World leaders in 1991

Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1991, 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 1991 →

Major powers in 1991

United StatesUnited States history

President: George H. W. Bush

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Major

Soviet UnionRussia history

General Secretary: Mikhail Gorbachev
president: Mikhail Gorbachev
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Nikolai Ryzhkov
Prime minister: Valentin Pavlov
Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee: Ivan Silayev

RussiaRussia history

President: Boris Yeltsin
Prime minister: Boris Yeltsin

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

General Secretary; Paramount Leader: Jiang Zemin
President: Yang Shangkun
Premier: Li Peng

FranceFrance history

President: François Mitterrand
Prime minister: Michel Rocard, then Édith Cresson

Federal Republic of GermanyGermany history

President of reunified Germany: Richard von Weizsäcker
Chancellor of reunified Germany: Helmut Kohl

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Kiichi Miyazawa

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: R. Venkataraman
Prime minister: Chandra Shekhar, then P. V. Narasimha Rao

Africa

Arab Republic of EgyptEgypt history

President: Hosni Mubarak
Prime minister: Atef Sedky

Central African Republic

President: André Kolingba
Prime minister: Édouard Frank

Democratic Republic of MadagascarMadagascar history

President of Supreme Revolutionary Council: Didier Ratsiraka
Prime minister: Guy Razanamasy

Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe

President: Manuel Pinto da Costa, then Miguel Trovoada
Prime minister: Daniel Daio

Equatorial Guinea

President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Prime minister: Cristino Seriche Bioko

Federal Republic of Nigeria: Fourth RepublicNigeria history

Military Head of State: Ibrahim Babangida

GabonGabon history

President: Omar Bongo
Prime minister: Casimir Oyé-Mba

Guinea-Bissau

President: João Bernardo Vieira
Prime minister: Carlos Correia

Interim Government of SomaliaSomalia history

President: Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Prime minister: Umar Arteh Ghalib

Islamic Republic of MauritaniaMauritania history

Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation: Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Prime minister: Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya

KenyaKenya history

President: Daniel arap Moi

Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)

King: Mswati III
Prime minister: Obed Dlamini

Kingdom of LesothoLesotho history

King: Letsie III

LiberiaLiberia history

President of the Interim Government of National Unity: Amos Sawyer

Libyan Arab Republic / Socialist People's Libyan Arab JamahiriyaLibya history

Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution: Muammar Gaddafi
Secretary-General: Abdul Razzaq as-Sawsa
Prime minister: Abuzed Omar Dorda

Mauritius (Commonwealth realm)Mauritius history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Anerood Jugnauth

NamibiaNamibia history

President: Sam Nujoma
Prime minister: Hage Geingob

People's Democratic Republic of AlgeriaAlgeria history

President: Chadli Bendjedid
Prime minister: Mouloud Hamrouche, then Sid Ahmed Ghozali

People's Democratic Republic of EthiopiaEthiopia history

President: Mengistu Haile Mariam
Acting President: Tesfaye Gebre Kidan
Acting Prime minister: Hailu Yimenu, then Tesfaye Dinka

People's Republic of AngolaAngola history

President: José Eduardo dos Santos
Prime minister: Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem

Republic of BeninBenin history

President: Mathieu Kérékou, then Nicéphore Soglo
Prime minister: Nicéphore Soglo

Republic of BotswanaBotswana history

President: Quett Masire

Republic of Burkina FasoBurkina Faso history

President: Blaise Compaoré

Republic of BurundiBurundi history

President: Pierre Buyoya
Prime minister: Adrien Sibomana

Republic of CameroonCameroon history

President: Paul Biya
Prime minister: Sadou Hayatou

Republic of Cape VerdeCape Verde history

President: Aristides Pereira, then António Mascarenhas Monteiro
Prime minister: Pedro Pires, then Carlos Veiga

Republic of ChadChad history

President: Idriss Déby

Republic of DjiboutiDjibouti history

President: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Prime minister: Barkat Gourad Hamadou

