World leaders in 2008

Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 2008, 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 2008 →

Major powers in 2008

United StatesUnited States history

President: George W. Bush

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown

RussiaRussia history

President: Vladimir Putin, then Dmitry Medvedev
Prime minister: Viktor Zubkov, then Vladimir Putin

ChinaChina history

General Secretary; paramount leader: Hu Jintao
President: Hu Jintao
Premier: Wen Jiabao

FranceFrance history

President: Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime minister: François Fillon

GermanyGermany history

President: Horst Köhler
Chancellor: Angela Merkel

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Yasuo Fukuda, then Tarō Asō

IndiaIndia history

President: Pratibha Patil
Prime minister: Manmohan Singh

Africa

AlgeriaAlgeria history

President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Prime Minister: Abdelaziz Belkhadem, then Ahmed Ouyahia

AngolaAngola history

President: José Eduardo dos Santos
Prime minister: Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, then Paulo Kassoma

BeninBenin history

President: Thomas Boni Yayi

BotswanaBotswana history

President: Festus Mogae, then Ian Khama

Burkina FasoBurkina Faso history

President: Blaise Compaoré
Prime minister: Tertius Zongo

BurundiBurundi history

President: Pierre Nkurunziza

CameroonCameroon history

President: Paul Biya
Prime minister: Ephraïm Inoni

Cape VerdeCape Verde history

President: Pedro Pires
Prime minister: José Maria Neves

Central African Republic

President: François Bozizé
Prime minister: Élie Doté, then Faustin-Archange Touadéra

ChadChad history

President: Idriss Déby
Prime minister: Delwa Kassiré Koumakoye, then Youssouf Saleh Abbas

Comoros

President: Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi

Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)Democratic Republic of the Congo history

President: Joseph Kabila
Prime minister: Antoine Gizenga, then Adolphe Muzito

DjiboutiDjibouti history

President: Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
Prime minister: Dileita Mohamed Dileita

EgyptEgypt history

President: Hosni Mubarak
Prime minister: Ahmed Nazif

Equatorial Guinea

President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Prime minister: Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfubea, then Ignacio Milam Tang

EritreaEritrea history

President: Isaias Afwerki

EthiopiaEthiopia history

President: Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Prime minister: Meles Zenawi

GabonGabon history

President: Omar Bongo

GambiaGambia history

President: Yahya Jammeh

GhanaGhana history

President: John Kufuor

GuineaGuinea history

President: Lansana Conté, then Moussa Dadis Camara
Prime minister: Lansana Kouyaté, then Ahmed Tidiane Souaré, then Kabiné Komara

Guinea-Bissau

President: João Bernardo Vieira
Prime minister: Martinho Ndafa Kabi, then Carlos Correia

Ivory CoastIvory Coast history

President: Laurent Gbagbo
Prime minister: Guillaume Soro

KenyaKenya history

President: Mwai Kibaki
Prime minister: Raila Odinga

LesothoLesotho history

King: Letsie III
Prime minister: Pakalitha Mosisili

LiberiaLiberia history

President: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution: Muammar Gaddafi
Prime minister: Baghdadi Mahmudi

Madagascar

President: Marc Ravalomanana
Prime minister: Charles Rabemananjara

MalawiMalawi history

President: Bingu wa Mutharika

MaliMali history

President: Amadou Toumani Touré
Prime minister: Modibo Sidibé

MauritaniaMauritania history

President: Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi
Acting President: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Prime minister: Zeine Ould Zeidane, then Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef, then Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf

MauritiusMauritius history

President: Anerood Jugnauth
Prime minister: Navin Ramgoolam

MoroccoMorocco history

King: Mohammed VI
Prime Minister: Abbas El Fassi

MozambiqueMozambique history

President: Armando Guebuza
Prime minister: Luísa Diogo

NamibiaNamibia history

President: Hifikepunye Pohamba
Prime minister: Nahas Angula

NigerNiger history

President: Mamadou Tandja
Prime minister: Seyni Oumarou

Nigeria: Fourth RepublicNigeria history

President: Umaru Musa Yar'Adua

Republic of Somaliland

President: Dahir Riyale Kahin

Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)Republic of the Congo history

President: Denis Sassou Nguesso
Prime minister: Isidore Mvouba

RwandaRwanda history

President: Paul Kagame
Prime minister: Bernard Makuza

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

President: Mohamed Abdelaziz
Prime Minister: Abdelkader Taleb Omar

São Tomé and Príncipe

President: Fradique de Menezes
Prime minister: Tomé Vera Cruz, then Patrice Trovoada, then Joaquim Rafael Branco

SenegalSenegal history

President: Abdoulaye Wade
Prime minister: Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré

