Today, March 8, is the 99th annual International Women's Day.  

International Women's Day has been observed since 1909, and was created amidst a global hotbed of activity by and for women. We celebrate by getting to know our first female Heads of State. This list is not exhaustive, and does not account for many female firsts that were appointed but never elected, and others may have been overlooked. Feel free to educate me in the comments, as that what this month-long celebration of women is all about!

I should probably wait to post this until the morning, but it's ready and I'm still up, and a lot of hard work went into this. Don't forget to hit the rec button if you like this diary. Thanks.

Cross posted at dKos.

Modern Female Heads of State

An asterisk indicates assassination.

1. Sirimavo Bandaranaike--Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1960-1965, 1970-1977 and 1994-2000), and the first woman in the world to hold the title of Prime Minister.

2. * Indira Ghandi--Prime Minister of India (1966-77, 1980-1984)

3. Golda Meir--Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974)

4. Isabel Martínez de Perón--President of Argentina (1974-1976) Isabel Perón was the third wife of Juan Perón, and completed his presidential term upon his death in 1974. Also served as Vice President prior to her husband's death.

5. Margaret Thatcher--Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979-1990)

6. Dame Eugenia Charles--Prime Minister of Dominica, and the first female head of state in North America (1980-1995). Her obituary from the Guardian offers her basic accomplishments.

7. Vigdís Finnbogadóttír--President of Iceland (1980-1996), and the first woman in the world elected President in a national election.

8. Agatha Barbara--President of Malta (1982-1987)

9. Corazón Aquino--President of the Philipines (1986-1992)

10. * Benazir Bhutto--Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990, 1993-1996)

11. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro--President of Nicaragua (1990-1997)

12.  Mary Robinson--President of Ireland (1990-1997)

13.  Khaleda Zia--Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1991-1996, 2000-2006)

14.  Kim Campbell--Prime Minister of Canada (June 24-November 4, 1993)

15. * Agathe Uwilingiyimana--Prime Minister of Rwanda (1993-1994)

16.  Tansu Penbe Çiller--Prime Minister of Turkey (1993-1995)

17.  Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge--Prime Minister (1994), following in her mother's footsteps, and first female President (1994-present) of Sri Lanka

18.  Jennifer Mary Shipley--Prime Minister of New Zealand (1997-1999)

19.  Jennifer Meredith Smith--Premier of Bermuda (1998-2003)

20.  Mireya Elisa Moscoso de Arias--President of Panama (1999-2004)

21.  Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga--President of Latvia (1999-Present)

22.  Tarja Kaarina Halonen--President of Finland (2000-Present)

Update
Angela Dorothea Merkel--Chancellor of Germany (2000-Present)
Michelle Bachelet--President of Chile (2007-Present)

March is Women's History Month. This is the fourth diary in the Women's History Month series, the second posted at MyDD.