World leaders in 1976

Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1976, in the order they held them. Names are from Wikipedia’s list of state leaders and appear only where the person’s Wikidata record agrees on the post and the years. What happened in 1976 →

Major powers in 1976

United StatesUnited States history

President: Gerald Ford

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Harold Wilson, then James Callaghan

Soviet UnionRussia history

General Secretary: Leonid Brezhnev
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet: Nikolai Podgorny
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Alexei Kosygin

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

Chairman; Paramount Leader: Mao Zedong, then Hua Guofeng
Acting NPC Standing Committee Chairwoman: Soong Ching-ling
NPC Standing Committee Chairman: Zhu De
Premier: Zhou Enlai, then Hua Guofeng

FranceFrance history

President: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Prime minister: Jacques Chirac, then Raymond Barre

East GermanyGermany history

Chairmen of the State Council: Willi Stoph, then Erich Honecker
Chairman: Horst Sindermann, then Willi Stoph

West GermanyGermany history

President: Walter Scheel
Chancellor: Helmut Schmidt

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Hirohito
Prime minister: Takeo Miki, then Takeo Fukuda

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Prime minister: Indira Gandhi

Africa

Arab Republic of EgyptEgypt history

President: Anwar Sadat
Prime minister: Mamdouh Salem

Central African Republic

President: Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Emperor of the Central African Empire: Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Prime minister: Elisabeth Domitien
Prime minister of the Central African Empire: Ange-Félix Patassé

Democratic Republic of MadagascarMadagascar history

President of Supreme Revolutionary Council: Didier Ratsiraka

Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe

President: Manuel Pinto da Costa

Democratic Republic of the SudanSudan history

President: Gaafar Nimeiry
Prime minister: Gaafar Nimeiry

Derg: Provisional Military Government of Socialist EthiopiaEthiopia history

Chairmen: Tafari Benti

Equatorial Guinea

President: Francisco Macías Nguema

Federal Republic of Nigeria: Fourth RepublicNigeria history

Military Head of State: Murtala Mohammed, then Olusegun Obasanjo

French Upper Volta/ Republic of Upper VoltaBurkina Faso history

President: Sangoulé Lamizana
Prime minister: Sangoulé Lamizana

GabonGabon history

President: Omar Bongo
Prime minister: Léon Mébiame

Guinea-Bissau

President: Luís Cabral
Prime minister: Francisco Mendes

Islamic Republic of MauritaniaMauritania history

Acting Head of State; President: Moktar Ould Daddah

KenyaKenya history

President: Jomo Kenyatta

Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)

King: Sobhuza II
Prime minister: Makhosini Dlamini, then Maphevu Dlamini

Kingdom of LesothoLesotho history

King: Moshoeshoe II

LiberiaLiberia history

President: William R. Tolbert Jr.

Mauritius (Commonwealth realm)Mauritius history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Seewoosagur Ramgoolam

People's Democratic Republic of AlgeriaAlgeria history

Chairman of the Revolutionary Council: Houari Boumediene
President: Houari Boumediene

People's Republic of AngolaAngola history

President: Agostinho Neto
Prime minister: Lopo do Nascimento

People's Republic of BeninBenin history

President: Mathieu Kérékou

People's Republic of MozambiqueMozambique history

President: Samora Machel

People's Republic of the Congo

President: Marien Ngouabi

Republic of BotswanaBotswana history

President: Seretse Khama

Republic of BurundiBurundi history

President: Michel Micombero, then Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
Prime minister: Édouard Nzambimana

Republic of CameroonCameroon history

President: Ahmadou Ahidjo
Prime minister: Paul Biya

Republic of Cape VerdeCape Verde history

President: Aristides Pereira
Prime minister: Pedro Pires

Republic of GhanaGhana history

Military Head of State: Ignatius Kutu Acheampong

Republic of GuineaGuinea history

President: Ahmed Sékou Touré
Prime minister: Louis Lansana Beavogui

Republic of Ivory CoastIvory Coast history

President: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Republic of MalawiMalawi history

