Minister	2009-02-01 1 February 2009	2013-05-23 23 May 2013	4 years, 111 days	Head of government	Executive
Jadranka Kosor		Croatia	Prime Minister	2009-07-06 6 July 2009	2011-12-23 23 December 2011	2 years, 170 days	Head of government	Executive
Dalia Grybauskaitė		Lithuania	President	2009-07-12 12 July 2009	2019-07-12 12 July 2019	10 years	Head of state
Roza Otunbayeva		Kyrgyzstan	President	2010-04-07 7 April 2010	2011-12-01 1 December 2011	1 year, 238 days	Head of state
Laura Chinchilla		Costa Rica	President	2010-05-08 8 May 2010	2014-05-08 8 May 2014	4 years	Head of state and government	Executive
Kamla Persad-Bissessar		Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister	2010-05-26 26 May 2010	2015-09-09 9 September 2015	5 years, 106 days	Head of government	Executive
Mari Kiviniemi		Finland	Prime Minister	2010-06-22 22 June 2010	2011-06-22 22 June 2011	1 year	Head of government	Executive
Julia Gillard		Australia	Prime Minister	2010-06-24 24 June 2010	2013-06-27 27 June 2013	3 years, 3 days	Head of government	Executive
Iveta Radičová		Slovakia	Prime Minister	2010-07-08 8 July 2010	2012-04-04 4 April 2012	1 year, 271 days	Head of government	Executive
Dilma Rousseff		Brazil	President	2011-01-01 1 January 2011	2016-08-31 31 August 2016 Suspended 12 May 2016	5 years, 243 days 5 years, 139 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé		Mali	Prime Minister	2011-04-03 3 April 2011	2012-03-22 22 March 2012	354 days	Head of government
Atifete Jahjaga		Kosovo	President	2011-04-07 7 April 2011	2016-04-07 7 April 2016	5 years	Head of state
Yingluck Shinawatra		Thailand	Prime Minister	2011-08-05 5 August 2011	2014-05-07 7 May 2014	2 years, 275 days	Head of government	Executive
Helle Thorning-Schmidt		Denmark	Prime Minister	2011-10-03 3 October 2011	2015-06-28 28 June 2015	3 years, 268 days	Head of government	Executive
Joyce Banda		Malawi	President	2012-04-07 7 April 2012	2014-05-31 31 May 2014	2 years, 54 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Park Geun-hye		South Korea	President	2013-02-25 25 February 2013	2017-03-10 10 March 2017 Suspended 9 December 2016	4 years, 13 days 3 years, 288 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Alenka Bratušek		Slovenia	Prime Minister	2013-03-20 20 March 2013	2014-09-18 18 September 2014	1 year, 182 days	Head of government	Executive
Tatiana Turanskaya		Transnistria	Prime Minister	2013-06-10 10 June 2013	2015-10-13 13 October 2015	2 years, 125 days	Head of government	Executive
				2015-11-30 30 November 2015	2015-12-02 2 December 2015	2 days
Sibel Siber		Northern Cyprus	Prime Minister	2013-06-13 13 June 2013	2013-09-02 2 September 2013	81 days	Head of government	Executive
Aminata Touré		Senegal	Prime Minister	2013-09-01 1 September 2013	2014-07-08 8 July 2014	310 days	Head of government	Executive
Erna Solberg		Norway	Prime Minister	2013-10-16 16 October 2013	2021-10-14 14 October 2021	7 years, 363 days	Head of government	Executive
Laimdota Straujuma		Latvia	Prime Minister	2014-01-22 22 January 2014	2016-02-11 11 February 2016	2 years, 20 days	Head of government	Executive
Catherine Samba-Panza		Central African Republic	President	2014-01-23 23 January 2014	2016-03-30 30 March 2016	2 years, 67 days	Head of state	Executive
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca		Malta	President	2014-04-04 4 April 2014	2019-04-04 4 April 2019	5 years	Head of state
Ewa Kopacz		Poland	Prime Minister	2014-09-22 22 September 2014	2015-11-16 16 November 2015	1 year, 55 days	Head of government
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović		Croatia	President	2015-02-19 19 February 2015	2020-02-18 18 February 2020	4 years, 364 days	Head of state
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim		Mauritius	President	2015-06-05 5 June 2015	2018-03-23 23 March 2018	2 years, 291 days	Head of state
Bidya Devi Bhandari		Nepal	President	2015-10-29 29 October 2015	2023-03-13 13 March 2023	7 years, 135 days	Head of state
Beata Szydło		Poland	Prime Minister	2015-11-16 16 November 2015	2017-12-11 11 December 2017	2 years, 25 days	Head of government	Executive
Hilda Heine		Marshall Islands	President	2016-01-28 28 January 2016	2020-01-14 14 January 2020	3 years, 351 days	Head of state and government	Executive
				2024-01-03 3 January 2024	Incumbent	113 days
Aung San Suu Kyi		Myanmar	State Counsellor	2016-04-06 6 April 2016	2021-02-01 1 February 2021	4 years, 301 days	De facto head of government	De facto Executive
Tsai Ing-wen		Taiwan	President	2016-05-20 20 May 2016	Incumbent	7 years, 341 days	Head of state	Executive
Theresa May		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	2016-07-13 13 July 2016	2019-07-24 24 July 2019	3 years, 11 days	Head of government	Executive
Kersti Kaljulaid		Estonia	President	2016-10-10 10 October 2016	2021-10-11 11 October 2021	5 years, 1 day	Head of state
Ana Brnabić		Serbia	Prime Minister	2017-06-29 29 June 2017	2024-03-20 20 March 2024	6 years, 265 days	Head of government	Executive
Halimah Yacob		Singapore	President	2017-09-14 14 September 2017	2023-09-13 14 September 2023	6 years, 0 days	Head of state
Jacinda Ardern		New Zealand	Prime Minister	2017-10-26 26 October 2017	2023-01-25 25 January 2023	5 years, 91 days	Head of government	Executive
Katrín Jakobsdóttir		Iceland	Prime Minister	2017-11-30 30 November 2017	Incumbent	6 years, 147 days	Head of government	Executive
Viorica Dăncilă		Romania	Prime Minister	2018-01-29 29 January 2018	2019-11-04 4 November 2019	1 year, 279 days	Head of government	Executive
Paula-Mae Weekes		Trinidad and Tobago	President	2018-03-19 19 March 2018	2023-03-20 20 March 2023	5 years, 1 day	Head of state
Mia Mottley		Barbados	Prime Minister	2018-05-25 25 May 2018	Incumbent	5 years, 336 days	Head of government	Executive
Sahle-Work Zewde		Ethiopia	President	2018-10-25 25 October 2018	Incumbent	5 years, 183 days	Head of state
Salome Zourabichvili		Georgia	President	2018-12-16 16 December 2018	Incumbent	5 years, 131 days	Head of state
Brigitte Bierlein		Austria	Chancellor	2019-06-03 3 June 2019	2020-01-07 7 January 2020	218 days	Head of government	Executive
Maia Sandu		Moldova	Prime Minister	2019-06-08 8 June 2019	2019-11-14 14 November 2019	159 days	Head of government	Executive
			President	2020-12-24 24 December 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 123 days	Head of state
Zuzana Čaputová		Slovakia	President	2019-06-15 15 June 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 315 days	Head of state
Mette Frederiksen		Denmark	Prime Minister	2019-06-27 27 June 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 303 days	Head of government	Executive
Sophie Wilmès		Belgium	Prime Minister	2019-10-27 27 October 2019	2020-10-01 1 October 2020	340 days	Head of government	Executive
Jeanine Áñez		Bolivia	President	2019-11-12 12 November 2019	2020-11-8 8 November 2020	362 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Sanna Marin		Finland	Prime Minister	2019-12-10 10 December 2019	2023-6-20 20 June 2023	3 years, 192 days	Head of government	Executive
Katerina Sakellaropoulou		Greece	President	2020-03-13 13 March 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 43 days	Head of state
