List of current longest-ruling non-royal national leaders

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, excluding royalty, who have served ten years or longer, sorted by length of tenure. Heads of generally recognized sovereign states are ranked by number, while heads of sovereign states with limited international recognition are listed in italics and are not given a numbered rank.

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 figures 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 Age Country Office Tenure began Length of tenure
1.
Paul Biya 87  Cameroon Prime Minister, then President[1] 30 June 1975 45 years, 50 days
2.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo 78  Equatorial Guinea President[2] 3 August 1979 41 years, 16 days
3.
Ali Khamenei 81  Iran President, then
Supreme Leader[3]		 13 October 1981 38 years, 311 days
4.
Denis Sassou Nguesso 76  Republic of the Congo President[4] 8 February 1979 – 31 August 1992 (1st time)
25 October 1997 – present (2nd time)		 36 years, 138 days
5.
Hun Sen 68  Cambodia Prime Minister[5] 26 December 1984 35 years, 237 days
6.
Yoweri Museveni 75  Uganda President 26 January 1986 34 years, 206 days
7.
Idriss Déby 68  Chad President[6] 2 December 1990 29 years, 261 days
8.
Nursultan Nazarbayev 80  Kazakhstan Chairman of the
Security Council,
formerly President[7]		 16 December 1991 28 years, 247 days
9.
Emomali Rahmon 67  Tajikistan De facto Head of State, then
President[8]		 19 November 1992 27 years, 274 days
10.
Isaias Afwerki 74  Eritrea President[9] 24 May 1993 27 years, 87 days
11.
Paul Kagame 62  Rwanda Acting Head of State, then President[10] 19 July 1994 26 years, 31 days
12.
Alexander Lukashenko 65  Belarus President 20 July 1994 26 years, 30 days
13.
Daniel Ortega 74  Nicaragua Acting Head of State, then
President[11]		 4 March 1981 – 25 April 1990 (1st time)
10 January 2007 – present (2nd time)		 22 years, 274 days
14.
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi 75  Samoa Prime Minister 23 November 1998 21 years, 270 days
15.
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh 72  Djibouti President 8 May 1999 21 years, 103 days
16.
Vladimir Putin 67  Russia Prime Minister, then President[12] 9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000 (1st term as Prime Minister)
8 May 2000 – 7 May 2008 (1st & 2nd terms as President)
8 May 2008 – 7 May 2012 (2nd term as Prime Minister)
7 May 2012 – present (3rd & 4th terms as President)		 21 years, 10 days
17.
Keith Mitchell 73  Grenada Prime Minister 22 June 1995 – 9 July 2008 (1st time)
20 February 2013 – present (2nd time)		 20 years, 198 days
18.
Hage Geingob 79  Namibia Prime Minister, then President[13] 21 March 1990 – 28 August 2002 (1st time)
4 December 2012 – present (2nd time)		 20 years, 53 days
19.
Bashar al-Assad 54  Syria President 17 July 2000 20 years, 33 days
20.
Ralph Gonsalves 74  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister 29 March 2001 19 years, 143 days
21.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 66  Turkey Prime Minister, then President[14] 14 March 2003 17 years, 158 days
22.
Ilham Aliyev 58  Azerbaijan Prime Minister, then President[15] 4 August 2003 17 years, 15 days
23.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev 63  Uzbekistan Prime Minister, then President[16] 12 December 2003 16 years, 251 days
24.
Sheikh Hasina 72  Bangladesh Prime Minister 23 June 1996 – 15 July 2001 (1st time)
6 January 2009 – present (2nd time)		 16 years, 248 days
25.
Roosevelt Skerrit 48  Dominica Prime Minister 8 January 2004 16 years, 224 days
–
Mahmoud Abbas 84  Palestine Prime Minister, then President[17] 19 March 2003 – 6 September 2003 (1st time)
15 January 2005 – present (2nd time)		 16 years, 22 days
26.
Lee Hsien Loong 68  Singapore Prime Minister 12 August 2004 16 years, 7 days
27.
Tommy Remengesau 64  Palau President 1 January 2001 – 15 January 2009 (1st time)
17 January 2013 – present (2nd time)		 15 years, 229 days
28.
Faure Gnassingbé 54  Togo President[18] 5 February 2005 – 25 February 2005 (1st time)
4 May 2005 – present (2nd time)		 15 years, 127 days
29.
Angela Merkel 66  Germany Federal Chancellor 22 November 2005 14 years, 271 days
30.