President: Hastings Banda

Republic of MaliMali history

Head of State: Moussa Traoré

Republic of RwandaRwanda history

President: Juvénal Habyarimana

Republic of SenegalSenegal history

President: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Prime minister: Abdou Diouf

Republic of Seychelles

President: James Mancham
Prime minister: France-Albert René

Republic of Sierra LeoneSierra Leone history

President: Siaka Stevens

Republic of South AfricaSouth Africa history

Prime minister: Balthazar Johannes Vorster

Republic of the GambiaGambia history

President: Dawda Jawara

Republic of TunisiaTunisia history

President: Habib Bourguiba
Prime minister: Hedi Amara Nouira

Republic of Uganda

President: Idi Amin

Republic of ZambiaZambia history

President: Kenneth Kaunda
Prime minister: Elijah Mudenda

Rhodesia, unrecognised state

President: John Wrathall
Prime minister: Ian Smith

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, has limited recognition: Morocco claims Western SaharaMorocco history

President: El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed

Somali Democratic RepublicSomalia history

President: Siad Barre

State of the Comoros

President: Said Mohamed Jaffar, then Ali Soilih
Prime minister: Abdallah Mohamed

Sultanate/ Kingdom of MoroccoMorocco history

King: Hassan II
Prime minister: Ahmed Osman

Togolese RepublicTogo history

President: Gnassingbé Eyadéma

United Republic of TanzaniaTanzania history

President: Julius Nyerere
Prime minister: Rashidi Kawawa

Zaire

President: Mobutu Sese Seko

Americas

ArgentinaArgentina history

President: Isabel Perón
President of the Military Junta: Jorge Rafael Videla

BarbadosBarbados history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Errol Barrow, then Tom Adams

BoliviaBolivia history

President: Hugo Banzer

Brazilian Military regimeBrazil history

President: Ernesto Geisel

CanadaCanada history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Pierre Trudeau

Civic-Military Dictatorship of UruguayUruguay history

President: Juan María Bordaberry
Acting President: Alberto Demicheli, then Aparicio Méndez

Co-operative Republic of GuyanaGuyana history

President: Arthur Chung
Prime minister: Forbes Burnham

ColombiaColombia history

President: Alfonso López Michelsen

Dominion of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Eric Williams

Duvalier dynasty, HaitiHaiti history

President for Life: Jean-Claude Duvalier

El SalvadorEl Salvador history

President: Arturo Armando Molina

El Stronato: ParaguayParaguay history

President: Alfredo Stroessner

Fourth Dominican RepublicDominican Republic history

President: Joaquín Balaguer

Grenada

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Eric Gairy

HondurasHonduras history

President: Juan Alberto Melgar Castro

JamaicaJamaica history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Michael Manley

MexicoMexico history

President: Luis Echeverría, then José López Portillo

Military Junta of PeruPeru history

President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces: Francisco Morales Bermúdez

NicaraguaNicaragua history

President: Anastasio Somoza Debayle

PanamaPanama history

Military Leader: Omar Torrijos

Republic of Costa RicaCosta Rica history

President: Daniel Oduber Quirós

Republic of CubaCuba history

President: Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
President of the Council of State: Fidel Castro
Prime minister; President of the Council of Ministers: Fidel Castro

Republic of PeruPeru history

Prime Minister: Óscar Vargas Prieto, then Jorge Fernández Maldonado Solari, then Guillermo Arbulú Galliani

Republic of SurinameSuriname history

President: Johan Ferrier
Prime minister: Henck Arron

Republic of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago history

President: Ellis Clarke
Prime minister: Eric Williams

Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela history

President: Carlos Andrés Pérez

The Bahamas

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Lynden Pindling

United StatesUnited States history

President: Gerald Ford

Asia

Ba'athist IraqIraq history

President: Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Prime minister: Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr

BangladeshBangladesh history

President: Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem

BhutanBhutan history

Druk Gyalpo: Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Democratic KampucheaCambodia history

General Secretary: Pol Pot
President of the State Presidium: Norodom Sihanouk
Prime minister: Penn Nouth, then Khieu Samphan, then Nuon Chea, then Pol Pot

