List of longest-ruling non-royal national leaders since 1900

This list details national leaders since 1900 who ruled for 30 years or more, and were not self-described royalty. It also combines all national leader level offices held concurrently or consecutively by each individual.

Rank	Name	Country	Title	Term began	Term ended	Term length
1	Fidel Castro	Cuba	First Secretary Prime Minister President Maximum Leader	16 February 1959 [1]	19 April 2011 [1]	52 years, 62 days
2	Chiang Kai-shek	Republic of China (1912–1949)  Republic of China on Taiwan (1949–present)	Chairman of the National Government Premier of the Republic/Director-General of the Kuomintang Generalissimo President	9 July 1926 (1st time) 6 March 1932 (2nd time) 1 March 1950 (3rd time)	15 December 1931 (1st time) 21 January 1949 (2nd time) 5 April 1975 (3rd time)	48 years, 270 days (22 years, 196 days in Mainland China) (25 years, 35 days on Taiwan)[Note 1]
3	Kim Il-sung	North Korea	General Secretary Premier President [Note 2] Generalissimo	9 September 1948	8 July 1994	45 years, 302 days
4	Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal	Mongolian People's Republic	General Secretary Prime Minister President	8 April 1940	23 August 1984	44 years, 137 days
5	Muammar Gaddafi	Libyan Arab Republic  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Secretary General of the General People's Congress Prime Minister	1 September 1969	20 October 2011[Note 3]	42 years, 49 days
6	Paul Biya	Cameroon	Prime Minister President	30 June 1975	present	41 years, 158 days
7	Omar Bongo	Gabon	President	2 December 1967	6 May 2009	41 years, 155 days
8	Enver Hoxha	People's Republic of Albania People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Prime Minister First Secretary	22 October 1944	11 April 1985	40 years, 171 days
9	Mohamed Abdelaziz	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	General Secretary President	30 August 1976	31 May 2016	39 years, 275 days
10	Francisco Franco	Spanish State	Generalísimo Head of State Caudillo Prime Minister	1 October 1936	20 November 1975	39 years, 50 days
11	Éamon de Valera	Irish Republic Irish Free State  Ireland	President of Dáil Éireann President of the Republic President of the Executive Council Taoiseach President	1 April 1919 (1st time) 9 March 1932 (2nd time) 13 June 1951 (3rd time) 20 March 1957 (4th time) 25 June 1959 (5th time)	9 January 1922 (1st time) 18 February 1948 (2nd time) 2 June 1954 (3rd time) 23 June 1959 (4th time) 24 June 1973 (5th time)	37 years, 347 days
12	Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	President	14 April 1967	5 February 2005	37 years, 297 days
13	Kaisôn Phomvihān	Sam Neua, Kingdom of Laos Lao People's Democratic Republic	General Secretary/Party Chairman Prime Minister President	22 March 1955[Note 4]	21 November 1992	37 years, 244 days (16 years, 355 days after the establishment of LPDR)
14	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	Equatorial Guinea	Chairman of the Supreme Military Council President	3 August 1979	present	37 years, 124 days
15	José Eduardo dos Santos	People's Republic of Angola  Angola	Party President State President	10 September 1979	present	37 years, 86 days
16	Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	Prime Minister President	18 April 1980	present	36 years, 231 days
17	Josip Broz Tito	Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	General Secretary/President of the Presidency of the Central Committee Prime Minister President Marshal	29 November 1943	4 May 1980	36 years, 157 days
18	António de Oliveira Salazar	Second Portuguese Republic	President of the Council of Ministers	5 July 1932	25 September 1968	36 years, 82 days
19	Todor Zhivkov	People's Republic of Bulgaria	General Secretary Prime Minister	4 March 1954	17 November 1989	35 years, 258 days
20	Ali Khamenei	Iran	President Supreme Leader	13 October 1981	present	35 years, 53 days
21	Alfredo Stroessner	Paraguay	President	15 August 1954	3 February 1989	34 years, 172 days
22	Ali Abdullah Saleh	North Yemen  Yemen	President	18 July 1978	25 February 2012	33 years, 222 days
23	Mao Zedong	Shaan-Gan-Ning, Republic of China People's Republic of China	Party Chairman State Chairman Paramount Leader	20 March 1943[Note 5]	9 September 1976	33 years, 173 days (26 years, 344 days after the establishment of PRC)
24	Félix Houphouët-Boigny	Côte d'Ivoire	Prime Minister President	7 August 1960	7 December 1993	33 years, 122 days
25	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic  Kazakhstan	Prime Minister of the Kazakh SSR First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR/President of the Kazakh SSR President	22 March 1984[Note 6]	present	32 years, 258 days (24 years, 355 days after independence)
26	Denis Sassou Nguesso	People's Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo	President of the Central Committee State President	8 February 1979 (1st time) 25 October 1997 (2nd time)	31 August 1992 (1st time) present (2nd time)	32 years, 246 days
27	Dawda Jawara	The Gambia	Prime Minister President	12 June 1962	22 July 1994	32 years, 40 days
28	Hun Sen	People's Republic of Kampuchea State of Cambodia  Cambodia	Prime Minister	14 January 1985	present	31 years, 326 days
29	Phạm Văn Đồng	North Vietnam  Vietnam	Prime Minister	20 September 1955	18 June 1987	31 years, 271 days
30	János Kádár	Hungarian People's Republic	General Secretary Prime Minister	25 October 1956	27 May 1988	31 years, 215 days
31	Habib Bourguiba	Tunisia	Prime Minister President	11 April 1956	7 November 1987	31 years, 210 days
32	Lee Kuan Yew	Singapore	Prime Minister	5 June 1959	28 November 1990	31 years, 176 days (as Prime Minister) (51 years, 350 days as a Member of the Cabinet)[Note 7]
33	Mobutu Sese Seko	Democratic Republic of the Congo  Zaire	President	24 November 1965	16 May 1997	31 years, 173 days
34	Hastings Kamuzu Banda	Malaŵi	Prime Minister President	1 February 1963	21 May 1994	31 years, 109 days
35	Rafael Trujillo	Dominican Republic	President Generalísimo	3 March 1930	30 May 1961	31 years, 88 days
36	Suharto	Indonesia	President	12 March 1967	21 May 1998	31 years, 70 days
37	Joseph Stalin	Soviet Union	General Secretary Premier Marshal	3 April 1922	5 March 1953	30 years, 336 days
38	Yoweri Museveni	Uganda	President	26 January 1986	present	30 years, 314 days
39	Porfirio Díaz	Mexico	President	28 November 1876 (1st time) 17 February 1877 (2nd time) 1 December 1884 (3rd time)	6 December 1876 (1st time) 1 December 1880 (2nd time) 25 May 1911 (3rd time)	30 years, 106 days
40	Abdou Diouf	Senegal	Prime Minister President	26 February 1970	1 April 2000	30 years, 35 days
41	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom	Maldives	President	11 November 1978	11 November 2008	30 years, 0 days

