World leaders in 1996

Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1996, 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 1996 →

Major powers in 1996

United StatesUnited States history

President: Bill Clinton

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Major

RussiaRussia history

President: Boris Yeltsin
Prime minister: Viktor Chernomyrdin

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

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

FranceFrance history

President: Jacques Chirac
Prime minister: Alain Juppé

Federal Republic of GermanyGermany history

President: Roman Herzog
Chancellor of reunified Germany: Helmut Kohl

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Tomiichi Murayama, then Ryutaro Hashimoto

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime minister: P. V. Narasimha Rao, then Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then H. D. Deve Gowda

Africa

Arab Republic of EgyptEgypt history

President: Hosni Mubarak
Prime minister: Atef Sedky, then Kamal Ganzouri

Central African Republic

President: Ange-Félix Patassé
Prime minister: Gabriel Koyambounou, then Jean-Paul Ngoupandé

Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe

President: Miguel Trovoada
Prime minister: Armindo Vaz d'Almeida, then Raul Bragança Neto

Equatorial Guinea

President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Prime minister: Silvestre Siale Bileka, then Ángel Serafín Seriche Dougan

EritreaEritrea history

President: Isaias Afwerki

Federal Democratic Republic of EthiopiaEthiopia history

President: Negasso Gidada
Prime minister: Meles Zenawi

Federal Republic of Nigeria: Fourth RepublicNigeria history

Military Head of State: Sani Abacha

GabonGabon history

President: Omar Bongo
Prime minister: Paulin Obame-Nguema

Guinea-Bissau

President: João Bernardo Vieira
Prime minister: Manuel Saturnino da Costa

Interim Government of SomaliaSomalia history

President: Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Prime minister: Umar Arteh Ghalib

Islamic Republic of MauritaniaMauritania history

President: Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Prime minister: Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna

KenyaKenya history

President: Daniel arap Moi

Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)

King: Mswati III
Acting Prime minister: Sishayi Nxumalo
Prime minister: Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini

Kingdom of LesothoLesotho history

King: Moshoeshoe II, then Letsie III

LiberiaLiberia history

Chairman of the Council of State: Wilton G. S. Sankawulo
Chairwoman of the Council of State: Ruth Perry

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

Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution: Muammar Gaddafi
Secretary-General: Muhammad az-Zanati

Madagascar: Third RepublicMadagascar history

President: Albert Zafy
Acting President: Norbert Ratsirahonana
Prime minister: Emmanuel Rakotovahiny, then Norbert Ratsirahonana

NamibiaNamibia history

President: Sam Nujoma
Prime minister: Hage Geingob

People's Democratic Republic of AlgeriaAlgeria history

President: Liamine Zéroual

Republic of AngolaAngola history

President: José Eduardo dos Santos
Prime minister: Marcolino Moco, then Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem

Republic of BeninBenin history

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

Republic of BotswanaBotswana history

President: Quett Masire

Republic of Burkina FasoBurkina Faso history

President: Blaise Compaoré
Prime minister: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, then Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo

Republic of BurundiBurundi history

President: Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, then Pierre Buyoya
Prime minister: Antoine Nduwayo, then Pascal-Firmin Ndimira

Republic of CameroonCameroon history

President: Paul Biya
Prime minister: Simon Achidi Achu, then Peter Mafany Musonge

Republic of Cape VerdeCape Verde history

President: António Mascarenhas Monteiro
Prime minister: 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

President of the Fourth Republic: Jerry Rawlings

Republic of GuineaGuinea history

President: Lansana Conté
Prime minister: Sidya Touré

Republic of Ivory CoastIvory Coast history

President: Henri Konan Bédié
Prime minister: Daniel Kablan Duncan

Republic of MalawiMalawi history

President: Bakili Muluzi

Republic of MaliMali history

President: Alpha Oumar Konaré
Prime minister: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta

Republic of MauritiusMauritius history

President: Cassam Uteem

Republic of MozambiqueMozambique history

President: Joaquim Chissano
Prime minister: Pascoal Mocumbi

Republic of RwandaRwanda history

President: Pasteur Bizimungu
Prime minister: Pierre-Célestin Rwigema

Republic of SenegalSenegal history

President: Abdou Diouf
Prime minister: Habib Thiam

Republic of Seychelles

President: France-Albert René

Republic of Sierra LeoneSierra Leone history

Military Head of State: Valentine Strasser, then Julius Maada Bio
President: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Republic of SomalilandSomalia history