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri LankaSri Lanka history

President: William Gopallawa
Prime minister: Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Emirate of Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates history

ruler: Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

Emirate of AjmanUnited Arab Emirates history

ruler: Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi III

Emirate of DubaiUnited Arab Emirates history

ruler: Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Emirate of Ras Al KhaimahUnited Arab Emirates history

ruler: Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi

Hakims of Bahrain/ State of BahrainBahrain history

Emir: Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Prime minister: Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

Imperial State of IranIran history

Shah: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan history

President: Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Prime minister: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

IsraelIsrael history

President: Ephraim Katzir
Prime minister: Yitzhak Rabin

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Hirohito
Prime minister: Takeo Miki, then Takeo Fukuda

Kingdom of JordanJordan history

King: Hussein
Prime minister: Zaid al-Rifai, then Mudar Badran

Kingdom of NepalNepal history

King: Birendra
Prime minister: Tulsi Giri

Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia history

King: Khalid

Lao People's Democratic RepublicLaos history

General Secretary: Kaysone Phomvihane
President: Souphanouvong
Prime minister: Kaysone Phomvihane

LebanonLebanon history

President: Suleiman Frangieh, then Elias Sarkis
Prime minister: Rashid Karami, then Selim Hoss

MalaysiaMalaysia history

Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Yahya Petra of Kelantan
Prime minister: Abdul Razak Hussein, then Hussein Onn

Mongolian People's Republic

Chairman: Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal

New Order, IndonesiaIndonesia history

President: Suharto

North KoreaNorth Korea history

General Secretary: Kim Il Sung
President: Kim Il Sung
Premier: Kim Il, then Pak Song-chol

North Yemen: Yemen Arab RepublicYemen history

President: Ibrahim al-Hamdi

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

Chairman; Paramount Leader: Mao Zedong, then Hua Guofeng
Acting NPC Standing Committee Chairwoman: Soong Ching-ling
NPC Standing Committee Chairman: Zhu De
Premier: Zhou Enlai, then Hua Guofeng

PhilippinesPhilippines history

President: Ferdinand Marcos

Protectorate of Brunei / Nation of BruneiBrunei history

Sultan: Hassanal Bolkiah

QatarQatar history

Emir: Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani
Prime minister: Khalifa bin Hamad

Republic of AfghanistanAfghanistan history

President: Mohammad Daoud Khan

Republic of China: TaiwanTaiwan history

President: Yen Chia-kan
Premier: Chiang Ching-kuo

Republic of CyprusCyprus history

President: Makarios III

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Prime minister: Indira Gandhi

Republic of TurkeyTurkey history

President: Fahri Korutürk
Prime minister: Süleyman Demirel

Second Republic of Maldives

President: Ibrahim Nasir

SingaporeSingapore history

President: Benjamin Sheares
Prime minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma

Chairman: Ne Win
President: Ne Win

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)Vietnam history

General Secretary: Lê Duẩn
President: Tôn Đức Thắng
Prime minister: Phạm Văn Đồng

South KoreaSouth Korea history

President: Park Chung Hee
Acting Prime minister: Choi Kyu-hah

South Yemen: People's Democratic Republic of YemenYemen history

Chairmen: Salim Rubai Ali
Prime minister: Ali Nasir Muhammad

State of KuwaitKuwait history

Emir: Sabah III
Prime minister: Jaber Al-Ahmad

Sultanate of Oman: Al Busaidi dynastyOman history

Sultan: Qaboos bin Said

Syrian Arab RepublicSyria history

President: Hafez al-Assad
Prime minister: Mahmoud al-Ayyubi, then Abdul Rahman Khleifawi

ThailandThailand history

King: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prime minister: Kukrit Pramoj, then Seni Pramoj, then Thanin Kraivichien

Umm Al QuwainUnited Arab Emirates history

ruler: Ahmad bin Rashid Al Mualla

Europe

Andorra

Episcopal Co-Prince: Joan Martí i Alanis
French Co-Prince: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

AustriaAustria history

President: Rudolf Kirchschläger
Chancellor: Bruno Kreisky

BelgiumBelgium history

King: Baudouin
Prime minister: Leo Tindemans

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

General Secretary: Gustáv Husák
President: Gustáv Husák
Prime minister: Lubomír Štrougal

