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Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic Party presidential nominee

Five of the 10 most populous countries have not had a woman leader. Ceylon selected the world’s first woman prime minister in 1960.

On 26 July 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be a major US political party presidential nominee. She won the popular but not electoral vote.

In 1994, Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011) was the first woman to be a major party vice presidential candidate. Both represented the Democratic Party.

All top 10 full democracies (the US is a flawed democracy) in the Democracy Index have had a woman as head of state.

All Nordic countries have had a woman leader, as have Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United Kingdom (not an exhaustive list).

Five of the 10 most populous countries have not had a woman leader, listed here with their global freedom score (larger is better) / democracy index (smaller is better).

  • China (9/148)
  • United States (83/26)
  • Nigeria (43/107)
  • Russia (19/124)
  • Mexico (6/86)

Five of the 10 most populous countries which have had women leaders are India (66/46), Indonesia (59/52), Pakistan (37/104), Brazil (73/47) and Bangladesh (39/75).

Other major world economies which have yet to be led by a woman include Japan (96/17) and Saudi Arabia (7/152).

In 1960, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (1916-2000) became the world’s first woman prime minister. Her husband had become prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956 and was assassinated in 1959. She served three terms as prime minister, 1960-1965, 1970–77, 1994–2000.

In 1980, the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland.

Women currently serving as heads of state:

  1. 2009, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh
  2. 2015, Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal
  3. 2015, Saara Kuugongelwa, Namíbia
  4. 2016, Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan
  5. 2017, Ana Brnabić, Serbia
  6. 2017, Halimah Yacob, Singapore
  7. 2017, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
  8. 2017, Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland
  9. 2018, Mia Mottley, Barbados
  10. 2018, Paula-Mae Weekes, Trinidad and Tobago
  11. 2018, Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia
  12. 2018, Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia
  13. 2019, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
  14. 2019, Sanna Marin, Finland
  15. 2019, Zuzana Čaputová, Slovakia
  16. 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė, Lithuania
  17. 2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece
  18. 2020, Maia Sandu, Moldova (president)
  19. 2020, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, Gabon
  20. 2021, Kaja Kallas, Estonia
  21. 2021, Magdalena Andersson, Sweden
  22. 2021, Najla Bouden, Tunisia
  23. 2021, Natalia Gavrilița, Moldova (prime minister)
  24. 2021, Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo

Turning to U.S. states. In 1925 in Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross became first female governor in the United States. She won a special election after the death of her husband, William B. Ross.

In almost 100 years, only 45 women have been elected U.S. governor. There are currently nine women state governors and one territorial governor; seven are Democrats.

Countries with at least one woman leader

President, prime minister or equivalent

1960s

  1. 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon)
  2. 1966, Indira Gandhi, India
  3. 1969, Golda Meir, Israel

1970s

  1. 1974, Isabel Perón, Argentina
  2. 1975, Elisabeth Domitien, Central African Republic
  3. 1979, Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom
  4. 1979, Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, Portugal

1980s

  1. 1980, Eugenia Charles, Dominica
  2. 1980, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland
  3. 1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway
  4. 1982, Agatha Barbara, Malta
  5. 1986, Corazon Aquino, Philippines
  6. 1988, Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan

1990s

  1. 1990, Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, Lithuania
  2. 1990, Mary Robinson, Ireland
  3. 1990, Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, Nicaragua
  4. 1991, Édith Cresson, France
  5. 1991, Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh
  6. 1992, Hanna Suchocka, Poland
  7. 1993, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Rwanda
  8. 1993, Kim Campbell, Canada
  9. 1993, Sylvie Kinigi, Burundi
  10. 1993, Tansu Çiller, Turkey
  11. 1995, Claudette Werleigh, Haiti
  12. 1997, Janet Rosenberg, Guyana
  13. 1997, Jenny Shipley, New Zealand
  14. 1999, Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, Panama
  15. 1999, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvia
  16. 1999, Ruth Dreifuss, Switzerland

2000s

  1. 2001, Mame Madior Boye, Senegal
  2. 2001, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia
  3. 2001, Tarja Halonen, Finland
  4. 2002, Maria das Neves, São Tomé and Príncipe
  5. 2003, Beatriz Merino, Peru
  6. 2004, Luísa Diogo, Mozambique
  7. 2004, Radmila Šekerinska, Macedonia
  8. 2005, Angela Merkel, Germany
  9. 2005, Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (acting), South Africa
  10. 2005, Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine
  11. 2006, Michelle Bachelet, Chile
  12. 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia
  13. 2006, Han Myung-sook, South Korea
  14. 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica
  15. 2008, Zinaida Greceanîi, Moldova
  16. 2009, Jadranka Kosor, Croatia

2010s

  1. 2010, Iveta Radičová, Slovakia
  2. 2010, Julia Gillard, Australia
  3. 2010, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago
  4. 2010, Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica
  5. 2010, Roza Otunbayeva, Krygyzstan
  6. 2011, Atifete Jahjaga, Kosovo
  7. 2011, Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Mali
  8. 2011, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark
  9. 2011, Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand
  10. 2012, Joyce Banda, Malawi
  11. 2013, Alenka Bratušek, Slovenia
  12. 2014, Dilma Rousseff, Brazil
  13. 2014, Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Chile
  14. 2015, Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, Mauritius
  15. 2015, Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal
  16. 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatia
  17. 2015, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Namibia
  18. 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar
  19. 2016, Hilda Cathy Heine, Marshall Islands
  20. 2016, Kersti Kaljulaid, Estonia
  21. 2016, Tsai Ying-wen, Taiwan
  22. 2017, Ana Brnabić, Serbia
  23. 2017, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
  24. 2018, Paula-Mae Weekes, Trinidad and Tobago
  25. 2018, Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia
  26. 2018, Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia

2020s

  1. 2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece
  2. 2020, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, Gabon
  3. 2021, Kaja Kallas, Estonia
  4. 2021, Magdalena Andersson, Sweden
  5. 2021, Najla Bouden, Tunisia
  6. 2021, Natalia Gavrilița, Moldova (prime minister)
  7. 2021, Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo

Sources: CNN, History.com, Reuters, Washington Post, Wikipedia

#scitech, #society, #government   (187/365)
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Daily posts, 2022-2023

By Kathy E. Gill

Digital evangelist, speaker, writer, educator. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles! @kegill

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