Seychelles

President: James Michel

Sierra LeoneSierra Leone history

President: Ernest Bai Koroma

South AfricaSouth Africa history

President: Thabo Mbeki, then Kgalema Motlanthe
Acting President: Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri

SudanSudan history

President: Omar al-Bashir

SwazilandEswatini history

King: Mswati III
Prime minister: Themba Dlamini, then Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
Acting prime minister: Bheki Dlamini

TanzaniaTanzania history

President: Jakaya Kikwete
Prime minister: Edward Lowassa, then Mizengo Pinda

TogoTogo history

President: Faure Gnassingbé
Prime minister: Komlan Mally, then Gilbert Houngbo

Transitional Federal Government of the Republic of Somalia

President: Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Acting President: Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe
Prime minister: Nur Hassan Hussein

TunisiaTunisia history

President: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Prime minister: Mohamed Ghannouchi

Uganda

President: Yoweri Museveni
Prime minister: Apolo Nsibambi

ZambiaZambia history

President: Levy Mwanawasa, then Rupiah Banda

Zimbabwe

President: Robert Mugabe

Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Baldwin Spencer

ArgentinaArgentina history

President: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

BahamasBahamas history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Hubert Ingraham

BarbadosBarbados history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Owen Arthur, then David Thompson

BelizeBelize history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Said Musa, then Dean Barrow

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

President: Hugo Chávez

BoliviaBolivia history

President: Evo Morales

BrazilBrazil history

President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

CanadaCanada history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Stephen Harper

ChileChile history

President: Michelle Bachelet

ColombiaColombia history

President: Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Costa RicaCosta Rica history

President: Óscar Arias

CubaCuba history

President of the State Council: Fidel Castro, then Raúl Castro
President of the Council of Ministers: Fidel Castro, then Raúl Castro

Dominica

President: Nicholas Liverpool
Prime minister: Roosevelt Skerrit

Dominican RepublicDominican Republic history

President: Leonel Fernández

EcuadorEcuador history

President: Rafael Correa

El SalvadorEl Salvador history

President: Antonio Saca

Grenada

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Keith Mitchell, then Tillman Thomas

GuatemalaGuatemala history

President: Óscar Berger, then Álvaro Colom

GuyanaGuyana history

President: Bharrat Jagdeo
Prime minister: Sam Hinds

HaitiHaiti history

President: René Préval
Prime minister: Jacques-Édouard Alexis, then Michèle Pierre-Louis

HondurasHonduras history

President: Manuel Zelaya

JamaicaJamaica history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Bruce Golding

MexicoMexico history

President: Felipe Calderón

NicaraguaNicaragua history

President: Daniel Ortega

PanamaPanama history

President: Martín Torrijos

ParaguayParaguay history

President: Nicanor Duarte, then Fernando Lugo

PeruPeru history

Constitutional President: Alan García Pérez
Prime Minister: Jorge Del Castillo, then Yehude Simon

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Denzil Douglas

Saint Lucia

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Stephenson King

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Queen: Elizabeth II

SurinameSuriname history

President: Ronald Venetiaan

Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago history

President: George Maxwell Richards
Prime minister: Patrick Manning

United StatesUnited States history

President: George W. Bush

UruguayUruguay history

President: Tabaré Vázquez

Asia

BangladeshBangladesh history

President: Iajuddin Ahmed
Chief adviser: Fakhruddin Ahmed

BhutanBhutan history

Druk Gyalpo: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Prime minister: Kinzang Dorji, then Jigme Thinley

BruneiBrunei history

Sultan: Hassanal Bolkiah

Burma/Myanmar: State Peace and Development Council (1997–2011)

Chairman: Than Shwe
Prime minister: Thein Sein

CambodiaCambodia history

King: Norodom Sihamoni
Prime minister: Hun Sen

ChinaChina history

General Secretary; paramount leader: Hu Jintao
President: Hu Jintao
Premier: Wen Jiabao

CyprusCyprus history

President: Tassos Papadopoulos, then Demetris Christofias

Federal Democratic Republic of NepalNepal history

Acting President: Girija Prasad Koirala
President: Ram Baran Yadav
Prime minister: Girija Prasad Koirala, then Pushpa Kamal Dahal

IndiaIndia history

President: Pratibha Patil
Prime minister: Manmohan Singh

IndonesiaIndonesia history

President: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

IranIran history

Supreme Leader: Ali Khamenei
President: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

President: Hamid Karzai

IsraelIsrael history

President: Shimon Peres
Prime minister: Ehud Olmert

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Yasuo Fukuda, then Tarō Asō

JordanJordan history

King: Abdullah II
Prime minister: Nader al-Dahabi

KazakhstanKazakhstan history

President: Nursultan Nazarbayev

Kingdom of Nepal

King: Gyanendra
Prime minister: Girija Prasad Koirala

KuwaitKuwait history

Emir: Sabah IV
Prime minister: Nasser Al-Mohammed

Kyrgyzstan

President: Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Prime minister: Igor Chudinov

