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Map of female leaders around the world
Graphic Truth: Where women are winning the political game
Today, Kamala Harris will address the Democratic National Convention as the first woman of color to lead a presidential ticket as she aims to become the first female US president.
This has already been a significant year for female leadership worldwide. On Sunday, Thailand elected 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra as its newest and youngest prime minister. Mexico and North Macedonia made history by electing their first female heads of state in 2024.
We look at the current landscape of countries led by female leaders.
Map of the world color coded based on the amount of female leaders they have had.
Graphic Truth: Where women are winning the political game
The United States has never had a female president, but since World War II, 121 women have been elected or appointed as head of state or government in 80 countries around the world.
The top country should be no surprise: Finland has elected four women president or prime minister, most recently Sanna Marin. Of the 11 countries that have been led by three or more women in pinnacle positions, seven are in Europe, and of the 29 women currently in office, 15 are in Europe.
For women leaders with real lasting power, look to South Asia. Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman ever elected Prime Minister of any country in 1960, and went on to lead the island nation for over 17 years in total. Even Germany’s Angela Merkel only managed 16. During Bandaranaike’s last term, her counterpart in the presidency was Chandrika Kumaratunga, who held office for over 11 years.
An impressive record, but in Bangladesh, a generation has grown up under female leadership. Current Prime Minister Sheik Hasina is in her 20th year in power and counting, and her archrival Khaleda Zia led the country for 10.
The Iron Lady of India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was cut down by an assassin in her 16th year in power, but India has twice elected women presidents, including the incumbent Droupadi Murmu.
And when Pakistan elected Benazir Bhutto in 1988, she became the first female elected leader of any Muslim country. She served a little over four years between two terms, but we grade on a scale in Islamabad: No PM has ever completed a full term in office.
She's got the power
Happy women’s history month! This week, we look at female representation in the US Congress and Canadian Parliament.
In Canada, Agnes Campbell Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons and the first female parliamentarian in 1921. Jeannette Rankin from Montana broke the glass ceiling in the US by being the first woman elected to Congress in 1916. A year later, she earned a second distinction by joining 49 of her House colleagues in voting against US entry into World War I – a vote that destroyed her prospects for reelection in 1918.
Today, women are making gains but remain underrepresented in the House of Commons and Congress. The 44th federal general election in 2021 saw women win 103 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons, marking the first time women's representation in the House surpassed 30%. In the US Congress, there are 126 women in the 435-seat-strong House of Representatives and 25 women serving in the Senate.
The Graphic Truth: Female governance gap
March is International Women’s History month, but while women account for just over half the world’s population, the overwhelming majority of political leaders and policymakers globally are men. In fact, there are just six countries where women make up more than 50% of the national legislature, and only 31 countries (out of 193 UN member states) in which a woman is either head of state or head of government. Furthermore, only one G7 country - Italy - currently has an elected female leader. While some countries have introduced controversial gender quotas at various stages in the electoral process as a bid to increase female participation, there's lots of progress still to be made. Here's a look at the facts and figures.