On all continents at least one woman is the head of government of a country.
Among the countries recognized by the United Nations (UN) there are thirteen in which women hold the highest political office, although one is still elected president.
Last week Angela Merkel left the German Chancellery (Executive) after 16 years in power. Time in which she was considered the most powerful woman in the world. Olaf Scholz replaced her in office.
That lowered the number of women who were heads of state. However, in November Xiomara Castro won the presidential elections in Honduras and will take office as head of state in January.
In total, women control the governments of 6.7% of the 193 countries that are members of the world’s highest body. Eight of the thirteen were the first woman to take office.
These are, in America and the Caribbean: Honduras and Barbados. In Europe: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Moldova, Serbia and Iceland. In Oceania: New Zealand and Samoa. While in Asia and Africa there is only one: Bangladesh and Tanzania, respectively.
Most of them (6) are considered to be center-left, three as left-center-left, two as center-center-right, one as center-right, and one as left.
The average age is 51.6 years, the youngest being Sanna Marin (36), Prime Minister of Finland, and the oldest Sheikh Hasina (74), Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
They are all professionals. Six of them have studies in Public Administration, two in Law, two in Economics and one in Letters.
Among them, the one who has been ruling the longest is Ana Brnabíc, Prime Minister of Serbia, who took office in June 2017. Castro, from Honduras, will be the most recent, when she takes office as president of Honduras in January.
The total list is as follows:
Europe
– Ana Brnabíc, Prime Minister of Serbia.
– Katrin Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland.
– Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia.
– Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark.
– Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland.
– Natalia Gavrilita, Prime Minister of Moldova.
– Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden.
Oceania
– Jacinta Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
– Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa.
Asia
– Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Africa
– Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of Tanzania.
America
– Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados.
– Xiomara Castro, president-elect of Honduras.
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Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
