Taiwan elects its first woman president. Which other countries have women at the helm?
LONDON, Jan 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Taiwan elected the first female president in the Chinese-speaking world on Saturday when voters handed opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen a convincing victory.
Below is a list of countries which have women as heads of government or state. The date in brackets is the year they took office. (The list excludes figurehead monarchs.)
- BANGLADESH: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (2009)
- BRAZIL: President Dilma Rousseff (2011)
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza (2014)
- CHILE: President Michelle Bachelet (2014)
- CROATIA: President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (2015)
- GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel (2005)
- JAMAICA: Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller (2012)
- KOSOVO: President Atifete Jahjaga (2011)
- LIBERIA: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2006)
- LITHUANIA: President Dalia Grybauskaite (2009)
- MALTA: President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca (2014)
- MAURITIUS: President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (2015)
- NAMIBIA: Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila (2015)
- NEPAL: President Bidhya Devi Bhandari (2015)
- NORWAY: Prime Minister Erna Solberg (2013)
- POLAND: Prime Minister Beata Szydlo (2015)
- SOUTH KOREA: President Park Geun-hye (2013)
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