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Women in Power

Women are in power in politics all over the world today, although some countries like the US still have a way to go in terms of female supremacy, since we’ve yet to elect a female president. Following are some facts on women in leadership around the world.

Countries with Women Leaders

It can be hard to compile a list of nations with female leaders because different countries use different titles for them. The United Kingdom, Denmark and the Netherlands are three countries who currently have ruling queens (the only possible route for women to reign over nations in ancient times), but while these queens are revered by their people, they’re more symbolic than anything in modern times.

However, if you’re looking for women in real leadership roles, eight countries in the world currently are ruled by female presidents: India, Argentina, Chile, Ireland, the Phillippines, Finland, Liberia and San Marino.

An additional nine countries currently have female prime ministers. Germany, Israel, Haiti, the Ukraine, Moldova, the Netherlands Antilles, Mozambique, and the Åland Islands all have women at their head, and Iceland recently appointed Johanna Sigurdardottir as their new prime minister after their government collapsed in January 2009.

A Modern History of Women in Government

The first women serving in government in modern times occurred after World War I when women became ministers of revolutionary governments in Ireland, Hungary, Russia and the Ukraine. The first woman ever to be elected minister in a democratic parliamentary-style government was Nina Bang, the Danish Minister of Education, who served from 1924-1926.

These women all served in positions that were similar to cabinet positions, however. To find true female supremacy you have to fast-forward to 1960, when Sri Lanka elected the worlds’ first female Premier Minister (Sirivamo Bandaranaike). The first woman to carry the title president was Isabel Perón, who was the wife of the sitting president of Argentina and was appointed when he died. (This is still a legitimate route to the position today.)

More Statistics about Women in Power

The US is lagging behind the rest of the world in female supremacy in some ways. Women have made great strides in other areas. According to the United Nations, there are more women holding positions of power in the government today than ever before. Still, the rate is only 18.4%, so there’s room for improvement.

Two countries to be commended are Finland, where 60% of people holding government positions are women, and Sweden, which became the first country to have more female ministers than men in 1999.

Special mention must be made of Rwanda, which is the first country in the world to have a majority of women in their parliament (56%, including the speaker). One third of the cabinet positions are also held by women in Rwanda, including Supreme Court chief, education minister, foreign minister and police commissioner general.

In fact, there are only two countries in the world who have never had a woman in government on the sub-minister level or higher: Saudi Arabia and Monaco.