Countries and their first female leaders

Sri Lanka 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the country's (then called Ceylon) prime minister. She was the modern world's first female head of government. Other countries' first female leaders:

India 1966 Indira Gandhi, prime minister.

Israel 1969 Golda Meir, prime minister.

Argentina 1974 Maria Estela Isabel Martinez de Peron, president.

C.A.R. 1975 Elisabeth Domitien, prime minister.

Bolivia 1979 Lidia Gueiler, president.

Portugal 1979 Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, prime minister.

U.K. 1979 Margaret Thatcher, prime minister.

Dominica 1980 Eugenia Charles, prime minister.

Iceland 1980 Vigdis Finnbogadottir, president.

Norway 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland, prime minister.

Malta 1982 Agatha Barbara, president.

Philippines 1986 Corazon Aquino, president.

Pakistan 1988 Benazir Bhutto, prime minister.

Haiti 1990 Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, provisional president.

Ireland 1990 Mary Robinson, president.

Lithuania 1990 Kazimira Prunskiene, prime minister.

Nicaragua 1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, president.

Bangladesh 1991 Khaleda Zia, prime minister.

France 1991 Edith Cresson, prime minister.

Poland 1992 Hanna Suchocka, prime minister.

Burundi 1993 Sylvie Kinigi, prime minister.

Canada 1993 Kim Campbell, prime minister.

Rwanda 1993 Agathe Uwilingiyimana, prime minister.

Bulgaria 1994 Reneta Indzhova, prime minister.

Guyana 1997 Janet Jagan, prime minister, president.

New Zealand 1997 Jenny Shipley, prime minister.

Latvia 1999 Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president.

Panama 1999 Mireya Moscoso, president.

Switzerland 1999 Ruth Dreifuss, president.

Finland 2000 Tarja Halonen, president.

Indonesia 2001 Megawati Sukarnoputyri, president.

Senegal 2001 Mame Madior Boye, prime minister.

Sao Tome 2002 Maria das Neves, prime minister.

Serbia 2002 Natasa Micic, acting president.

Finland 2003 Anneli Jaatteenmaki, prime minister.

Macedonia 2004 Radmila Sekerinska, acting prime minister.

Ukraine 2005 Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister.

Chile 2006 Michelle Bachelet, president.

Jamaica 2006 Portia Simpson-Miller, prime minister.

S. Korea 2006 Han Myung-sook, prime minister.

Israel 2007 Dalia Itzik, acting president.

Moldova 2008 Zinaida Greceanii, prime minister.

Croatia 2009 Jadranka Kosor, prime minister.

Madagascar 2009 Cecile Manorohanta acting prime minister.

Costa Rica 2010 Laura Chinchilla, president.

Kyrgyzstan 2010 Roza Otunbayeva, acting president.

Slovakia 2010 Iveta Radicova, prime minister.

Brazil 2011 Dilma Rousseff, president.

Denmark 2011 Helle Thorning-Schmidt, prime minister.

Kosovo 2011 Atifete Jahjaga, president.

Thailand 2011 Yingluck Shinawatra, prime minister.

Malawi 2012 Joyce Banda, president.

Slovenia 2013 Alenka Bratusek, prime minister.

Turkey 2013 Sibel Siber, prime minister.

Latvia 2014 Laimdota Straujuma, prime minister.

Croatia 2015 Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, president.

Namibia 2015 Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, prime minister.