Republic of GhanaGhana history

Military Head of State: Jerry Rawlings

Republic of GuineaGuinea history

President: Lansana Conté

Republic of Ivory CoastIvory Coast history

President: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Prime minister: Alassane Ouattara

Republic of MalawiMalawi history

President: Hastings Banda

Republic of MaliMali history

President: Moussa Traoré
Chairman of the National Reconciliation Council; Chairman of the Transitional Committee: Amadou Toumani Touré
Acting Prime minister: Soumana Sacko

Republic of MozambiqueMozambique history

President: Joaquim Chissano
Prime minister: Mário da Graça Machungo

Republic of RwandaRwanda history

President: Juvénal Habyarimana
Prime minister: Sylvestre Nsanzimana

Republic of SenegalSenegal history

President: Abdou Diouf
Prime minister: Habib Thiam

Republic of Seychelles

President: France-Albert René

Republic of Sierra LeoneSierra Leone history

President: Joseph Saidu Momoh

Republic of SomalilandSomalia history

President: Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur

Republic of South AfricaSouth Africa history

State President: F. W. de Klerk

Republic of the GambiaGambia history

President: Dawda Jawara

Republic of the NigerNiger history

Prime minister: Aliou Mahamidou, then Amadou Cheiffou

Republic of the SudanSudan history

President: Omar al-Bashir

Republic of TunisiaTunisia history

President: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Prime minister: Hamed Karoui

Republic of Uganda

President: Yoweri Museveni

Republic of ZambiaZambia history

President: Kenneth Kaunda, then Frederick Chiluba
Prime minister: Malimba Masheke

Republic of Zimbabwe

President: Robert Mugabe

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

President: Mohamed Abdelaziz

Somali Democratic RepublicSomalia history

President: Siad Barre
Prime minister: Muhammad Hawadle Madar

Sultanate/ Kingdom of MoroccoMorocco history

King: Hassan II
Prime minister: Azzeddine Laraki

Togolese RepublicTogo history

President: Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Prime minister: Joseph Kokou Koffigoh

Transitional Government of EthiopiaEthiopia history

Acting President: Meles Zenawi
Acting Prime minister: Tamrat Layne

TranskeiSouth Africa history

Head of the Military Council: Bantu Holomisa

Union of the Comoros

President: Said Mohamed Djohar

United Republic of TanzaniaTanzania history

President: Ali Hassan Mwinyi
Prime minister: John Malecela

Zaire

President: Mobutu Sese Seko
Prime minister: Lunda Bululu, then Mulumba Lukoji, then Étienne Tshisekedi, then Bernardin Mungul Diaka, then Jean Nguza Karl-i-Bond

Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Vere Bird

ArgentinaArgentina history

President: Carlos Menem

BarbadosBarbados history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Lloyd Erskine Sandiford

BelizeBelize history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: George Cadle Price

BoliviaBolivia history

President: Jaime Paz Zamora

CanadaCanada history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Brian Mulroney

Co-operative Republic of GuyanaGuyana history

President: Desmond Hoyte

ColombiaColombia history

President: César Gaviria Trujillo

Dominica

Prime minister: Eugenia Charles

EcuadorEcuador history

President: Rodrigo Borja Cevallos

El SalvadorEl Salvador history

President: Alfredo Cristiani

Federative Republic of BrazilBrazil history

President: Fernando Collor de Mello

Fourth Dominican RepublicDominican Republic history

President: Joaquín Balaguer

Grenada

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Nicholas Brathwaite

GuatemalaGuatemala history

President: Vinicio Cerezo, then Jorge Serrano Elías

HondurasHonduras history

President: Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero

JamaicaJamaica history

Queen: Elizabeth II

MexicoMexico history

President: Carlos Salinas de Gortari

NicaraguaNicaragua history

President: Violeta Chamorro

Oriental Republic of UruguayUruguay history

President: Luis Alberto Lacalle

PanamaPanama history

President: Guillermo Endara

Republic of ChileChile history

President: Patricio Aylwin

Republic of Costa RicaCosta Rica history

President: Rafael Calderón Fournier

Republic of CubaCuba history

President of the Council of State: Fidel Castro
President of the Council of Ministers: Fidel Castro