LaosLaos history

General Secretary: Choummaly Sayasone
President: Choummaly Sayasone
Prime minister: Bouasone Bouphavanh

LebanonLebanon history

Acting President: Fouad Siniora
President: Michel Suleiman
Prime minister: Fouad Siniora

MalaysiaMalaysia history

Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu
Prime minister: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Maldives

President: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, then Mohamed Nasheed

MongoliaMongolia history

President: Nambaryn Enkhbayar

North KoreaNorth Korea history

General Secretary: Kim Jong-il
Premier: Kim Yong-il

Northern Cyprus

President: Mehmet Ali Talat
Prime minister: Ferdi Sabit Soyer

OmanOman history

Sultan: Qaboos bin Said

PakistanPakistan history

President: Pervez Musharraf, then Asif Ali Zardari
Acting President: Muhammad Mian Soomro
Acting Prime minister: Muhammad Mian Soomro
Prime minister: Yousaf Raza Gillani

PhilippinesPhilippines history

President: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

QatarQatar history

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

Republic of IraqIraq history

President: Jalal Talabani
Prime minister: Nouri al-Maliki

Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia history

King: Abdullah

SingaporeSingapore history

President: S. R. Nathan
Prime minister: Lee Hsien Loong

South KoreaSouth Korea history

President: Roh Moo-hyun, then Lee Myung-bak
Prime minister: Han Duck-soo

Sri LankaSri Lanka history

President: Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime minister: Ratnasiri Wickremanayake

State of Palestine

President: Mahmoud Abbas
Prime minister: Salam Fayyad

State/ Kingdom of Bahrain

King: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Prime minister: Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

Syria

President: Bashar al-Assad
Prime minister: Muhammad Naji al-Otari

TaiwanTaiwan history

President: Chen Shui-bian, then Ma Ying-jeou
Premier: Chang Chun-hsiung, then Liu Chao-shiuan

TajikistanTajikistan history

President: Emomali Rahmon
Prime minister: Oqil Oqilov

ThailandThailand history

King: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prime minister: Surayud Chulanont, then Samak Sundaravej, then Somchai Wongsawat, then Abhisit Vejjajiva
Acting Prime minister: Chaovarat Chanweerakul

Timor-Leste (independent 2002–present)

President: José Ramos-Horta
Prime minister: Xanana Gusmão

TurkeyTurkey history

President: Abdullah Gül
Prime minister: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkmenistan

President: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates history

President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Prime minister: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

UzbekistanUzbekistan history

President: Islam Karimov
Prime minister: Shavkat Mirziyoyev

VietnamVietnam history

General Secretary: Nông Đức Mạnh
President: Nguyễn Minh Triết
Prime minister: Nguyễn Tấn Dũng

YemenYemen history

Prime minister: Ali Muhammad Mujawar

Europe

(Former Yugoslav) Republic of MacedoniaNorth Macedonia history

President: Branko Crvenkovski
Prime minister: Nikola Gruevski

Abkhazia

President: Sergei Bagapsh
Prime minister: Alexander Ankvab

AlbaniaAlbania history

President: Bamir Topi
Prime minister: Sali Berisha

Andorra

Episcopal Co-Prince: Joan Enric Vives Sicília
French Co-Prince: Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime minister: Albert Pintat

ArmeniaArmenia history

President: Robert Kocharyan, then Serzh Sargsyan
Prime minister: Serzh Sargsyan, then Tigran Sargsyan

AustriaAustria history

President: Heinz Fischer
Chancellor: Alfred Gusenbauer, then Werner Faymann

AzerbaijanAzerbaijan history

President: Ilham Aliyev
Prime minister: Artur Rasizade

BelarusBelarus history

President: Alexander Lukashenko
Prime minister: Sergei Sidorsky

BelgiumBelgium history

King: Albert II
Prime minister: Guy Verhofstadt, then Yves Leterme, then Herman Van Rompuy

Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina history

High Representative: Miroslav Lajčák
Chairman: Željko Komšić, then Nikola Špirić, then Haris Silajdžić, then Nebojša Radmanović
Member: Haris Silajdžić, then Željko Komšić, then Nebojša Radmanović

BulgariaBulgaria history

President: Georgi Parvanov
Prime minister: Sergei Stanishev

CroatiaCroatia history

President: Stjepan Mesić
Prime minister: Ivo Sanader

Czech RepublicCzech Republic history

President: Václav Klaus
Prime Minister: Mirek Topolánek

DenmarkDenmark history

Queen: Margrethe II
Prime minister: Anders Fogh Rasmussen

EstoniaEstonia history

President: Toomas Hendrik Ilves

FinlandFinland history

President: Tarja Halonen
Prime minister: Matti Vanhanen

FranceFrance history

President: Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime minister: François Fillon