Rose Christiane Raponda		Gabon	Prime Minister	2020-07-16 16 July 2020	2023-01-09 9 January 2023	2 years, 177 days	Head of government	Executive
Victoire Tomegah Dogbé		Togo	Prime Minister	2020-09-28 28 September 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 210 days	Head of government	Executive
Ingrida Šimonytė		Lithuania	Prime Minister	2020-12-11 11 December 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 136 days	Head of government	Executive
Kaja Kallas		Estonia	Prime Minister	2021-01-26 26 January 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 90 days	Head of government	Executive
Samia Suluhu Hassan		Tanzania	President	2021-03-19 19 March 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 37 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Vjosa Osmani		Kosovo	President	2021-04-04 4 April 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 21 days	Head of state
Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa		Samoa	Prime Minister	2021-05-24 24 May 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 337 days	Head of government	Executive
Natalia Gavrilița		Moldova	Prime Minister	2021-08-06 6 August 2021	2023-02-16 16 February 2023	1 year, 194 days	Head of government	Executive
Najla Bouden		Tunisia	Prime Minister	2021-10-11 11 October 2021	2023-08-02 2 August 2023	1 year, 295 days	Head of government	Executive
Sandra Mason		Barbados	President	2021-11-30 30 November 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 147 days	Head of state
Magdalena Andersson		Sweden	Prime Minister	2021-11-30 30 November 2021	2022-10-18 18 October 2022	322 days	Head of government	Executive
Xiomara Castro		Honduras	President	2022-01-27 27 January 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 89 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Katalin Novák		Hungary	President	2022-05-10 10 May 2022	2024-02-26 26 February 2024	1 year, 292 days	Head of state
Élisabeth Borne		France	Prime Minister	2022-05-16 16 May 2022	2024-01-09 9 January 2024	1 year, 238 days	Head of government
Droupadi Murmu		India	President	2022-07-25 25 July 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 275 days	Head of state
Liz Truss		United Kingdom	Prime Minister	2022-09-6 6 September 2022	2022-10-25 25 October 2022	49 days	Head of government	Executive
Giorgia Meloni		Italy	Prime Minister	2022-10-22 22 October 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 186 days	Head of government	Executive
Dina Boluarte		Peru	President	2022-12-7 7 December 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 140 days	Head of state and government	Executive
Nataša Pirc Musar		Slovenia	President	2022-12-23 23 December 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 124 days	Head of state
Borjana Krišto		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers	2023-1-25 25 January 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 91 days	Head of government
Christine Kangaloo		Trinidad and Tobago	President	2023-03-20 20 March 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 36 days	Head of state
Evika Siliņa		Latvia	Prime Minister	2023-09-15 15 September 2023	Incumbent	223 days	Head of government	Executive
Sylvanie Burton		Dominica	President	2023-10-02 2 October 2023	Incumbent	206 days	Head of state
Judith Tuluka		Democratic Republic of the Congo	Prime Minister	2024-04-01 1 April 2024	Incumbent	24 days	Head of government
Myriam Spiteri Debono		Malta	President	2024-04-04 4 April 2024	Incumbent	21 days	Head of state

