List of current longest-ruling non-royal national leaders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This list of current longest ruling non-royal national leaders is a list of the current living longest ruling heads of nation-states or national governments, who are not royalty, and have served ten years or longer, sorted by length of tenure.
The individuals on the list are not always the most powerful figure in their country's national government. Some are or have been at one time the most powerful figure in their country's national government but not necessarily continuously throughout the listed timespan. Some of them have held more than one national leadership level office: presidency, prime minister-ship, or some other title implying or widely believed to confer national leadership. When more than one such office exists in a country, there may be uncertainty as to which member of the national government actually has the ultimate power. Therefore, this list combines all national level offices held concurrently or consecutively by each individual leader.
Rank Image Name Country Office Tenure began Length of tenure
Paul Biya with Obamas cropped.jpg
Paul Biya Cameroon Prime Minister, then President[1] 30 June 1975 42 years, 212 days
Teodoro Obiang detail, 1650FRP051.jpg
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Equatorial Guinea President[2] 3 August 1979 38 years, 178 days
Ali Khamenei receives Heinz Fischer in his house (6).jpg
Ali Khamenei Iran President, then
Supreme Leader[3] 13 October 1981 36 years, 107 days
Denis Sassou Nguesso 2014.png
Denis Sassou Nguesso Republic of the Congo President[4] 8 February 1979 – 31 August 1992 (1st time)
25 October 1997 – present (2nd time) 33 years, 300 days
Hun Sen.jpg
Hun Sen Cambodia Prime Minister[5] 14 January 1985 33 years, 14 days
Museveni July 2012 Cropped.jpg
Yoweri Museveni Uganda President 26 January 1986 32 years, 2 days
Nursultan Nazarbayev 27092007.jpg
Nursultan Nazarbayev Kazakhstan First Secretary, then President[6] 22 June 1989 28 years, 220 days
Omar al-Bashir, 12th AU Summit, 090202-N-0506A-137 cropped.jpg
Omar al-Bashir Sudan President[7] 30 June 1989 28 years, 212 days
Idriss Déby at the White House in 2014.jpg
Idriss Déby Chad President[8] 2 December 1990 27 years, 57 days
President Isaias Afewerk.jpg
Isaias Afwerki Eritrea President[9] 27 April 1991 26 years, 276 days
Emomali Rahmon-1.jpg
Emomali Rahmon Tajikistan Acting Head of State,
then President[10] 19 November 1992 25 years, 70 days
Paul Kagame Portrait 2016-10-14.jpg
Paul Kagame Rwanda Vice-President, then President[11] 19 July 1994 23 years, 193 days
Alexander Lukashenko 2007 cropped.jpg
Alexander Lukashenko Belarus President 20 July 1994 23 years, 192 days
Artur Rasizadə (2009).jpg
Artur Rasizade Azerbaijan Prime Minister[12] 20 July 1996 – 4 August 2003 (1st time)
6 August 2003 – present (2nd time) 21 years, 190 days
Daniel Ortega (cropped).jpg
Daniel Ortega Nicaragua Acting Head of State,
then President[13] 4 March 1981 – 25 April 1990 (1st time)
10 January 2007 – present (2nd time) 20 years, 70 days
Kim Yong-nam in Moscow.jpg
Kim Yong-nam North Korea President of the Presidium
of the Supreme People's
Assembly[14] 5 September 1998 19 years, 145 days
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi 2013 (cropped).jpg
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi Samoa Prime Minister 23 November 1998 19 years, 66 days
Abdelaziz Bouteflika.jpg
Abdelaziz Bouteflika Algeria President 27 April 1999 18 years, 276 days
Ismail Omar Guelleh 2010.jpg
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Djibouti President 8 May 1999 18 years, 265 days
Vladimir Putin - 2006.jpg
Vladimir Putin Russia Prime Minister, then President[15] 9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000 (1st term as Prime Minister)
8 May 2000 – 7 May 2008 (1st term as President)
8 May 2008 – 7 May 2012 (2nd term as Prime Minister)
7 May 2012 – present (2nd term as President) 18 years, 172 days
Keith Mitchell.jpg
Keith Mitchell Grenada Prime Minister 22 June 1995 – 9 July 2008 (1st time)
20 February 2013 – present (2nd time) 17 years, 359 days
Hage Geingob.jpg
Hage Geingob Namibia Prime Minister, then President[16] 21 March 1990 – 28 August 2002 (1st time)
4 December 2012 – present (2nd time) 17 years, 215 days
Bashar al-Assad (cropped).jpg
Bashar al-Assad Syria President 17 July 2000 17 years, 195 days
Joseph Kabila 2014.png
Joseph Kabila Democratic Republic of the Congo President 17 January 2001 17 years, 11 days
Ralph Gonsalves (cropped).jpg
Ralph Gonsalves Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister 29 March 2001 16 years, 305 days