Benjamin Netanyahu 70  Israel Prime Minister 18 June 1996 – 6 July 1999 (1st time)
31 March 2009 – present (2nd time)		 14 years, 158 days
31.
Viktor Orbán 57  Hungary Prime Minister 6 July 1998 – 27 May 2002 (1st time)
29 May 2010 – present (2nd time)		 14 years, 42 days
32.
Raúl Castro 89  Cuba First Secretary, formerly
President and
Prime Minister[19]		 31 July 2006 14 years, 19 days
33.
Frank Bainimarama 66  Fiji Acting Head of State, then
Prime Minister[20]		 29 May 2000 – 13 July 2000 (1st time)
5 December 2006 – present (2nd time)		 13 years, 303 days
34.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow 63  Turkmenistan President[21] 21 December 2006 13 years, 242 days
35.
Alassane Ouattara 78  Côte d'Ivoire Prime Minister, then President[22] 7 November 1990 – 9 December 1993 (1st time)
4 December 2010 – present (2nd time)		 12 years, 291 days
36.
Dean Barrow 69  Belize Prime Minister 8 February 2008 12 years, 193 days
37.
Mahinda Rajapaksa 74  Sri Lanka Prime Minister[23] 6 April 2004 – 19 November 2005 (1st term as Prime Minister)
19 November 2005 – 9 January 2015 (Term as President)
26 October 2018 – 15 December 2018 (2nd disputed term as Prime Minister)[24]
21 November 2019 – present (3rd term as Prime Minister)		 11 years, 235 days
38.
Ueli Maurer 69   Switzerland Federal Council Member,
formerly President[25]		 1 January 2009 11 years, 231 days
39.
Macky Sall 58  Senegal Prime Minister, then President[26] 21 April 2004 – 19 June 2007 (1st time)
2 April 2012 – present (2nd time)		 11 years, 199 days
40.
Miloš Zeman 75  Czech Republic Prime Minister, then President[27] 22 July 1998 – 15 July 2002 (1st time)
8 March 2013 – present (2nd time)		 11 years, 157 days
–
Hashim Thaçi 52  Kosovo Prime Minister, then President[28] 17 February 2008 – 9 December 2014 (1st time)
7 April 2016 – present (2nd time)		 11 years, 64 days
41.
Azali Assoumani 61  Comoros President[29] 30 April 1999 – 21 January 2002 (1st time)
6 May 2002 – 26 May 2006 (2nd time)
26 May 2016 – present (3rd time)		 11 years, 6 days
42.
Borut Pahor 56  Slovenia Prime Minister, then President[30] 21 November 2008 – 10 February 2012 (1st time)
22 December 2012 – present (2nd time)		 10 years, 322 days
43.
Ali Bongo Ondimba 61  Gabon President 16 October 2009 10 years, 308 days
44.
Mahamadou Issoufou 69  Niger Prime Minister, then President[31] 17 April 1993 – 28 September 1994 (1st time)
7 April 2011 – present (2nd time)		 10 years, 299 days
–
Arayik Harutyunyan 46  Artsakh Prime Minister, then President[32] 14 September 2007 – 25 September 2017 (1st time)
21 May 2020 – present (2nd time)		 10 years, 101 days

Footnotes
  1. Was Prime Minister of Cameroon from 30 June 1975 to 6 November 1982
  2. Was Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council / Supreme Military Council of Equatorial Guinea from 3 August 1979 to 12 October 1982
  3. Was President of Iran from 13 October 1981 to 2 August 1989, leaving the presidency close to two months after becoming Supreme Leader. Was approved as Supreme Leader of Iran by the Assembly of Experts and sworn in on 4 June 1989, shortly after the death of the founder of this Shia Islamic republic, Ruhollah Khomeini.
  4. Was previously President from 8 February 1979 to 31 August 1992, when the country was a one-Party state known as the People's Republic of the Congo
  5. Was Acting Prime Minister of the Vietnam-occupation one-Party state called the People's Republic of Kampuchea from 26 December 1984 to 14 January 1985, then Prime Minister of the Vietnam-occupation one-Party state People's Republic of Kampuchea from 14 January 1985 to 1 May 1989. Was also Prime Minister during the entire existence of the State of Cambodia from 1 May 1989 to 24 September 1993.
  6. Was President of the Council of State of Chad from 2 December 1990 to 4 March 1991
  7. Was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR from 22 June 1989 to 14 December 1991, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Speaker of Parliament and de facto head of state) of the Kazakh SSR from 22 February 1990 to 24 April 1990, and President of the Kazakh SSR from 24 April 1990 to 16 December 1991, on which date Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union. He has an emeritus position as permanent Chairman of the Kazakh National Security Council from 12 July 2018 to the present.
