List of first women governors and chief ministers explained

This is a list of reportedly first women who have been elected or appointed governor and/or chief minister of their respective states, provinces or dependent territories. It may or may not be accurate, given that in some countries the first woman governor may not be in reliable sources, specially ancient times female governors.

List

NameImageCountryContinentOfficeMandate startMandate endTerm length
Artemisia II of CariaAsia2 years
Margaret of AustriaEurope
Beatriz de la Cueva
(First female governor of North America and all the Americas)		North America
Sigrid StureEurope36 years
Ana Francisca de Borja y Doria(First female governor in South America)South America
Nellie Tayloe Ross
(First female American governor)		North AmericaGovernor of
Miriam A. Wallace FergusonNorth AmericaGovernor of
Olga BoettcherSouth America
Sarojini NaiduAsiaGovernor of United Provinces
Josefina Valencia MuñozSouth America
Vijaya Lakshmi PanditAsia 28 November 196218 October 19641 year, 324 days
Lurleen WallaceNorth AmericaGovernor of
Elizabeth Marcos-Keon[1] AsiaGovernor of
Ilocos Norte
Ra'ana Liaquat Ali KhanAsia
Ebba LoddenEurope9 years
Ella T. Grasso (First female governor in the US who was elected on her own right)North AmericaGovernor of
Imelda MarcosAsiaGovernor of
Metro Manila
Dixy Lee RayNorth AmericaGovernor of
Griselda ÁlvarezNorth America6 years
Elmira Minita GordonNorth AmericaGovernor-General of Belize
Vesta M. RoyNorth AmericaActing Governor of
Gu XiulianAsiaGovernor of Jiangsu1983 1989 6 years
Martha Layne CollinsNorth AmericaGovernor of
Madeleine KuninNorth AmericaGovernor of
Iolanda FlemingSouth AmericaGovernor of
Kay A. OrrNorth AmericaGovernor of
Rose MoffordNorth AmericaGovernor of
Rosemary FollettOceaniaChief Minister of the
Carmen LawrenceOceaniaPremier of
Joan KirnerOceaniaPremier of
Sharon PrattNorth AmericaMayor of the
Joan FinneyNorth AmericaGovernor of
Barbara RobertsNorth AmericaGovernor of
Rita JohnstonNorth America Premier of
Nellie CournoyeaNorth AmericaPremier of
Catherine CallbeckNorth AmericaPremier of
María Antonia MartínezEuropePresident of the
Laurette OnkelinxEuropeMinister-President of the
Heide SimonisEuropeMinister-President of
Agnes Lukudi[2] AfricaGovernor of Bahr-al-Jabal1994 1998 4 years
Hannele PokkaEurope14 years
Christine Todd WhitmanNorth AmericaGovernor of
Roseana SarneySouth AmericaGovernor of
Waltraud KlasnicEuropeGovernor of
Valentina BronevichEurasiaGovernor of
Ivy Matsepe-CasaburriAfricaPremier of
Free State
Jeanne ShaheenNorth AmericaGovernor of
Dipuo PetersAfricaPremier of the
Northern Cape
Nancy HollisterNorth AmericaGovernor of
Fusae OhtaAsiaGovernor of
Yoshiko ShiotaniAsiaGovernor of
Pat DuncanNorth AmericaPremier of
Akiko DōmotoAsiaGovernor of
Judy MartzNorth AmericaGovernor of
Sila María CalderónNorth AmericaGovernor of
Ruth Ann MinnerNorth AmericaGovernor of
Teresita S. LazaroAsiaGovernor of
Laguna
Jane SwiftNorth AmericaGovernor of
Clare MartinOceaniaChief Minister of
Alicia LemmeSouth America
Dalva FigueiredoSouth AmericaGovernor of
Benedita da SilvaSouth AmericaGovernor of
Linda LingleOceaniaGovernor of
Mirta Ramona Mendoza[3] South America5 years
Wilma de FariaSouth AmericaGovernor of
Jennifer GranholmNorth AmericaGovernor of
Harumi TakahashiAsiaGovernor of
Valentina MatviyenkoEurasiaGovernor of
Olene WalkerNorth AmericaGovernor of
Esperanza AguirreEuropePresident of the
Kathleen BlancoNorth AmericaGovernor of
Catherine MabuzaAfricaActing Premier of
Limpopo
Nosimo BalindlelaAfricaPremier of
Eastern Cape
Gabi BurgstallerEuropeGovernor of
Edna MolewaAfricaPremier of
North West
Gwendolyn GarciaAsiaGovernor of
Cebu
Grace PadacaAsiaGovernor of
Isabela
Iryna SyniavskaEuropeGovernor of
Ratu Atut ChosiyahAsiaGovernor of
Nadiia DieievaEuropeGovernor of
Maria de Lourdes AbadiaSouth AmericaGovernor of the
Vira UlianchenkoEuropeGovernor of
Yukiko KadaAsiaGovernor of
Sarah PalinNorth AmericaGovernor of
Ana Júlia CarepaSouth AmericaGovernor of
Yeda CrusiusSouth AmericaGovernor of
Jum Jainudin AkbarAsiaGovernor of
Basilan
Vilma SantosAsiaGovernor of
Batangas
Louise Lake-TackNorth AmericaGovernor of Antigua and Barbuda
Anna BlighOceaniaPremier of
Lynne BrownAfricaPremier of
Western Cape
Eva AariakNorth AmericaPremier of
Bev PerdueNorth AmericaGovernor of
Mieko YoshimuraAsiaGovernor of
