World leaders in 2009

Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 2009, 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 2009 →

Major powers in 2009

United StatesUnited States history

President: George W. Bush, then Barack Obama

United KingdomUnited Kingdom history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown

RussiaRussia history

President: Dmitry Medvedev
Prime minister: 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: Tarō Asō, then Yukio Hatoyama

IndiaIndia history

President: Pratibha Patil
Prime minister: Manmohan Singh

Africa

AlgeriaAlgeria history

President: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Prime Minister: Ahmed Ouyahia

AngolaAngola history

President: José Eduardo dos Santos
Prime minister: Paulo Kassoma

BeninBenin history

President: Thomas Boni Yayi

BotswanaBotswana history

President: 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, then Philémon Yang

Cape VerdeCape Verde history

President: Pedro Pires
Prime minister: José Maria Neves

Central African Republic

President: François Bozizé
Prime minister: Faustin-Archange Touadéra

ChadChad history

President: Idriss Déby
Prime minister: 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: 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: Ignacio Milam Tang

EritreaEritrea history

President: Isaias Afwerki

EthiopiaEthiopia history

President: Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Prime minister: Meles Zenawi

GabonGabon history

President: Omar Bongo, then Ali Bongo Ondimba
Acting President: Didjob Divungi Di Ndinge, then Rose Francine Rogombé

GambiaGambia history

President: Yahya Jammeh

GhanaGhana history

President: John Kufuor, then John Atta Mills

GuineaGuinea history

President: Moussa Dadis Camara
Acting President: Sékouba Konaté
Prime minister: Kabiné Komara

Guinea-Bissau

President: João Bernardo Vieira, then Malam Bacai Sanhá
Acting President: Raimundo Pereira
Prime minister: Carlos Gomes Júnior

High Transitional Authority: Madagascar

President: Andry Rajoelina

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, then Monja Roindefo, then Eugène Mangalaza, then Albert Camille Vital
Acting Prime minister: Cécile Manorohanta

MalawiMalawi history

President: Bingu wa Mutharika

MaliMali history

President: Amadou Toumani Touré
Prime minister: Modibo Sidibé

MauritaniaMauritania history

Acting President: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, then Ba Mamadou Mbaré
President: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Prime minister: 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, then Ali Badjo Gamatié
Acting Prime minister: Albadé Abouba

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: Joaquim Rafael Branco

SenegalSenegal history

President: Abdoulaye Wade
Prime minister: Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré, then Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye

Seychelles

President: James Michel

Sierra LeoneSierra Leone history

President: Ernest Bai Koroma

South AfricaSouth Africa history

President: Kgalema Motlanthe, then Jacob Zuma

SudanSudan history

President: Omar al-Bashir

SwazilandEswatini history

King: Mswati III
Prime minister: Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini

TanzaniaTanzania history

President: Jakaya Kikwete
Prime minister: Mizengo Pinda

TogoTogo history

President: Faure Gnassingbé
Prime minister: Gilbert Houngbo

Transitional Federal Government of the Republic of Somalia

Acting President: Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe
President: Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
Prime minister: Nur Hassan Hussein, then Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke

TunisiaTunisia history

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

Uganda

President: Yoweri Museveni
Prime minister: Apolo Nsibambi

ZambiaZambia history

President: Rupiah Banda

Zimbabwe

President: Robert Mugabe
Prime minister: Morgan Tsvangirai

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: David Thompson

BelizeBelize history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: 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: Raúl Castro
President of the Council of Ministers: 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, then Mauricio Funes

Grenada

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Tillman Thomas

GuatemalaGuatemala history

President: Álvaro Colom

GuyanaGuyana history

President: Bharrat Jagdeo
Prime minister: Sam Hinds

HaitiHaiti history

President: René Préval
Prime minister: Michèle Pierre-Louis, then Jean-Max Bellerive

HondurasHonduras history

President: Manuel Zelaya
Acting President: Roberto Micheletti

JamaicaJamaica history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: Bruce Golding

MexicoMexico history

President: Felipe Calderón

NicaraguaNicaragua history

President: Daniel Ortega

PanamaPanama history

President: Martín Torrijos, then Ricardo Martinelli

ParaguayParaguay history

President: Fernando Lugo

PeruPeru history

Constitutional President: Alan García Pérez
Prime Minister: Yehude Simon, then Javier Velásquez

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, then Barack Obama

UruguayUruguay history

President: Tabaré Vázquez

Asia

BangladeshBangladesh history

President: Iajuddin Ahmed, then Zillur Rahman
Chief adviser: Fakhruddin Ahmed
Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina

BhutanBhutan history

Druk Gyalpo: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Prime minister: 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: Demetris Christofias

Federal Democratic Republic of NepalNepal history

President: Ram Baran Yadav
Prime minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal, then Madhav Kumar Nepal