Elected or appointed acting female chief executives

This list includes women elected or appointed in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed a vacated office on a temporary basis.
     Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government
Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa		Mongolia	Acting Chairman of the Presidium of the State Great Khural	1953-09-07 7 September 1953	1954-07-07 7 July 1954	303 days	Head of state
Soong Ching-ling		China	Acting Co-Chairperson	1968-10-31 31 October 1968	1972-04-24 24 April 1972	3 years, 176 days	Head of state
			Acting Chairperson	1976-07-06 6 July 1976	1978-03-05 5 March 1978	1 year, 242 days
Carmen Pereira		Guinea-Bissau	Acting President	1984-05-14 14 May 1984	1984-05-16 16 May 1984	2 days	Head of state
Sylvie Kinigi		Burundi	Acting President	1993-10-27 27 October 1993	1994-02-05 5 February 1994	101 days	Head of state
Reneta Indzhova		Bulgaria	Acting Prime Minister	1994-10-17 17 October 1994	1995-01-25 25 January 1995	100 days	Head of government
Irena Degutienė		Lithuania	Acting Prime Minister	1999-05-04 4 May 1999	1999-05-18 18 May 1999	14 days	Head of government
				1999-10-27 27 October 1999	1999-11-03 3 November 1999	7 days
Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa		Mongolia	Acting Prime Minister	1999-07-22 22 July 1999	1999-07-30 30 July 1999	8 days	Head of government
Nino Burjanadze		Georgia	Acting President	2003-11-23 23 November 2003	2004-01-25 25 January 2004	63 days	Head of state
		Georgia		2007-11-25 25 November 2007	2008-01-20 20 January 2008	56 days
Barbara Prammer		Austria	Co-Acting President	2004-07-06 6 July 2004	2004-07-08 8 July 2004	2 days	Head of state
Radmila Šekerinska		North Macedonia	Acting Prime Minister	2004-05-12 12 May 2004	2004-06-12 12 June 2004	31 days	Head of government
				2004-11-03 3 November 2004	2004-12-15 15 December 2004	42 days
Dalia Itzik		Israel	Acting President	2007-01-25 25 January 2007	2007-07-15 15 July 2007	171 days	Head of state
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri		South Africa	Acting President	2008-09-25 25 September 2008		14 hours	Head of state and government
Rose Francine Rogombé		Gabon	Acting President	2009-06-10 10 June 2009	2009-10-16 16 October 2009	128 days	Head of state
Cécile Manorohanta		Madagascar	Acting Prime Minister	2009-12-18 18 December 2009	2009-12-20 20 December 2009	2 days	Head of government
Adiato Djaló Nandigna		Guinea-Bissau	Acting Prime Minister	2012-02-10 10 February 2012	2012-04-12 12 April 2012	62 days	Head of government
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau		Mauritius	Acting President	2012-03-31 31 March 2012	2012-07-21 21 July 2012	112 days	Head of state
				2015-05-29 29 May 2015	2015-06-05 5 June 2015	7 days
Slavica Đukić Dejanović		Serbia	Acting President	2012-04-05 5 April 2012	2012-05-31 31 May 2012	56 days	Head of state
Julie Bishop		Australia	Acting Prime Minister	2014-12-20 20 December 2014	2015-01-16 16 January 2015	27 days	Deputy Prime Minister
Natalia Gherman		Moldova	Acting Prime Minister	2015-06-22 22 June 2015	2015-07-30 30 July 2015	38 days	Head of government
Vassiliki Thanou		Greece	Acting Prime Minister	2015-08-27 27 August 2015	2015-09-21 21 September 2015	25 days	Head of government
Maya Parnas		Transnistria	Acting Prime Minister	2015-10-13 13 October 2015	2015-11-30 30 November 2015	48 days	Head of government
				2015-12-02 2 December 2015	2015-12-23 23 December 2015	21 days
Doris Bures		Austria	Co-Acting President	2016-07-08 8 July 2016	2017-01-26 26 January 2017	202 days	Head of state
Julie Bishop		Australia	Acting Prime Minister	2018-09-21 21 September 2018	2018-10-23 23 October 2018	32 days	Deputy Prime Minister
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh		Vietnam	Acting President	2018-09-21 21 September 2018	2018-10-23 23 October 2018	32 days	Head of state
Vjosa Osmani		Kosovo	Acting President	2020-11-05 5 November 2020	2020-03-22 22 March 2021	137 days	Head of state
Maya Tskitishvili		Georgia	Acting Prime Minister	2021-02-18 18 February 2021	2021-02-22 22 February 2021	4 days	Head of government
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân		Vietnam	Acting President	2023-01-18 18 January 2023	2023-03-02 2 March 2023	43 days	Head of state
	2024-03-20 21 March 2024			Incumbent	35 days
Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara		El Salvador	Acting President	2023-12-01 1 December 2023	Incumbent	146 days	Head of state

