Which Countries Have Been Female-Led?

The appointment of Judith Suminwa Tuluka as prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was announced Monday. The former minister is the first woman who was made head of government in the country and the 17th female head of government or state on the African continent. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is governed under a semi-presidential system where an elected president and an appointed prime minister share executive powers, similar to the systems of France and Russia.

As seen in data by the Council on Foreign Relations, Europe is generally the region with the highest concentration of female-led and repeatedly female-led nations. All the countries which have had three or more female leaders (with the exceptions of Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand and India) are located there. The one which has had the most females at the helm is Switzerland. The country counts five former female presidents of the Swiss Confederation, but has an advantage because the presidents' terms are limited to one year.

Finland follows with four female prime ministers or presidents, including Sanna Marin, who was premier from 2019 to 2023. Iceland has counted three female leaders. One of them, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, was the world's first female elected president. She stayed in office for 16 years from 1980 to 1996.

The source counts women who have served as heads of government, heads of state or a combination of the two, except when the position was temporary, purely honorary or was filled by a monarch or appointed by one.