List of current longest ruling non-royal leaders
Encyclopedia
This list of current longest ruling non-royal national leaders is a list of the 50 current longest ruling heads of nation-states or national governments, who are not royalty
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

, sorted by length of tenure.

The individuals on the list were not necessarily the most powerful figure in their country's national government throughout the listed timespan. Some of them have held more than one national leadership level office: presidency, prime ministership, 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 greatest power. This list combines all national leader level offices held concurrently or consecutively by each individual.
Rank Name Country Office Tenure Began Length of Tenure
1. Paul Biya
Paul Biya
Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who has been the President of Cameroon since 6 November 1982. A native of Cameroon's south, Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime...

 Cameroon Prime Minister, then President 30 June 1975
2. Mohamed Abdelaziz
Mohamed Abdelaziz
Mohamed Abdelaziz is the 3rd and current Secretary General of the Polisario Front and President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since 1976...

 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic President and General Secretary 30 August 1976
3. Ali Abdullah Saleh
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen. He is the...

 Yemen Arab Republic/
 Yemen
President 18 July 1978
4. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s...

 Equatorial Guinea President 3 August 1979
5. José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been the second and current President of Angola since 1979. As President, José Eduardo dos Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces and president of the MPLA , the party that has been ruling Angola since...

 Angola President 10 September 1979
6. Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...

 Zimbabwe Prime Minister, then President 18 April 1980
7. Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...

 Iran President, then Supreme Leader 13 October 1981
8. Hun Sen
Hun Sen
Hun Sen is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia.He has been the sole leader of the Cambodian People's Party , which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979...

/
 Cambodia
Prime Minister 14 January 1985
9. Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...

 Uganda President 26 January 1986
10. Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré has been the President of Burkina Faso since 1987 following a coup d'état that ousted then-President Thomas Sankara. In 2011, a mutiny by soldiers over unpaid housing allowances forced him to flee the capital for his hometown...

 Burkina Faso President 15 October 1987
11. Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...

 Kazakhstan First Secretary, then President 22 June 1989
12. Islam Karimov  Uzbekistan First Secretary, then President 23 June 1989
13. Omar al-Bashir
Omar al-Bashir
Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...

 Sudan President 30 June 1989
14. Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby
General Idriss Déby Itno is the President of Chad and the head of the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He added "Itno" to his surname in January 2006.-Rise to power:...

 Chad President 2 December 1990
15. Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...

 Ethiopia Interim President, then Prime Minister 28 May 1991
16. Emomalii Rahmon  Tajikistan President 19 November 1992
17. Isaias Afewerki
Isaias Afewerki
Isaias Afewerki is the first and current President of Eritrea, attaining that status when he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front to victory in May 1991, thus ending the 30-year old armed liberation struggle that the Eritrean people refer to as "Gedli".-Early life and rise to power:Afewerki...

 Eritrea President 24 May 1993
18. Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim born 16 February 1941 or 16 February 1942 , is the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...

 North Korea Supreme Leader 8 July 1994
19. Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...

 Belarus President 20 July 1994
20. Yahya Jammeh
Yahya Jammeh
Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh is the President of The Gambia...

 The Gambia President 22 July 1994
21. Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker is a Luxembourg politician, 23rd and current Prime Minister of Luxembourg, since 20 January 1995. He is the longest standing head of government of any European Union state...

 Luxembourg Prime Minister 20 January 1995
22. Denzil Douglas
Denzil Douglas
Denzil Llewellyn Douglas has been Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis since July 1995. He leads the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. He is the longest serving Prime Minister Saint Kitts and Nevis has ever had....

 Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister 7 July 1995
23. Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is the fifth and current President of Iceland. He has served as President since 1996; he was unopposed in 2000, re-elected for a third term in 2004, and re-elected unopposed for a fourth term in 2008. He is the longest-serving left-wing president in the history of...

 Iceland President 1 August 1996
24. Denis Sassou Nguesso
Denis Sassou Nguesso
Denis Sassou Nguesso is a Congolese politician who has been the President of Congo-Brazzaville since 1997; he was previously President from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as President, he headed the single-party regime of the Congolese Labour Party for 12 years...