Republic of PeruPeru history

Constitutional President: Alberto Fujimori
Prime Minister: Juan Carlos Hurtado Miller, then Carlos Torres y Torres Lara

Republic of SurinameSuriname history

President: Johan Kraag, then Ronald Venetiaan

Republic of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago history

President: Noor Hassanali
Prime minister: A. N. R. Robinson, then Patrick Manning

Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela history

President: Carlos Andrés Pérez

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Kennedy Simmonds

Saint Lucia

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Compton

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: James Fitz-Allen Mitchell

The Bahamas

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Lynden Pindling

Third Haitian RepublicHaiti history

Provisional President: Ertha Pascal-Trouillot
President: Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Prime minister: René Préval, then Jean-Jacques Honorat

United StatesUnited States history

President: George H. W. Bush

Asia

Ba'athist IraqIraq history

President: Saddam Hussein
Prime minister: Saddam Hussein, then Sa'dun Hammadi, then Mohammad Hamza al-Zubaidi

BangladeshBangladesh history

Interim President: Shahabuddin Ahmed
President: Abdur Rahman Biswas
Prime minister: Khaleda Zia

BhutanBhutan history

Druk Gyalpo: Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Democratic Republic of AfghanistanAfghanistan history

General Secretary: Mohammad Najibullah
President: Mohammad Najibullah
Prime minister: Fazal Haq Khaliqyar

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri LankaSri Lanka history

President: Ranasinghe Premadasa
Prime minister: Dingiri Banda Wijetunga

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

Islamic Republic of IranIran history

Supreme Leader: Ali Khamenei
President: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan history

President: Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Prime minister: Nawaz Sharif

IsraelIsrael history

President: Chaim Herzog
Prime minister: Yitzhak Shamir

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Kiichi Miyazawa

KazakhstanKazakhstan history

President: Nursultan Nazarbayev
Prime minister: Sergey Tereshchenko

Kingdom of JordanJordan history

King: Hussein
Prime minister: Mudar Badran, then Taher al-Masri, then Zaid ibn Shaker

Kingdom of NepalNepal history

King: Birendra
Prime minister: Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, then Girija Prasad Koirala

Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia history

King: Fahd

Kyrgyzstan

President: Askar Akayev
Prime minister: Nasirdin Isanov
Acting Prime minister: Andrei Iordan

Lao People's Democratic RepublicLaos history

General Secretary; Chairman: Kaysone Phomvihane
President: Souphanouvong, then Kaysone Phomvihane
Acting President: Phoumi Vongvichit
Prime minister: Kaysone Phomvihane, then Khamtai Siphandone

LebanonLebanon history

President: Elias Hrawi
Prime minister: Omar Karami

MalaysiaMalaysia history

Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Azlan Shah of Perak
Prime minister: Mahathir Mohamad

Mongolian People's Republic

President: Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat
Prime minister: Dashiin Byambasüren

New Order, IndonesiaIndonesia history

President: Suharto

North KoreaNorth Korea history

General Secretary: Kim Il Sung
President: Kim Il Sung
Premier: Yon Hyong-muk

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

General Secretary; Paramount Leader: Jiang Zemin
President: Yang Shangkun
Premier: Li Peng

PhilippinesPhilippines history

President: Corazon Aquino

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 China: TaiwanTaiwan history

President: Lee Teng-hui
Premier: Hau Pei-tsun

Republic of CyprusCyprus history

President: George Vasiliou

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: R. Venkataraman
Prime minister: Chandra Shekhar, then P. V. Narasimha Rao

Republic of TurkeyTurkey history

President: Turgut Özal
Prime minister: Yıldırım Akbulut, then Mesut Yılmaz, then Süleyman Demirel

