List of the first women heads of state and government in Muslim-majority countries

This is a chronological list of the first women to be heads of state and heads of government in Muslim-majority countries, excluding those who held the role in a temporary capacity.

List

In office

Head of Government or State	Country	Status	In office
Elizabeth II	Pakistan	Queen of Pakistan	6 February 1952 – 23 March 1956
	Nigeria	Queen of Nigeria	1 October 1960 – 1 October 1963
	Sierra Leone	Queen of Sierra Leone	27 April 1961 – 19 April 1971
	The Gambia	Queen of the Gambia	18 February 1965 – 24 April 1970
Benazir Bhutto^[1]	Pakistan	Prime Minister of Pakistan	2 December 1988 – 6 August 1990 18 October 1993 – 5 November 1996
Khaleda Zia	Bangladesh	Prime Minister of Bangladesh	20 March 1991 – 30 March 1996 10 October 2001 – 29 October 2006
Tansu Çiller	Turkey	Prime Minister of Turkey	25 June 1993 – 6 March 1996
Mame Madior Boye	Senegal	Prime Minister of Senegal	3 March 2001 – 4 November 2002
Megawati Sukarnoputri	Indonesia	President of Indonesia	23 July 2001 – 20 October 2004
Roza Otunbayeva	Kyrgyzstan	President of Kyrgyzstan	3 July 2010 – 1 December 2011
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé	Mali	Prime Minister of Mali	3 April 2011 – 22 March 2012
Sibel Siber	Northern Cyprus	Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus	13 June 2013 – 2 September 2013
Atifete Jahjaga	Kosovo	President of Kosovo	7 April 2011 – 7 April 2016
Najla Bouden	Tunisia	Prime Minister of Tunisia	11 October 2021 – 1 August 2023
Željka Cvijanović	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serb Member of the Presidency	16 November 2022 – present
Borjana Krišto	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers	25 January 2023 – present

^ Brooke, Allen (25 January 2022). Benazir Bhutto: Favored Daughter. Amazon Publishing. ISBN 978-1-50-394408-4.

v t e Women in government
Lists of female holders of political office	Elected or appointed national leaders heads of state and government deputy heads of state deputy heads of government Ministers and secretaries defence finance foreign interior justice Speakers of national and territorial legislatures lower houses unicameral parliaments upper houses Constituent and dependent territory leaders First women holders of political offices first governors and chief ministers first members of parliament first mayors first heads of state and government in Muslim-majority countries Hereditary monarchs queens regnant
National politics/government/legislatures	Afghanistan Parliament Australia House Senate Canada Commons Senate France Assembly Senate Jamaica India Iran Ireland Dáil Seanad Cabinet ministers Junior ministers Israel Lebanon Malaysia House Senate Mongolia Nepal Papua New Guinea Philippines Senate House Governors Sri Lanka Turkey United Kingdom Commons Lords United States House Senate Governors
Related	All-women shortlist Council of Women World Leaders Gender power gap Muslim women political leaders Women Political Leaders