Female members of collective head-of-state bodies

     Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Head of state or government
Alexandra Kollontai		Soviet Russia	Member of the Council of People's Commissars	1917-10-26 26 October 1917	1918-02-23 23 February 1918	120 days	Member of the collective head of state
Nadezhda Krupskaya		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1937-12-12 12 December 1937	1939-02-27 27 February 1939	1 year, 77 days	Member of the collective head of state
Klavdiya Nikolayeva		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1937-12-12 12 December 1937	1946-02-10 10 February 1946	8 years, 60 days	Member of the collective head of state
Anna Pankratova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1954-04-14 14 March 1954	1958-05-25 25 May 1957	3 years, 41 days	Member of the collective head of state
Yekaterina Furtseva		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1950-04-12 12 March 1950	1962-04-18 18 April 1962	12 years, 6 days	Member of the collective head of state
Alicja Musiałowa-Afanasjew		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1952-11-20 20 November 1952	1965-06-24 24 June 1965	12 years, 216 days	Member of the collective head of state
Yadgar Nasriddinova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1959-04-24 24 March 1959	1970-09-25 25 September 1970	11 years, 154 days	Member of the collective head of state
Luise Ermisch		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1960-09-12 12 September 1960	1963-11-13 13 November 1963	3 years, 62 days	Member of the collective head of state
Irmgard Neumann		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1960-09-12 12 September 1960	1963-11-13 13 November 1963	3 years, 62 days	Member of the collective head of state
Tursunoy Akhunova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1962-04-18 18 April 1962	1974-06-16 16 June 1974	12 years, 59 days	Member of the collective head of state
Lieselott Herforth		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1963-11-13 13 November 1963	1981-06-25 25 June 1981	17 years, 224 days	Member of the collective head of state
Else Merke		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1963-11-13 13 November 1963	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	8 years, 13 days	Member of the collective head of state
Brunhilde Hanke		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1964-11-19 19 November 1964	1990-04-05 5 April 1990	25 years, 137 days	Member of the collective head of state
Anni Neumann		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1964-11-19 19 November 1964	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	7 years, 7 days	Member of the collective head of state
Eugenia Krassowska-Jodłowska		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1965-06-24 24 June 1965	1972-03-28 28 March 1972	6 years, 278 days	Member of the collective head of state
Zoya Pukhova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1966-06-12 12 June 1966	1989-05-25 25 May 1989	22 years, 347 days	Member of the collective head of state
Maria Schneider		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1967-07-13 13 July 1967	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	4 years, 136 days	Member of the collective head of state
Margarete Müller		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	1990-01-11 11 January 1990	18 years, 46 days	Member of the collective head of state
Ilse Thiele		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	1990-01-11 11 January 1990	18 years, 46 days	Member of the collective head of state
Rosel Walther		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1971-11-26 26 November 1971	1990-04-05 5 April 1990	18 years, 130 days	Member of the collective head of state
Halina Koźniewska		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1972-03-28 28 March 1972	1980-04-02 2 April 1980	8 years, 5 days	Member of the collective head of state
Valentina Tereshkova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	June 1974	March or April 1989	c. 14 years	Member of the collective head of state
Rimma Gavrilova		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1974-06-16 16 June 1974	1984-04-4 4 March 1984	9 years, 293 days	Member of the collective head of state
Kamshat Donenbaeva		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1974-06-16 16 June 1974	1989-05-25 25 May 1989	14 years, 343 days	Member of the collective head of state
Eugenia Kempara		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1976-12-18 18 December 1976	1985-11-06 6 November 1985	8 years, 323 days	Member of the collective head of state
Yekaterina Mukhina		Soviet Union	Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	1979-04-04 4 March 1979	1984-04-04 4 March 1984	5 years, 0 days	Member of the collective head of state
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	Member of the Junta of National Reconstruction	1979-07-18 18 July 1979	1980-04-19 19 April 1980	276 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Krystyna Marszałek-Młyńczyk		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1980-04-02 2 April 1980	1983-03-23 23 March 1983	2 years, 355 days	Member of the collective head of state
Maria Lea Pedini-Angelini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1981-04-01 1 April 1981	1981-10-01 1 October 1981	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Johanna Töpfer		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1981-06-25 25 June 1981	1989-11-17 17 November 1989	8 years, 145 days	Member of the collective head of state
Gloriana Ranocchini		San Marino	Captain Regent	1984-04-01 1 April 1984	1984-10-01 1 October 1984	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
				1989-10-01 1 October 1989	1990-04-01 1 April 1990	182 days
Elisabeth Kopp		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1984-10-21 21 October 1984	1989-01-12 12 January 1989	4 years, 83 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Elżbieta Gacek		Poland	Member of the Council of State	1985-11-06 6 November 1985	1988-06-17 17 June 1988	2 years, 224 days	Member of the collective head of state