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, then Benjamin Netanyahu

JapanJapan history

Emperor: Akihito
Prime minister: Tarō Asō, then Yukio Hatoyama

JordanJordan history

King: Abdullah II
Prime minister: Nader al-Dahabi, then Samir Rifai

KazakhstanKazakhstan history

President: Nursultan Nazarbayev

KuwaitKuwait history

Emir: Sabah IV
Prime minister: Nasser Al-Mohammed

Kyrgyzstan

President: Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Prime minister: Igor Chudinov, then Daniar Usenov

LaosLaos history

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

LebanonLebanon history

President: Michel Suleiman
Prime minister: Fouad Siniora, then Saad Hariri

MalaysiaMalaysia history

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

Maldives

President: Mohamed Nasheed

MongoliaMongolia history

President: Nambaryn Enkhbayar, then Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
Prime minister: Sükhbaataryn Batbold

North KoreaNorth Korea history

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

Northern Cyprus

President: Mehmet Ali Talat
Prime minister: Ferdi Sabit Soyer, then Derviş Eroğlu

OmanOman history

Sultan: Qaboos bin Said

PakistanPakistan history

President: Asif Ali Zardari
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: Lee Myung-bak
Prime minister: Chung Un-chan

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: Ma Ying-jeou
Premier: Liu Chao-shiuan, then Wu Den-yih

TajikistanTajikistan history

President: Emomali Rahmon
Prime minister: Oqil Oqilov

ThailandThailand history

King: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prime minister: Abhisit Vejjajiva

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, then Gjorge Ivanov
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, then Jaume Bartumeu

ArmeniaArmenia history

President: Serzh Sargsyan
Prime minister: Tigran Sargsyan

AustriaAustria history

President: Heinz Fischer
Chancellor: 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: Herman Van Rompuy, then Yves Leterme

Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina history

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

BulgariaBulgaria history

President: Georgi Parvanov
Prime minister: Sergei Stanishev, then Boyko Borisov

CroatiaCroatia history

President: Stjepan Mesić
Prime minister: Ivo Sanader, then Jadranka Kosor

Czech RepublicCzech Republic history

President: Václav Klaus
Prime Minister: Mirek Topolánek, then Jan Fischer

DenmarkDenmark history

Queen: Margrethe II
Prime minister: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then Lars Løkke 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

President: Mikheil Saakashvili
Prime minister: Grigol Mgaloblishvili, then Nika Gilauri

GermanyGermany history

President: Horst Köhler
Chancellor: Angela Merkel

GreeceGreece history

President: Karolos Papoulias
Prime minister: Kostas Karamanlis, then George Papandreou

HungaryHungary history

President: László Sólyom
Prime minister: Ferenc Gyurcsány, then Gordon Bajnai

IcelandIceland history

President: Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Prime minister: Geir Haarde, then Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

ItalyItaly history

President: Giorgio Napolitano
Prime minister: Silvio Berlusconi

LatviaLatvia history

President: Valdis Zatlers
Prime minister: Ivars Godmanis, then Valdis Dombrovskis

Liechtenstein

Prince: Hans-Adam II
Prime minister: Otmar Hasler, then Klaus Tschütscher

LithuaniaLithuania history

President: Valdas Adamkus, then Dalia Grybauskaitė
Prime minister: Andrius Kubilius

LuxembourgLuxembourg history

Grand Duke: Henri
Prime minister: Jean-Claude Juncker

MaltaMalta history

President: Eddie Fenech Adami, then George Abela
Prime minister: Lawrence Gonzi

MoldovaMoldova history

President: Vladimir Voronin
Acting President: Mihai Ghimpu
Prime minister: Zinaida Greceanîi, then Vlad Filat
Acting Prime minister: Vitalie Pîrlog

Monaco

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

MontenegroMontenegro history

President: Filip Vujanović
Prime minister: 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: 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: Emil Boc

RussiaRussia history

President: Dmitry Medvedev
Prime minister: Vladimir Putin

San Marino

Captains Regent: Ernesto Benedettini, then Assunta Meloni, then Oscar Mina, then Massimo Cenci, then Stefano Palmieri, then Francesco Mussoni

SerbiaSerbia history

President: Boris Tadić
Prime minister: Mirko Cvetković

SlovakiaSlovakia history

President: Ivan Gašparovič
Prime minister: Robert Fico

SloveniaSlovenia history

President: Danilo Türk
Prime minister: Borut Pahor

South Ossetia

President: Eduard Kokoity
Prime minister: Aslanbek Bulatsev, then Vadim Brovtsev

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: Hans-Rudolf Merz

The Netherlands

Queen: Beatrix
Prime minister: Jan Peter Balkenende

UkraineUkraine history

President: Viktor Yushchenko
Prime minister: Yulia Tymoshenko

UN-administered Kosovo

President: Fatmir Sejdiu

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, then Epeli Nailatikau
Acting Prime minister: Frank Bainimarama

Kiribati

President: Anote Tong

Marshall Islands

President: Litokwa Tomeing, then Jurelang Zedkaia
Acting President: Ruben Zackhras

Nauru

President: Marcus Stephen

New ZealandNew Zealand history

Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: John Key

Palau

Jr., President: Tommy Remengesau
President: Johnson Toribiong

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, then Iolu Abil
Acting President: Maxime Carlot Korman