Republic of YemenYemen history

Prime minister: Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas

Second Republic of Maldives

President: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

SingaporeSingapore history

President: Wee Kim Wee
Prime minister: Goh Chok Tong

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)Vietnam history

General Secretary: Đỗ Mười
Chairmen of the Council of State: Võ Chí Công
Chairmen of the Council of ministers: Đỗ Mười, then Võ Văn Kiệt

South KoreaSouth Korea history

President: Roh Tae-woo
Acting Prime minister: Ro Jai-bong
Prime minister: Chung Won-shik

State of CambodiaCambodia history

Prime minister: Hun Sen

State of KuwaitKuwait history

Emir: Jaber III
Prime minister: Saad Al-Abdullah

Sultanate of Oman: Al Busaidi dynastyOman history

Sultan: Qaboos bin Said

Syrian Arab RepublicSyria history

President: Hafez al-Assad
Prime minister: Mahmoud Zuabi

TajikistanTajikistan history

Acting President: Qadriddin Aslonov, then Akbarsho Iskandarov
President: Rahmon Nabiyev

ThailandThailand history

King: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prime minister: Chatichai Choonhavan, then Anand Panyarachun

Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusCyprus history

President: Rauf Denktaş

Turkmenistan

President: Saparmurat Niyazov

Union of Burma/Myanmar

Chairmen: Saw Maung
Prime minister: Saw Maung

United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates history

President: Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Prime minister: Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum

UzbekistanUzbekistan history

President: Islam Karimov

Europe

Andorra

Episcopal Co-Prince: Joan Martí i Alanis
French Co-Prince: François Mitterrand
Prime minister: Òscar Ribas Reig

ArmeniaArmenia history

President: Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Prime minister: Vazgen Manukyan

AustriaAustria history

President: Kurt Waldheim
Chancellor: Franz Vranitzky

AzerbaijanAzerbaijan history

President: Ayaz Mutallibov
Prime minister: Hasan Hasanov

BelgiumBelgium history

King: Baudouin
Prime minister: Wilfried Martens

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

President: Dzhokhar Dudayev

Czech and Slovak Federative Republic

President: Václav Havel
Prime minister: Marián Čalfa

DenmarkDenmark history

Queen: Margrethe II
Prime minister: Poul Schlüter

Federal Republic of GermanyGermany history

President of reunified Germany: Richard von Weizsäcker
Chancellor of reunified Germany: Helmut Kohl

FinlandFinland history

President: Mauno Koivisto
Prime minister: Harri Holkeri, then Esko Aho

France: Fifth RepublicFrance history

President: François Mitterrand
Prime minister: Michel Rocard, then Édith Cresson

GeorgiaGeorgia history

President: Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Acting Prime minister: Murman Omanidze
Prime minister: Besarion Gugushvili

Greece: Third RepublicGreece history

President: Konstantinos Karamanlis
Prime minister: Konstantinos Mitsotakis

Hungary: Third RepublicHungary history

President: Árpád Göncz
Prime minister: József Antall

IcelandIceland history

President: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Prime minister: Steingrímur Hermannsson, then Davíð Oddsson

ItalyItaly history

President: Francesco Cossiga
Prime minister: Giulio Andreotti

Kingdom of SpainSpain history

King: Juan Carlos I
Prime minister: Felipe González

Kingdom of the NetherlandsNetherlands history

Queen: Beatrix
Prime minister: Ruud Lubbers

Liechtenstein

Prince: Hans-Adam II
Prime minister: Hans Brunhart

LuxembourgLuxembourg history

Grand Duke: Jean
Prime minister: Jacques Santer

Monaco

Prince: Rainier III
Minister of state: Jean Ausseil, then Jacques Dupont

NorwayNorway history

King: Olav V, then Harald V
Prime minister: Gro Harlem Brundtland

People's Socialist Republic of AlbaniaAlbania history

First Secretary: Ramiz Alia
Chairman: Ramiz Alia
Prime minister: Adil Çarçani

Republic of AlbaniaAlbania history

President: Ramiz Alia
Prime minister: Fatos Nano, then Ylli Bufi

Republic of ArtsakhAzerbaijan history

President of the National Assembly: Leonard Petrosyan

Republic of BelarusBelarus history

Chairman of the Supreme Soviet: Stanislau Shushkevich
Prime minister: Vyacheslav Kebich