Monika Werner		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1986-06-16 16 June 1986	1990-04-05 5 April 1990	3 years, 293 days	Member of the collective head of state
Eveline Klett		East Germany	Member of the State Council	1986-06-16 16 June 1986	1990-04-05 5 April 1990	3 years, 293 days	Member of the collective head of state
Edda Ceccoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	1991-10-01 1 October 1991	1992-04-01 1 April 1992	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Biljana Plavšić		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	1992-03-01 1 March 1992	1992-04-09 9 April 1992	39 days	Member of the collective head of state
Tatjana Ljujić-Mijatović		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	1992-12-24 24 December 1992	1996-10-05 5 October 1996	3 years, 286 days	Member of the collective head of state
Ruth Dreifuss		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1993-04-01 1 April 1993	2002-12-31 31 December 2002	9 years, 296 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Patrizia Busignani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1993-04-01 1 April 1993	1993-10-01 1 October 1993	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Ruth Metzler		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	1999-01-01 1 January 1999	2003-12-31 31 December 2003	4 years, 364 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Rosa Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	1999-04-01 1 April 1999	1999-10-01 1 October 1999	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
				2008-04-01 1 April 2008	2008-10-01 1 October 2008	183 days
Maria Domenica Michelotti		San Marino	Captain Regent	2000-04-01 1 April 2000	2000-10-01 1 October 2000	183 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Micheline Calmy-Rey		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2003-01-01 1 January 2003	2011-12-31 31 December 2011	8 years, 364 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Valeria Ciavatta		San Marino	Captain Regent	2003-10-01 1 October 2003	2004-04-01 1 April 2004	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
				2014-04-01 1 April 2014	2014-10-01 1 October 2014	183 days
Fausta Morganti		San Marino	Captain Regent	2005-04-01 1 April 2005	2005-10-01 1 October 2005	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Doris Leuthard		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2006-08-01 1 August 2006	2018-12-31 31 December 2018	12 years, 152 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2008-01-01 1 January 2008	2015-12-31 31 December 2015	7 years, 364 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Assunta Meloni		San Marino	Captain Regent	2008-10-01 1 October 2008	2009-04-01 1 April 2009	182 days	Member of the collective head of state
Simonetta Sommaruga		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2010-11-01 1 November 2010	2022-12-31 31 December 2022	12 years, 60 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Maria Luisa Berti		San Marino	Captain Regent	2011-04-01 1 April 2011	2011-10-01 1 October 2011	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
		San Marino		2022-10-01 1 October 2022	2023-04-01 1 April 2023	182 days
Denise Bronzetti		San Marino	Captain Regent	2012-10-01 1 October 2012	2013-04-01 1 April 2013	182 days	Member of the collective head of state
Antonella Mularoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	2013-04-01 1 April 2013	2013-10-01 1 October 2013	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Anna Maria Muccioli		San Marino	Captain Regent	2013-10-01 1 October 2013	2014-04-01 1 April 2014	182 days	Member of the collective head of state
Lorella Stefanelli		San Marino	Captain Regent	2015-10-01 1 October 2015	2016-04-01 1 April 2016	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Mimma Zavoli		San Marino	Captain Regent	2017-04-01 1 April 2017	2017-10-01 1 October 2017	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Vanessa D'Ambrosio		San Marino	Captain Regent	2017-04-01 1 April 2017	2017-10-01 1 October 2017	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Karin Keller-Sutter		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2019-01-01 1 January 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 115 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Viola Amherd		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2019-01-01 1 January 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 115 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Aisha Musa el-Said		Sudan	Member of the Sovereignty Council	2019-08-21 21 August 2019	2021-05-21 21 May 2021	1 year, 273 days	Member of the collective head of state
Raja Nicola		Sudan	Member of the Sovereignty Council	2019-08-21 21 August 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 248 days	Member of the collective head of state
Mariella Mularoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	2019-10-01 1 October 2019	2020-04-01 1 April 2020	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Grazia Zafferani		San Marino	Captain Regent	2020-04-01 1 April 2020	2020-10-01 1 October 2020	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Željka Cvijanović		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	2022-10-03 16 November 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 161 days	Member of the collective head of state
Élisabeth Baume-Schneider		Switzerland	Member of the Swiss Federal Council	2023-01-01 1 January 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 115 days	Member of the collective head of state and government
Adele Tonnini		San Marino	Captain Regent	2023-04-01 1 April 2023	2023-10-01 1 October 2023	183 days	Member of the collective head of state
Milena Gasperoni		San Marino	Captain Regent	2024-04-01 1 April 2024	Incumbent	24 days	Member of the collective head of state

