Hillary Clinton is one step closer to becoming the first woman to lead the United States. But there are 60 other countries that beat America to that milestone.

Hillary Clinton made history this spring, as the first female presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party. While this is a historic moment for the US, more than 70 countries have had a woman holding the position of president or prime minister, many of those in Europe and Asia.

1960s

1) Sri Lanka

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960

2) India

Indira Gandhi, 1966

3) Israel

Golda Meir, 1969

1970s

4) Argentina

Isabel Perón, 1974

5) Central African Republic

Elisabeth Domitien, 1975

6) Portugal

Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, 1979

7) United Kingdom

Margaret Thatcher, 1979

1980s

8) Dominica

Eugenia Charles, 1980

9) Iceland

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, 1980

10) Norway

Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1981

11) Malta

Agatha Barbara, 1982

12) Philippines

Corazon Aquino, 1986

13) Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto, 1988

1990s

14) Ireland

Mary Robinson, 1990

15) Lithuania

Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, 1990

16) Nicaragua

Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, 1990

17) Bangladesh

Khaleda Zia, 1991

18) France

Édith Cresson, 1991

19) Poland

Hanna Suchocka, 1992

20) Burundi

Sylvie Kinigi, 1993

21) Canada

Kim Campbell, 1993

22) Rwanda

Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 1993

23) Turkey

Tansu Çiller, 1993

24) Haiti

Claudette Werleigh, 1995

25) Guyana

Janet Rosenberg, 1997

26) New Zealand

Jenny Shipley, 1997

27) Latvia

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, 1999

28) Panama

Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, 1999

29) Switzerland

Ruth Dreifuss, 1999

2000s

30) Finland

Tarja Halonen, 2001

31) Indonesia

Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001

32) Senegal

Mame Madior Boye, 2001

33) São Tomé and Príncipe

Maria das Neves, 2002

34) Peru

Beatriz Merino, 2003

35) Macedonia

Radmila Šekerinska, 2004

36) Mozambique

Luísa Diogo, 2004

37) Germany

Angela Merkel, 2005

38) Ukraine

Yulia Tymoshenko, 2005

39) Chile

Michelle Bachelet, 2006

40) Jamaica

Portia Simpson-Miller, 2006

41) Liberia

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2006

42) South Korea

Han Myung-sook, 2006

43) Moldova

Zinaida Greceanîi, 2008

44) Croatia

Jadranka Kosor, 2009

2010s

45) Australia

Julia Gillard, 2010

46) Costa Rica

Laura Chinchilla, 2010

47) Kyrgyzstan

Roza Otunbayeva, 2010

48) Slovakia

Iveta Radičová, 2010

49) Trinidad and Tobago

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 2010

50) Denmark

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011

51) Kosovo

Atifete Jahjaga, 2011

52) Mali

Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, 2011

53) Thailand

Yingluck Shinawatra, 2011

54) Malawi

Joyce Banda, 2012

55) Slovenia

Alenka Bratušek, 2013

56) Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus**

Sibel Siber, 2013

57) Brazil

Dilma Rousseff, 2014

58) Mauritius

Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, 2015

59) Namibia

Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, 2015

60) Nepal 
   Bidya Devi Bhandari, 2015

Courtesy: CNN

 
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