 Republic of the Congo President 15 October 1997
25. Pakalitha Mosisili
Pakalitha Mosisili
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili has been the Prime Minister of Lesotho since May 29, 1998. He led his party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy , to a near-total victory in the 1998 election, and under his leadership the party also won majorities in the 2002 and 2007 elections...

 Lesotho Prime Minister 29 May 1998
26. Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi is a Samoan politician who has been Prime Minister of Samoa since 1998.-Biography:Born at Lepa, Samoa, Malielegaoi is an economist by profession...

 Samoa Prime Minister 23 November 1998
27. Hugo Chávez Frías  Venezuela President 2 February 1999
28. Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the ninth President of Algeria. He has been in office since 1999. He continued emergency rule until 24 February 2011, and presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002...

 Algeria President 27 April 1999
29. Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the President of Djibouti. He succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999. He is often referred to in the region by his initials 'IOG'....

 Djibouti President 8 May 1999
30. Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 Russia Prime Minister, then President
Currently Prime Minister
9 August 1999
31. Bharrat Jagdeo
Bharrat Jagdeo
Bharrat Jagdeo is a Guyanese politician who has been President of Guyana since 11 August 1999. Prior to his presidency he was Minister of Finance and became President after Janet Jagan resigned for health reasons; subsequently he won two elections, in 2001 and 2006.Jagdeo was born in Unity Village...

 Guyana President 9 August 1999
32. Sam Hinds
Sam Hinds
Samuel Archibald Anthony Hinds is a Guyanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Guyana almost continuously since 1992...

 Guyana Prime Minister 11 August 1999
33. Oqil Oqilov  Tajikistan Prime Minister 20 December 1999
34. Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...

 Finland President 1 March 2000
35. Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...

 Rwanda President 24 March 2000
36. Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party and has led the party since it was founded in 1974...

 Senegal President 1 April 2000
37. Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...

 Syria President 17 July 2000
38. Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

President 17 January 2001
39. José Maria Neves
José Maria Neves
José Maria Pereira Neves on the island of Santiago , is the Prime Minister of Cape Verde.“José Maria Neves became interested in the politics and government of Cape Verde as a teen-ager.” “He was the leader of a nationalist youth organization during the country’s transition from Portuguese rule to...

 Cape Verde Prime Minister 1 February 2001
40. Dileita Mohamed Dileita
Dileita Mohamed Dileita
Dileita Mohamed Dileita has been the Prime Minister of Djibouti since March 2001. He is the Vice-President of the main governing party, the People's Rally for Progress , and is the President of the governing coalition, the Union for a Presidential Majority .-Biography:Dileita was born in Tadjoura...

 Djibouti Prime Minister 4 March 2001
41. Ralph Gonsalves
Ralph Gonsalves
Ralph Everard Gonsalves , also known as "Comrade Ralph", is the fourth and current Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and leader of the Unity Labour Party . Gonsalves became Prime Minister after his party won a majority government in the 2001 general election...

 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister 29 March 2001
42. Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Girma Wolde-Giorgis is the current President of Ethiopia.- Political career :He was elected President on 8 October 2001, as a relative unknown and a surprise choice, by a unanimous vote of the Ethiopian Parliament. The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power...

 Ethiopia President 8 October 2001
43. Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...

 Afghanistan President 22 December 2001
44. Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov is a President of Bulgaria, whose second and last mandate expires on January 22, 2012; he was elected after defeating his predecessor Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2001 and he came into office on January 22, 2002...

 Kingdom of Bulgaria President 22 January 2002
45. Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...

 Mali President 8 June 2002
46. Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...

 People's Republic of China General Secretary and President 15 November 2002
47. Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...

 Kenya President 30 December 2002
48. Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...

 Czech Republic President 7 March 2003
49. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...

 Turkey Prime Minister 14 March 2003
50. François Bozizé
François Bozizé
François Bozizé Yangouvonda is the President of the Central African Republic. He came to power in March 2003 after leading a rebellion against President Ange-Félix Patassé and ushered in a transitional period of government...

 Central African Republic President 15 March 2003

See also

  • Current reigning monarchs by length of reign
  • List of current state leaders by date of assumption of office
  • List of longest ruling non-royal national leaders
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