Georgia

Acting President: Nino Burjanadze
President: Mikheil Saakashvili
Prime minister: Lado Gurgenidze, then Grigol Mgaloblishvili

GermanyGermany history

President: Horst Köhler
Chancellor: Angela Merkel

GreeceGreece history

President: Karolos Papoulias
Prime minister: Kostas Karamanlis

HungaryHungary history

President: László Sólyom
Prime minister: Ferenc Gyurcsány

IcelandIceland history

President: Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Prime minister: Geir Haarde

ItalyItaly history

President: Giorgio Napolitano
Prime minister: Romano Prodi, then Silvio Berlusconi

LatviaLatvia history

President: Valdis Zatlers
Prime minister: Ivars Godmanis

Liechtenstein

Prince: Hans-Adam II
Prime minister: Otmar Hasler

LithuaniaLithuania history

President: Valdas Adamkus
Prime minister: Gediminas Kirkilas, then Andrius Kubilius

LuxembourgLuxembourg history

Grand Duke: Henri
Prime minister: Jean-Claude Juncker

MaltaMalta history

President: Eddie Fenech Adami
Prime minister: Lawrence Gonzi

MoldovaMoldova history

President: Vladimir Voronin
Prime minister: Vasile Tarlev, then Zinaida Greceanîi

Monaco

Prince: Albert II
Minister of state: Jean-Paul Proust

MontenegroMontenegro history

President: Filip Vujanović
Prime minister: Željko Šturanović, then Milo Đukanović

NorwayNorway history

King: Harald V
Prime minister: Jens Stoltenberg

PolandPoland history

President: Lech Kaczyński
Prime minister: Donald Tusk

PortugalPortugal history

President: Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Prime minister: José Sócrates

Republic of Ireland

President: Mary McAleese
Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern, then Brian Cowen

Republic of KosovoKosovo history

President: Fatmir Sejdiu
Prime minister: Hashim Thaçi

Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh

President: Bako Sahakyan
President of the National Assembly: Ashot Ghulian

RomaniaRomania history

Prime minister: Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, then Emil Boc

RussiaRussia history

President: Vladimir Putin, then Dmitry Medvedev
Prime minister: Viktor Zubkov, then Vladimir Putin

San Marino

Captains Regent: Mirko Tomassoni, then Alberto Selva, then Rosa Zafferani, then Federico Pedini Amati, then Ernesto Benedettini, then Assunta Meloni

SerbiaSerbia history

President: Boris Tadić
Prime minister: Vojislav Koštunica, then Mirko Cvetković

SlovakiaSlovakia history

President: Ivan Gašparovič
Prime minister: Robert Fico

SloveniaSlovenia history

President: Danilo Türk
Prime minister: Janez Janša, then Borut Pahor

South Ossetia

President: Eduard Kokoity
Prime minister: Yury Morozov, then Aslanbek Bulatsev
Acting Prime minister: Boris Chochiev

SpainSpain history

King: Juan Carlos I
Prime minister: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

SwedenSweden history

King: Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime minister: Fredrik Reinfeldt

SwitzerlandSwitzerland history

President of the Confederation: Pascal Couchepin

The Netherlands

Queen: Beatrix
Prime minister: Jan Peter Balkenende

UkraineUkraine history

President: Viktor Yushchenko
Prime minister: Yulia Tymoshenko

UN-administered Kosovo

President: Fatmir Sejdiu
Prime minister: Agim Çeku, then Hashim Thaçi

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown

Vatican City

Sovereign: Benedict XVI

Oceania

AustraliaAustralia history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Kevin Rudd

Cook Islands, state in free association

Queen: Elizabeth II

Federated States of Micronesia

President: Manny Mori

FijiFiji history

President: Josefa Iloilo
Acting Prime minister: Frank Bainimarama

Kiribati

President: Anote Tong

Marshall Islands

President: Kessai Note, then Litokwa Tomeing

Nauru

President: Marcus Stephen

New ZealandNew Zealand history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Helen Clark, then John Key

Palau

Jr., President: Tommy Remengesau

Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Michael Somare

SamoaSamoa history

O le Ao o le Malo: Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi
Prime minister: Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi

Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands history

Queen: Elizabeth II

TongaTonga history

King: George Tupou V
Prime minister: Feleti Sevele

Tuvalu

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Apisai Ielemia

VanuatuVanuatu history

President: Kalkot Mataskelekele
Prime minister: Ham Lini