Incumbent
Nomvula MokonyaneAfricaPremier of
Gauteng
Margaret AlvaAsiaGovernor of Uttarakhand
Christine LieberknechtEuropeMinister-President of
Kristina KeneallyOceaniaPremier of
Natalya KomarovaEurasiaGovernor of
Lilia PinedaAsiaGovernor of
Pampanga
Carmencita ReyesAsiaGovernor of
Marinduque
Sharee Ann TanAsiaGovernor of
Samar
Incumbent
Total time in office10 years, days
Hannelore KraftEuropeMinister-President of
Kathy DunderdaleNorth AmericaPremier of
Susana MartinezNorth AmericaGovernor of
Mary FallinNorth AmericaGovernor of
Nikki HaleyNorth AmericaGovernor of
Lara GiddingsOceaniaPremier of
María Dolores de CospedalEuropePresident of the Government of
Yolanda BarcinaEuropePresident of the Government of
Luisa Fernanda RudiEuropePresident of the Government of
Annegret Kramp-KarrenbauerEuropeMinister-President of
Alison RedfordNorth AmericaPremier of
Marina KovtunEurasiaGovernor of
Pauline MaroisNorth AmericaPremier of
Christina ScottNorth AmericaGovernor of Anguilla201320174 years
Malu DreyerEuropeMinister-President of
Incumbent
Kathleen WynneNorth AmericaPremier of
Angelica AmanteAsiaGovernor of
Agusan del Norte
Daisy A. FuentesAsiaGovernor of
South Cotabato
Emmylou Taliño-MendozaAsiaGovernor of
Cotabato
Rebecca YnaresAsiaGovernor of
Rizal
Susana DíazEuropePresident of the Government of
Svetlana OrlovaEurasiaGovernor of
Iryna SekhEuropeGovernor of
Nicola SturgeonEuropeFirst Minister of
Suely CamposSouth AmericaGovernor of
Gina RaimondoNorth AmericaGovernor of
Rhodora CadiaoAsiaGovernor of
Antique		Incumbent
Francina ArmengolEuropePresident of the Government of the
Incumbent
Arlene FosterEuropeFirst Minister of
Natalia ZhdanovaEurasiaGovernor of
Nang Khin Htwe MyintAsiaChief Minister of
Lae Lae MawAsiaChief Minister of
Bedjoria Soraya AdiongAsiaGovernor of
Lanao del Sur
Maria Jocelyn BernosAsiaGovernor of
Abra		Incumbent
Marilou CaycoAsiaGovernor of
Batanes		Incumbent
Imelda DimaporoAsiaGovernor of
Lanao del Norte		Incumbent
Maria Luisa RomualdoAsiaGovernor of
Camiguin		Incumbent
Czarina UmaliAsiaGovernor of
Nueva Ecija
Susan YapAsiaGovernor of
Tarlac		Incumbent
Yuriko KoikeAsiaGovernor of
Incumbent
Yuliya SvitlychnaEuropeGovernor of
Johanna Mikl-LeitnerEuropeGovernor of
Incumbent
Kim ReynoldsNorth AmericaGovernor of
Incumbent
Manuela SchwesigEuropeMinister-President of
Incumbent
Refilwe Mtsweni-TsipaneAfricaPremier of
Incumbent
Cida BorghettiSouth AmericaGovernor of
Janet MillsNorth AmericaGovernor of
Incumbent
Kristi NoemNorth AmericaGovernor of
[4] 		Incumbent
Lou Leon GuerreroOceaniaGovernor of
Incumbent
Khofifah Indar ParawansaAsiaGovernor of
Bai Mariam MangudadatuAsiaGovernor of
Maguindanao
Liesbeth HomansEuropeMinister-President of
Concha AndreuEuropePresident of
Anna KovalenkoEuropeGovernor of
Mariya ChornaEuropeGovernor of
Svitlana OnyshchukEuropeGovernor of
Incumbent
Kathy HochulNorth AmericaGovernor of
[5] 		Incumbent
Julie ThomasAfricaChief MinisterIncumbent
Kristina MooreEuropeChief Minister
Maura HealeyNorth AmericaGovernor of
[6] 		Incumbent
Maryam NawazAsiaChief Minister of
Incumbent
Eluned MorganEuropeFirst Minister of
Incumbent

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: 30 Mar 1986 . Marcos's mother, and her hospital bill, are left behind . Section 1, p. 12 . New York Times .
  2. Web site: Hoile . David . 19 July 2002 . Women in Sudan . 11 Dec 2023 . Media Monitors Network.
  3. Web site: Colorados recuperan gobernación de Concepción . Colorados win again governorship of Concepción. Rojas . Aldo . 30 Apr 2023 . ABC. 14 Nov 2023 .
  4. Web site: Nord . James . January 5, 2019 . Kristi Noem sworn in as South Dakota's 1st female governor . AP.
  5. News: Ferré-Sadurní . Luis . August 24, 2021 . Kathy Hochul Is Sworn In as New York's First Female Governor . en-US . The New York Times . August 24, 2021 . 0362-4331.
  6. News: Glueck . Katie . Astor . Maggie . 2022-09-06 . Live Updates: Maura Healey Could Make History in Run for Massachusetts Governor . en-US . . live . 2022-09-07 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220929150923/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/06/us/elections-massachusetts-primary . September 29, 2022 . 0362-4331.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of first women governors and chief ministers".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.