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Who are some of the women heads of states & governments?

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Hello,

How's your week been?
This week saw David Cameron stepping down and Theresa May becoming the new British PM. She's the 2nd female PM that Great Britain has had.
But who have been some of the other leading ladies across the world?
That's the theme for this weekend's GK nugget.
Let's begin at home.
Indira Gandhi served as India's prime minister from 1966 to 1977 & 1980 to 1984.
Pratibha Patil served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012.
Moving west
Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 74 was considered the original 'Iron Lady'. She was a founder of the state of Israel and the nation’s 4th prime minister.
Another famous 'Iron Lady', Margaret Thatcher was the 1st woman prime minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990. 
Other erstwhile female heads of state:
Sri Lanka-President Chandrika Kumaratunga Nov, 1994 - Nov, 2005
Pakistan-PM Benazir Bhutto Dec, 1988 - Aug, 1990 & Oct, 1993 - Nov, 1996
Australia-PM Julia Gillard Jun, 2010 - Jun, 2013
Thailand-PM Yingluck Shinawatra Aug, 2011 - May, 2014
Poland-PM Ewa Kopacz Sept, 2014 – Nov, 2015
Argentina-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Dec, 2007 – Dec, 2015
Denmark-PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt Oct, 2011 – Jun, 2015
Some current women leaders:
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been the president of Liberia since 2006.
She was one of three recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for efforts to promote and support the rights of women.
Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany since 2005, is a trained physicist & has emerged as one of the key leaders of the European Union.
Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff came to power in 2011 and was re-elected in 2014. But her govt was accused of corruption & scandals & while she is personally not accused of any corruption or criminal offence, the Brazilian Congress impeached her in May.
South Korea-President Park Geun-hye
Bangledesh-PM Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Norway-PM Erna Solberg
Chile-President Michelle Bachelet
Malta-President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
Croatia-President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
Of course, this list is not exhaustive. There have been many more women heads of governments and there will be many more to come.
An interesting bit of information: From 1994 to 2000 was the 1st time that a nation (Sri Lanka) possessed a female prime minister and a female president simultaneously. Sri Lanka in 1994 also marked the first time a female prime minister directly succeeded another female prime minister.
Notable mention: While she isn't officially a head of state or government, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (formerly Burma), has been the poster girl of turbulent burmese politics, having been detained under house arrest for almost 15 of 21 years from 1989 to 2010. She is barred from the presidency owing to a clause in the constitution that doesn't allow anyone with foreign relatives to hold the office (Her 2 sons have British citizenship), but the ruling party has acknowledged that she will be running the government.
This list will have a prominent addition to it if Hillary Clinton wins the American Presidential election at the end of the year. Only time will tell.
That's all for today. Until next Sunday.

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