Female viceregal representatives

     Incumbent

Below are women who have been appointed representatives of heads of state, such as female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra. As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Charles III) and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra (currently Emmanuel Macron), 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.

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Elmira Minita Gordon		Belize	Governor-General	1981-09-21 21 September 1981	1993-11-17 17 November 1993	12 years, 57 days
Jeanne Sauvé		Canada	Governor General	1984-05-14 14 May 1984	1990-01-29 29 January 1990	5 years, 260 days
Nita Barrow		Barbados	Governor-General	1990-06-06 6 June 1990	1995-12-19 19 December 1995	5 years, 196 days
Catherine Tizard		New Zealand	Governor-General	1990-12-13 13 December 1990	1996-03-21 21 March 1996	5 years, 99 days
Pearlette Louisy		Saint Lucia	Governor-General	1997-09-17 17 September 1997	2017-12-31 31 December 2017	20 years, 105 days
Adrienne Clarkson		Canada	Governor General	1999-10-07 7 October 1999	2005-08-27 27 September 2005	5 years, 324 days
Silvia Cartwright		New Zealand	Governor-General	2001-04-04 4 April 2001	2006-08-04 4 August 2006	5 years, 122 days
Ivy Dumont		The Bahamas	Governor-General	2001-11-13 11 November 2001	2005-11-30 30 November 2005	4 years, 19 days
Michaëlle Jean		Canada	Governor General	2005-09-27 27 September 2005	2010-10-01 1 October 2010	5 years, 4 days
Emmanuelle Mignon		Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	2007-06-06 6 June 2007	2008-09-24 24 September 2008	1 year, 110 days
Louise Lake-Tack		Antigua and Barbuda	Governor-General	2007-07-17 17 July 2007	2014-08-13 13 August 2014	7 years, 27 days
Quentin Bryce		Australia	Governor-General	2008-09-05 5 September 2008	2014-03-28 28 March 2014	5 years, 204 days
Sylvie Hubac		Andorra	Representative of the French Co-Prince	2012-05-15 15 May 2012	2015-01-05 5 January 2015	2 years, 235 days
Cécile La Grenade		Grenada	Governor-General	2013-05-07 7 May 2013	Incumbent	10 years, 354 days
Marguerite Pindling		The Bahamas	Governor-General	2014-07-08 8 July 2014	2019-06-28 28 June 2019	4 years, 355 days
Patsy Reddy		New Zealand	Governor-General	2016-09-28 28 September 2016	2021-09-28 28 September 2021	5 years, 0 days
Julie Payette		Canada	Governor General	2017-10-02 2 October 2017	2021-01-21 21 January 2021	3 years, 111 days
Sandra Mason		Barbados	Governor-General	2018-01-08 8 January 2018	2021-11-30 30 November 2021 (became inaugural president)	3 years, 326 days
Susan Dougan		Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Governor-General	2019-08-01 1 August 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 268 days
Froyla Tzalam		Belize	Governor-General	27 May 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 334 days
Mary Simon		Canada	Governor General	26 July 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 274 days
Cindy Kiro		New Zealand	Governor-General	21 October 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 187 days
Marcella Liburd		Saint Kitts and Nevis	Governor-General	1 February 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 84 days
Cynthia A. Pratt		The Bahamas	Governor-General	1 September 2023	Incumbent	237 days
Sam Mostyn		Australia	Governor-General	1 July 2024	Appointed	−67 days

Acting female viceregal representatives

This list includes women appointed as viceregal representatives in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed a vacated office on a temporary basis.
     Incumbent

Name	Portrait	Country	Office	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Sian Elias		New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	2001-03-22 22 March 2001	2001-04-04 4 April 2001	13 days
				2006-08-04 4 August 2006	2006-08-23 23 August 2006	19 days
				2011-08-23 23 August 2011	2011-08-31 31 August 2011	8 days
				2016-08-31 31 August 2016	2016-09-28 28 September 2016	28 days
Monica Dacon		Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Acting Governor-General	2002-06-03 3 June 2002	2002-09-02 2 September 2002	91 days
Sandra Mason		Barbados	Acting Governor-General	2012-05-30 30 May 2012	2012-06-01 1 June 2012	2 days
Teniku Talesi Honolulu		Tuvalu	Acting Governor-General	2019-08-22 22 August 2019	2021-01-15 15 January 2021	1 year, 146 days
Helen Winkelmann		New Zealand	Administrator of the Government (Acting Governor-General)	2021-09-28 28 September 2021	2021-10-21 21 October 2021	23 days

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Jefas de Estado para niños

• Women in government
• Council of Women World Leaders
• List of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state
• List of elected or appointed female deputy heads of government
• List of Muslim women heads of state and government
• List of the first women heads of state and government in Muslim-majority countries