President: Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal

Republic of South AfricaSouth Africa history

President: Nelson Mandela

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)

President: Pascal Lissouba
Prime minister: Joachim Yhombi-Opango, then Charles David Ganao

Republic of the GambiaGambia history

President: Yahya Jammeh

Republic of the NigerNiger history

President of the Republic: Mahamane Ousmane, then Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
Prime minister: Hama Amadou, then Boukary Adji, then Amadou Cissé

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: Frederick Chiluba

Republic of Zimbabwe

President: Robert Mugabe

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

President: Mohamed Abdelaziz

Sultanate/ Kingdom of MoroccoMorocco history

King: Hassan II
Prime minister: Abdellatif Filali

Togolese RepublicTogo history

President: Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Prime minister: Edem Kodjo, then Kwassi Klutse

Union of the Comoros

President: Caabi El-Yachroutu Mohamed, then Said Mohamed Djohar
Acting President: Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim
Prime minister: Caabi El-Yachroutu Mohamed, then Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde, then Ahmed Abdou

United Republic of TanzaniaTanzania history

President: Benjamin Mkapa
Prime minister: Frederick Sumaye

Zaire

President: Mobutu Sese Seko
First state commissioner: Léon Kengo

Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Lester Bird

ArgentinaArgentina history

President: Carlos Menem

BarbadosBarbados history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Owen Arthur

BelizeBelize history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Manuel Esquivel

BoliviaBolivia history

President: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada

CanadaCanada history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Jean Chrétien

Co-operative Republic of GuyanaGuyana history

Prime minister: Sam Hinds

ColombiaColombia history

President: Ernesto Samper Pizano

Dominica

Prime minister: Edison James

EcuadorEcuador history

President: Sixto Durán Ballén, then Abdalá Bucaram

El SalvadorEl Salvador history

President: Armando Calderón Sol

Federative Republic of BrazilBrazil history

President: Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Fourth Dominican RepublicDominican Republic history

President: Joaquín Balaguer, then Leonel Fernández

Grenada

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Keith Mitchell

GuatemalaGuatemala history

President: Ramiro de León Carpio, then Álvaro Arzú

HondurasHonduras history

President: Carlos Roberto Reina

JamaicaJamaica history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: P. J. Patterson

MexicoMexico history

President: Ernesto Zedillo

NicaraguaNicaragua history

President: Violeta Chamorro

Oriental Republic of UruguayUruguay history

President: Julio María Sanguinetti

Republic of ChileChile history

President: Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle

Republic of Costa RicaCosta Rica history

President: José Figueres Olsen

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: Alberto Pandolfi

Republic of SurinameSuriname history

President: Ronald Venetiaan, then Jules Wijdenbosch

Republic of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago history

President: Noor Hassanali
Prime minister: Basdeo Panday

Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela history

President: Rafael Caldera

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Denzil Douglas

Saint Lucia

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Compton, then Vaughan Lewis

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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

The Bahamas

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Hubert Ingraham

Third Haitian RepublicHaiti history

President: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, then René Préval
Prime minister: Claudette Werleigh, then Rosny Smarth

United StatesUnited States history

President: Bill Clinton

Asia

Ba'athist IraqIraq history

President: Saddam Hussein
Prime minister: Saddam Hussein

BangladeshBangladesh history

President: Abdur Rahman Biswas, then Shahabuddin Ahmed
Prime minister: Khaleda Zia, then Sheikh Hasina

BhutanBhutan history

Druk Gyalpo: Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri LankaSri Lanka history

President: Chandrika Kumaratunga
Prime minister: Sirimavo Bandaranaike

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 Emirate of AfghanistanAfghanistan history

Supreme leaders: Mullah Omar
Prime ministers: Mohammad Rabbani

Islamic Republic of IranIran history

Supreme Leader: Ali Khamenei
President: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan history

President: Farooq Leghari
Prime minister: Benazir Bhutto
Acting Prime minister: Malik Meraj Khalid

Islamic State of AfghanistanAfghanistan history

President: Burhanuddin Rabbani

IsraelIsrael history

President: Ezer Weizman
Prime minister: Shimon Peres, then Benjamin Netanyahu

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Tomiichi Murayama, then Ryutaro Hashimoto