DenmarkDenmark history

Queen: Margrethe II
Prime minister: Anker Jørgensen

East GermanyGermany history

Chairmen of the State Council: Willi Stoph, then Erich Honecker
Chairman: Horst Sindermann, then Willi Stoph

FinlandFinland history

President: Urho Kekkonen
Prime minister: Martti Miettunen

France: Fifth RepublicFrance history

President: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Prime minister: Jacques Chirac, then Raymond Barre

Greece: Third RepublicGreece history

President: Konstantinos Tsatsos
Prime minister: Konstantinos Karamanlis

Hungarian People's RepublicHungary history

Chairman: Pál Losonczi
Prime minister: György Lázár

IcelandIceland history

President: Kristján Eldjárn
Prime minister: Geir Hallgrímsson

ItalyItaly history

President: Giovanni Leone
Prime minister: Aldo Moro, then Giulio Andreotti

Kingdom of SpainSpain history

King: Juan Carlos I
Prime minister: Carlos Arias Navarro, then Adolfo Suárez
Acting Prime minister: Fernando de Santiago y Díaz

Kingdom of the NetherlandsNetherlands history

Queen: Juliana
Prime minister: Joop den Uyl

Liechtenstein

Prince: Franz Josef II
Prime minister: Walter Kieber

LuxembourgLuxembourg history

Grand Duke: Jean
Prime minister: Gaston Thorn

Monaco

Prince: Rainier III
Minister of state: André Saint-Mleux

NorwayNorway history

King: Olav V
Prime minister: Trygve Bratteli, then Odvar Nordli

People's Republic of BulgariaBulgaria history

General Secretary: Todor Zhivkov
Chairman of the State Council: Todor Zhivkov
Prime minister: Stanko Todorov

People's Socialist Republic of AlbaniaAlbania history

First Secretary: Enver Hoxha
Chairman: Haxhi Lleshi
Prime minister: Mehmet Shehu

Polish People's RepublicPoland history

First Secretary: Edward Gierek
Prime minister: Piotr Jaroszewicz

Republic of IrelandIreland history

President: Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, then Patrick Hillery
Taoiseach: Liam Cosgrave

Republic of MaltaMalta history

President: Anthony Mamo, then Anton Buttigieg
Prime minister: Dom Mintoff

San Marino

Captains Regent: Marino Venturini

Socialist Republic of RomaniaRomania history

General Secretary: Nicolae Ceaușescu
President: Nicolae Ceaușescu
Prime minister: Manea Mănescu

Soviet UnionRussia history

General Secretary: Leonid Brezhnev
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet: Nikolai Podgorny
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Alexei Kosygin

SwedenSweden history

King: Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime minister: Olof Palme, then Thorbjörn Fälldin

SwitzerlandSwitzerland history

President of the Confederation: Rudolf Gnägi

Third Republic of PortugalPortugal history

President: Francisco da Costa Gomes, then António Ramalho Eanes
Prime minister: José Pinheiro de Azevedo, then Mário Soares
Acting Prime minister: Vasco de Almeida e Costa

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Harold Wilson, then James Callaghan

Vatican City

Sovereign: Paul VI

West GermanyGermany history

President: Walter Scheel
Chancellor: Helmut Schmidt

Yugoslavia: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

President of the Presidium: Josip Broz Tito
President: Josip Broz Tito

Oceania

AustraliaAustralia history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Malcolm Fraser

Dominion of FijiFiji history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Kamisese Mara

Nauru

President: Hammer DeRoburt, then Bernard Dowiyogo

New ZealandNew Zealand history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Robert Muldoon

Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Michael Somare

TongaTonga history

King: Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV
Prime minister: Fatafehi Tu'ipelehake

Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsUnited States history

High Commissioner: Edward E. Johnston
acting High Commissioner: Peter Tali Coleman

Wallis and Futuna

King: Tomasi Kulimoetoke II

Western Samoa/ Independent State of Samoa

O le Ao o le Malo: Malietoa Tanumafili II
Prime minister: Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi