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In Pictures
Gallery
In pictures: Woman power
The number of female leaders around the world is at an all-time high as Brazil swears in its first woman president.
Dilma Rousseff, Brazil(***)s first female president, will face many challenges including education and economic reforms [EPA]
Published On 2 Jan 2011
2 Jan 2011
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Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has posted its best economic figures since reunification [GALLO/GETTY]
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia, was listed as one of the 10 best leaders in the world by Newsweek magazine in 2010 [GALLO/GETTY]
Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning British monarch if she is still reigning on September 10, 2015 [GALLO/GETTY]
Jadranka Kosor, Croatia(***)s prime minister, had a career as a journalist before she entered politics [EPA]
Mary McAleese, Ireland(***)s second female president, is currently serving her second term, which she won in 2004 [EPA]
Cristina Fernandez Kirchner, Argentina(***)s president, has often been compared to Eva Peron [GALLO/GETTY]
Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland(***)s prime minister, has been nicknamed "Saint Johanna" for her work for the rights of the handicapped, elderly and disadvantaged [EPA]
Prathibha Patil assumed office as India(***)s first woman president on July 25, 2007 [GALLO/GETTY]
Denmark(***)s Queen Margrethe II was not born to be monarch as at the time of her birth, only males could ascend the country(***)s throne [EPA]
Laura Chinchilla Miranda won 47 per cent of the vote in the May 2010 election to become the first female president of Costa Rica [EPA]
President Dalia Grybauskaite, dubbed "the hope of Lithuania", is known for charting her own path [GALLO/GETTY]
Kyrgyzstan(***)s Roza Otunbayeva(***)s inauguration on July 3, 2010, made her Central Asia(***)s first female president [EPA]
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova leads a centre-right coalition in Slovakia [EPA]
Queen Beatrix of Netherlands dedicated her Christmas message to courage and encouragement [GALLO/GETTY]
A sudden change in the Australian Labor Party(***)s leadership made Julia Gillard the country(***)s first female prime minister [GALLO/GETTY]
Sheikh Hasina Wajed led the secular Awami League party to a landslide victory in Bangladesh(***)s December 2008 general elections, to win her second term as prime minister [GALLO/GETTY]
Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss president, was widely criticised at home for covering her head to meet Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [GALLO/GETTY]
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has weathered many political storms and broken gender barriers to get to her current position [GALLO/GETTY]
Mari Kiviniemi says she aims to build a better tomorrow for Finland as prime minister with trust, hope and a positive attitude [EPA]