KazakhstanKazakhstan history

President: Nursultan Nazarbayev
Prime minister: Akejan Kajegeldin

Kingdom of CambodiaCambodia history

King: Norodom Sihanouk
First Prime minister: Norodom Ranariddh

Kingdom of JordanJordan history

King: Hussein
Prime minister: Zaid ibn Shaker, then Abdul Karim al-Kabariti

Kingdom of NepalNepal history

King: Birendra
Prime minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba

Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia history

King: Fahd

Kyrgyzstan

Prime minister: Apas Jumagulov

Lao People's Democratic RepublicLaos history

Chairman: Khamtai Siphandone
President: Nouhak Phoumsavanh
Prime minister: Khamtai Siphandone

LebanonLebanon history

President: Elias Hrawi
Prime minister: Rafic Hariri

MalaysiaMalaysia history

Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Ja'afar of Negeri Sembilan
Prime minister: Mahathir Mohamad

MongoliaMongolia history

President: Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat
Prime minister: Puntsagiin Jasrai, then Mendsaikhany Enkhsaikhan

New Order, IndonesiaIndonesia history

President: Suharto

People's Republic of ChinaChina history

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

PhilippinesPhilippines history

President: Fidel V. Ramos

Protectorate of Brunei / Nation of BruneiBrunei history

Sultan: Hassanal Bolkiah

QatarQatar history

Emir: Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Prime minister: Hamad bin Khalifa, then Abdullah bin Khalifa

Republic of China: TaiwanTaiwan history

President: Lee Teng-hui
Premier: Lien Chan

Republic of CyprusCyprus history

President: Glafcos Clerides

Republic of IndiaIndia history

President: Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime minister: P. V. Narasimha Rao, then Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then H. D. Deve Gowda

Republic of TurkeyTurkey history

President: Süleyman Demirel
Prime minister: Tansu Çiller, then Mesut Yılmaz, then Necmettin Erbakan

Republic of YemenYemen history

Prime minister: Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani

Second Republic of Maldives

President: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

SingaporeSingapore history

President: Ong Teng Cheong
Prime minister: Goh Chok Tong

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)Vietnam history

General Secretary: Đỗ Mười
President: Lê Đức Anh
Prime minister: Võ Văn Kiệt

South KoreaSouth Korea history

President: Kim Young-sam

State of KuwaitKuwait history

Emir: Jaber III
Prime minister: Saad Al-Abdullah

State of PalestinePalestine history

President: Yasser Arafat

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

President: Emomali Rahmon
Prime minister: Yahyo Azimov

ThailandThailand history

King: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prime minister: Banharn Silpa-archa, then Chavalit Yongchaiyudh

Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusCyprus history

President: Rauf Denktaş

Turkmenistan

President: Saparmurat Niyazov

Union of Burma/Myanmar

Chairmen: Than Shwe
Prime minister: Than Shwe

United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates history

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

UzbekistanUzbekistan history

President: Islam Karimov
Prime minister: Utkir Tukhtamurodovich Sultonov

Europe

Abkhazia, has limited recognition: Georgia claims AbkhaziaGeorgia history

President: Vladislav Ardzinba
Prime minister: Gennadi Gagulia

Andorra

Episcopal Co-Prince: Joan Martí i Alanis
French Co-Prince: Jacques Chirac
Prime minister: Marc Forné Molné

ArmeniaArmenia history

President: Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Prime minister: Hrant Bagratyan

AustriaAustria history

President: Thomas Klestil
Chancellor: Franz Vranitzky

AzerbaijanAzerbaijan history

President: Heydar Aliyev
Prime minister: Fuad Guliyev, then Artur Rasizade

BelgiumBelgium history

King: Albert II
Prime minister: Jean-Luc Dehaene

Bosnia and Herzegovina

High Representative: Carl Bildt
Chairmen: Alija Izetbegović
Member: Alija Izetbegović, then Krešimir Zubak, then Momčilo Krajišnik

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

President: Dzhokhar Dudayev, then Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

Czech Republic

President: Václav Havel
Prime minister: Václav Klaus

DenmarkDenmark history

Queen: Margrethe II
Prime minister: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen

Federal Republic of GermanyGermany history

President: Roman Herzog
Chancellor of reunified Germany: Helmut Kohl

FinlandFinland history

President: Martti Ahtisaari
Prime minister: Paavo Lipponen

France: Fifth RepublicFrance history

President: Jacques Chirac
Prime minister: Alain Juppé

GeorgiaGeorgia history

President: Eduard Shevardnadze
State minister: Niko Lekishvili

Greece: Third RepublicGreece history

President: Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Prime minister: Andreas Papandreou, then Costas Simitis

Hungary: Third RepublicHungary history

President: Árpád Göncz
Prime minister: Gyula Horn

IcelandIceland history

President: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, then Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Prime minister: Davíð Oddsson