See also

• List of longest reigning monarchs of all time
• Current reigning monarchs by length of reign
• List of current longest ruling non-royal national leaders
• List of current state leaders by date of assumption of office
• List of the oldest living state leaders
• President for Life
• Strongman (politics)

Notes

1. After the first time Chiang Kai-shek stepped down in December 1931, his power was shared by Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, and Lin Sen among others. After the second time he left his state position in January 1949, Chiang was succeed by then Vice President Li Zongren. However, Chiang was still the de facto leader of Mainland China until he and the Kuomintang moved to Taiwan in December 1949.
2. The late Kim Il-sung has been designated "Eternal President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" and the post of President has not been filled since his death on July 8, 1994.
3. For purposes of this article, 20 October 2011 is considered to be the date that Gaddafi left office. Other dates might have been chosen.
   • On 15 July 2011, at a meeting in Istanbul, more than 30 governments, including the United States, withdrew recognition from Gaddafi's government and recognised the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate government of Libya.
   • On 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli, Gaddafi lost effective political and military control of Tripoli after his compound was captured by rebel forces.
   • On 25 August 2011, the Arab League proclaimed the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council to be "the legitimate representative of the Libyan state".
   • On 20 October 2011, Gaddafi was captured and killed near his hometown of Sirte.
   • In a ceremony on 23 October 2011, officials of the interim National Transitional Council declared, "We declare to the whole world that we have liberated our beloved country, with its cities, villages, hill-tops, mountains, deserts and skies."
4. Phomvihān established the Lao People's Democratic Republic on December 2, 1975.
5. Mao established the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
6. Nazarbayev declared the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991.
7. After leaving office as Prime Minister, Lee was given the emeritus positions of Senior Minister (1990–2004) and Minister Mentor (2004–2011). Lee still had effective influence in the Cabinet until 2011.

References

1. Depalma, Anthony (2011-08-03). "Fidel Castro News". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

External links

• Rulers.org List of rulers throughout time and places