Republic of BulgariaBulgaria history

Chairman: Zhelyu Zhelev
Prime minister: Philip Dimitrov

Republic of Croatia

Prime minister: Josip Manolić, then Franjo Gregurić

Republic of EstoniaEstonia history

Acting Prime minister: Edgar Savisaar

Republic of IrelandIreland history

President: Mary Robinson
Taoiseach: Charles Haughey

Republic of KosovaKosovo history

Prime minister: Bujar Bukoshi

Republic of LatviaLatvia history

Prime minister: Ivars Godmanis

Republic of LithuaniaLithuania history

Prime minister: Kazimira Prunskienė, then Albertas Šimėnas, then Gediminas Vagnorius

Republic of Macedonia

President: Kiro Gligorov
Prime minister: Nikola Kljusev

Republic of MaltaMalta history

President: Ċensu Tabone
Prime minister: Eddie Fenech Adami

Republic of MoldovaMoldova history

President: Mircea Snegur
Prime minister: Valeriu Muravschi

Republic of PolandPoland history

President: Lech Wałęsa
Prime minister: Tadeusz Mazowiecki, then Jan Olszewski

Republic of RomaniaRomania history

President: Ion Iliescu
Prime minister: Petre Roman, then Theodor Stolojan

RussiaRussia history

President: Boris Yeltsin
Prime minister: Boris Yeltsin

San Marino

Captains Regent: Cesare Gasperoni, then Edda Ceccoli, then Marino Riccardi

Slovenia

President: Milan Kučan
Prime minister: Lojze Peterle

South Ossetia, has limited recognition: Georgia claims South OssetiaGeorgia history

Head of state: Znaur Gassiev

Soviet UnionRussia history

General Secretary: Mikhail Gorbachev
president: Mikhail Gorbachev
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Nikolai Ryzhkov
Prime minister: Valentin Pavlov
Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee: Ivan Silayev

SwedenSweden history

King: Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime minister: Ingvar Carlsson, then Carl Bildt

SwitzerlandSwitzerland history

President of the Confederation: Flavio Cotti

Third Republic of PortugalPortugal history

President: Mário Soares
Prime minister: Aníbal Cavaco Silva

TransnistriaMoldova history

of the Republic: Igor Smirnov
Acting Chairman of the Republic: Andrey Manoylov

UkraineUkraine history

President: Leonid Kravchuk
Acting Prime minister: Vitold Fokin

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Major

Vatican City

Sovereign: John Paul II
President of the Governorate: Rosalio José Castillo Lara

Yugoslavia: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

President of the Presidency: Borisav Jović, then Stjepan Mesić
Acting President of the Presidency: Sejdo Bajramović, then Branko Kostić
Prime minister: Ante Marković

Oceania

AustraliaAustralia history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Bob Hawke, then Paul Keating

Federated States of Micronesia

President: John Haglelgam, then Bailey Olter

Kiribati

President: Ieremia Tabai, then Teatao Teannaki

Marshall Islands

President: Amata Kabua

Nauru

President: Bernard Dowiyogo

New ZealandNew Zealand history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Jim Bolger

Palau

President: Ngiratkel Etpison

Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea history

Queen: Elizabeth II

Republic of FijiFiji history

President: Penaia Ganilau
Prime minister: Kamisese Mara

Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Solomon Mamaloni

TongaTonga history

King: Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV
Prime minister: Fatafehi Tu'ipelehake, then Baron Vaea

Tuvalu

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Bikenibeu Paeniu

VanuatuVanuatu history

Prime minister: Walter Lini, then Donald Kalpokas, then Maxime Carlot Korman

Wallis and Futuna

King: Tomasi Kulimoetoke II

Western Samoa/ Independent State of Samoa

O le Ao o le Malo: Malietoa Tanumafili II
Prime minister: Tofilau Eti Alesana