  8. Was Chairman of the Supreme Assembly (Speaker of Parliament) of Tajikistan – de facto head of state – from 19 November 1992 to 16 November 1994
  9. Was Secretary-General of the Provisional Government of Eritrea from 27 April 1991 to 24 May 1993, when Eritrea declared independence from Ethiopia.
  10. Was the Vice President of Rwanda and Commander in Chief of the Rwandan Patriotic Army while he was the Acting Head of State from 19 July 1994 to 22 April 2000.
  11. Was a member of the Nicaraguan Junta of National Reconstruction from 18 July 1979 to 4 March 1981, then the Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction (effectively the head of state) from 4 March 1981 to 10 January 1985; he was then President from 10 January 1985 to 25 April 1990.
  12. Was Prime Minister of Russia from 9 August 1999 to 7 May 2000 and Acting President from 31 December 1999 to 7 May 2000; then President of Russia from 7 May 2000 to 7 May 2008; then Prime Minister again from 8 May 2008 to 7 May 2012.
  13. Was Prime Minister of Namibia from 21 March 1990 to 28 August 2002 and 4 December 2012 to 21 March 2015
  14. Was Prime Minister of Turkey from 14 March 2003 to 28 August 2014
  15. Was Acting President of Azerbaijan from 6 August 2003 to 31 October 2003
  16. Was Prime Minister of Uzbekistan from 12 December 2003 to 14 December 2016, and Acting President from 8 September 2016 to 14 December 2016.
  17. Was Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority from 19 March 2003 to 6 September 2003
  18. Was President of Togo from 5 February 2005 to 25 February 2005, when it was disputed whether he had inherited the presidency from his deceased father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma.
  19. Was Acting President and Acting Prime Minister of Cuba from 31 July 2006 to 24 February 2008, then President and Prime Minister of Cuba from 24 February 2008 to 19 April 2018; and Acting First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 31 July 2006 to 19 April 2011. Under the one-Party system, the position of First Secretary is a more important and powerful office than the Presidency of Cuba.
  20. Was President of the first Interim Military Government of Fiji from 29 May 2000 to 13 July 2000; then President of a second Interim Military Government of Fiji from 5 December 2006 to 4 January 2007. Was Acting Prime Minister from 5 January 2007 to 22 September 2014.
  21. Was Acting President of Turkmenistan from 21 December 2006 to 14 February 2007
  22. Was Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 7 November 1990 to 9 December 1993. The Presidency was disputed between Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo from 4 December 2010 to 11 April 2011.
  23. Was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 6 April 2004 to 19 November 2005, President of Sri Lanka from 19 November 2005 to 9 January 2015, then the disputed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (with Ranil Wickremesinghe) from 26 October 2018 to 15 December 2018.
  24. The office of Prime Minister was disputed between Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe from 26 October 2018 to 15 December 2018.
  25. The Swiss Federal Council is a collective seven-member head of state. Maurer previously served as chairperson of the Federal Council, i.e. the President of the Swiss Confederation, in the constitutional customary one-year period from 1 January to 31 December 2013 and 1 January to 31 December 2019. From 1 January to 31 December 2012 and 1 January to 31 December 2018, he was the deputy chairperson of the Federal Council, or Vice President of Switzerland.
  26. Was Prime Minister of Senegal from 21 April 2004 to 19 June 2007
  27. Was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 22 July 1998 to 15 July 2002
  28. Was provisional Prime Minister of the mostly unrecognized Republic of Kosova from 2 April 1999 to 1 February 2000, Prime Minister of UN-administered Kosovo from 9 January 2008 to 17 February 2008, and Prime Minister of independent Kosovo from 17 February 2008 to 9 December 2014. Kosovo did not gain independence until 17 February 2008, being part of Serbia.
  29. Was Chief of Staff of the National Development Army (de facto leader of the Comoros) from 30 April 1999 to 6 May 1999, Head of State of the Comoros from 6 May 1999 to 21 January 2002, then the elected President from 6 May 2002 to 26 May 2006.
  30. Was Prime Minister of Slovenia from 21 November 2008 to 10 February 2012
  31. Was Prime Minister of Niger from 17 April 1993 to 28 September 1994
  32. Was Prime Minister of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh from 14 September 2007 to 25 September 2017. The country was called the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh until 10 March 2017.

See also
  • Rulers.org List of rulers throughout time and places
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