ItalyItaly history

President: Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Prime minister: Lamberto Dini, then Romano Prodi

Kingdom of SpainSpain history

King: Juan Carlos I
Prime minister: Felipe González, then José María Aznar

Kingdom of the NetherlandsNetherlands history

Queen: Beatrix
Prime minister: Wim Kok

Liechtenstein

Prince: Hans-Adam II
Prime minister: Mario Frick

LuxembourgLuxembourg history

Grand Duke: Jean
Prime minister: Jean-Claude Juncker

Monaco

Prince: Rainier III
Minister of state: Paul Dijoud

NorwayNorway history

King: Harald V
Prime minister: Gro Harlem Brundtland, then Thorbjørn Jagland

Republic of AlbaniaAlbania history

President: Berisha

Republic of ArtsakhAzerbaijan history

President: Robert Kocharyan
President of the National Assembly: Arthur Tovmasyan

Republic of BelarusBelarus history

President: Alexander Lukashenko
Prime minister: Mikhail Chigir, then Sergey Ling

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

President: Alija Izetbegović
Prime minister: Haris Silajdžić, then Hasan Muratović

Republic of BulgariaBulgaria history

President: Zhelyu Zhelev
Prime minister: Zhan Videnov

Republic of Croatia

Prime minister: Zlatko Mateša

Republic of EstoniaEstonia history

President: Lennart Meri
Prime minister: Tiit Vähi

Republic of IrelandIreland history

President: Mary Robinson
Taoiseach: John Bruton

Republic of KosovaKosovo history

President: Ibrahim Rugova
Prime minister: Bujar Bukoshi

Republic of LatviaLatvia history

President: Guntis Ulmanis
Prime minister: Andris Šķēle

Republic of LithuaniaLithuania history

President: Algirdas Brazauskas
Prime minister: Adolfas Šleževičius, then Laurynas Stankevičius, then Gediminas Vagnorius

Republic of Macedonia

President: Kiro Gligorov

Republic of MaltaMalta history

President: Ugo Mifsud Bonnici
Prime minister: Eddie Fenech Adami, then Alfred Sant

Republic of MoldovaMoldova history

President: Mircea Snegur
Prime minister: Andrei Sangheli

Republic of PolandPoland history

President: Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Prime minister: Józef Oleksy, then Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz

Republic of RomaniaRomania history

President: Ion Iliescu, then Emil Constantinescu
Prime minister: Nicolae Văcăroiu, then Victor Ciorbea

RussiaRussia history

President: Boris Yeltsin
Prime minister: Viktor Chernomyrdin

San Marino

Captains Regent: Marino Venturini, then Maurizio Rattini, then Gian Carlo Venturini

Slovakia

President: Michal Kováč
Prime minister: Vladimír Mečiar

Slovenia

President: Milan Kučan
Prime minister: Janez Drnovšek

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

Head of state; President: Lyudvig Chibirov
Acting Prime minister: Valeriy Hubulov
Prime minister: Aleksandr Shavlokhov

SwedenSweden history

King: Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime minister: Ingvar Carlsson, then Göran Persson

SwitzerlandSwitzerland history

President of the Confederation: Jean-Pascal Delamuraz

Third Republic of PortugalPortugal history

President: Mário Soares, then Jorge Sampaio
Prime minister: António Guterres

UkraineUkraine history

President: Leonid Kuchma
Prime minister: Yevhen Marchuk, then Pavlo Lazarenko

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: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/ Serbia and Montenegro

President: Zoran Lilić
Prime minister: Radoje Kontić

Oceania

AustraliaAustralia history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Paul Keating, then John Howard

Federated States of Micronesia

President: Bailey Olter, then Jacob Nena

Kiribati

President: Teburoro Tito

Marshall Islands

President: Amata Kabua
Acting President: Kunio Lemari

Nauru

President: Lagumot Harris, then Bernard Dowiyogo, then Kennan Adeang, then Ruben Kun

New ZealandNew Zealand history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Jim Bolger

Palau

President: Kuniwo Nakamura

Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Julius Chan

Republic of FijiFiji history

President: Kamisese Mara
Prime minister: Sitiveni Rabuka

Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Solomon Mamaloni

TongaTonga history

King: Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV
Prime minister: Baron Vaea

Tuvalu

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Kamuta Latasi, then Bikenibeu Paeniu

VanuatuVanuatu history

President: Jean-Marie Léyé
Prime minister: Serge Vohor, 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