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini 2011.jpg
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini Swaziland Prime Minister 26 July 1996 – 29 September 2003 (1st time)
23 October 2008 – present (2nd time) 16 years, 161 days
President Bouterse (cropped).JPG
Dési Bouterse Suriname De facto Head of State,
then President[17] 25 February 1980 – 25 January 1988 (1st time)
12 August 2010 – present (2nd time) 15 years, 138 days
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Poland.jpg
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Turkey Prime Minister, then President[18] 14 March 2003 14 years, 320 days
F Vujanovic (crop).jpg
Filip Vujanović Montenegro President[19] 22 May 2003 14 years, 251 days
Ilham Aliyev in Poland, 2008.jpg
Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan Prime Minister, then President[20] 4 August 2003 14 years, 177 days
Abdelkader Taleb Omar.jpg
Abdelkader Taleb Omar Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Prime Minister 29 October 2003 14 years, 91 days
Sh.Mirziyoyev.jpg
Shavkat Mirziyoyev Uzbekistan Prime Minister, then President[21] 12 December 2003 14 years, 47 days
Sheikh Hasina in London cropped.jpg
Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh Prime Minister 23 June 1996 – 15 July 2001 (1st time)
6 January 2009 – present (2nd time) 14 years, 44 days
RooseveltSkerrit.jpg
Roosevelt Skerrit Dominica Prime Minister 8 January 2004 14 years, 20 days
Mahmoud Abbas 2007.jpg
Mahmoud Abbas Palestine Prime Minister, then President[22] 19 March 2003 – 6 September 2003 (1st time)
15 January 2005 – present (2nd time) 13 years, 184 days
Lee Hsien Loong - 20101112.jpg
Lee Hsien Loong Singapore Prime Minister 12 August 2004 13 years, 169 days
Tommy Remengesau.jpg
Tommy Remengesau Palau President 1 January 2001 – 15 January 2009 (1st time)
17 January 2013 – present (2nd time) 13 years, 25 days
Faure Gnassingbé 2014.png
Faure Gnassingbé Togo President[23] 5 February 2005 – 25 February 2005 (1st time)
4 May 2005 – present (2nd time) 12 years, 289 days
Salva Kiir Mayardit at the White House (cropped).jpg
Salva Kiir Mayardit South Sudan President[24] 30 July 2005 12 years, 182 days
Pierre Nkurunziza 2014 Blue Room White House (cropped).jpg
Pierre Nkurunziza Burundi President 26 August 2005 12 years, 155 days
Angela Merkel August 2014.jpg
Angela Merkel Germany Federal Chancellor 22 November 2005 12 years, 67 days
Evo Morales 2011.jpg
Evo Morales Bolivia President 22 January 2006 12 years, 6 days
Benjamin Netanyahu portrait.jpg
Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Prime Minister 18 June 1996 – 6 July 1999 (1st time)
31 March 2009 – present (2nd time) 11 years, 320 days
Viktor Orbán 2016-02-17.jpg
Viktor Orbán Hungary Prime Minister 6 July 1998 – 27 May 2002 (1st time)
29 May 2010 – present (2nd time) 11 years, 204 days
Raúl Castro, July 2012.jpeg
Raúl Castro Cuba First Secretary, President
and Prime Minister[25] 31 July 2006 11 years, 181 days
Doris Leuthard 2011.jpg
Doris Leuthard Switzerland Federal Council Member,
formerly President[26] 1 August 2006 11 years, 180 days
Frank Bainimarama November 2014.jpg
Frank Bainimarama Fiji Acting Head of State,
then Prime Minister[27] 29 May 2000 – 13 July 2000 (1st time)
5 December 2006 – present (2nd time) 11 years, 99 days
Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov with Obamas cropped.jpg
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Turkmenistan President[28] 21 December 2006 11 years, 38 days
Serzh Sargsyan cropped.jpg
Serzh Sargsyan Armenia Prime Minister, then President[29] 25 March 2007 – 9 April 2008 (as Prime Minister)
9 April 2008 – present (as President) 10 years, 309 days
Ahmed Ouyahia 2011-05-29.jpg
Ahmed Ouyahia Algeria Prime Minister 31 December 1995 – 15 December 1998 (1st time)
5 May 2003 – 24 May 2006 (2nd time)
23 June 2008 – 3 September 2012 (3rd time)
16 August 2017 – present (4th time) 10 years, 240 days
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta par Claude Truong-Ngoc décembre 2013 (cropped).jpg
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Mali Prime Minister, then President[30] 4 February 1994 – 15 February 2000 (1st time)
4 September 2013 – present (2nd time) 10 years, 157 days
Bako Sahakyan.jpg
Bako Sahakyan Artsakh[31] President 7 September 2007 10 years, 143 days
Ernest Bai Koroma February 2015.jpg
Ernest Bai Koroma Sierra Leone President 17 September 2007 10 years, 133 days
Alassane Ouattara a Washington en Juillet 2011.png
Alassane Ouattara Côte d'Ivoire Prime Minister, then President[32] 7 November 1990 – 9 December 1993 (1st time)
4 December 2010 – present (2nd time) 10 years, 87 days
