List of longest-ruling non-royal national leaders since 1900
This list details national leaders since 1900 who ruled for 20 years or more, and were not self-described members of a royal family.

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

Section Title:
Table Section Text: This list details national leaders since 1900 who ruled for 20 years or more, and were not self-described members of a royal family.

Rank	Image	Name	Country	Title	Term began	Term ended	Term length

1	-	Fidel Castro	Cuba	El Comandante First Secretary Prime Minister President	8 January 1959	19 April 2011	52 years, 101 days

2	-	Chiang Kai-shek	Republic of China (1931–1949) Republic of China on Taiwan (1949–1975)	Chairman of the National Government Premier Director-General of the Kuomintang Generalissimo President	9 July 1926 (1st time) 3 January 1928 (2nd time) 6 March 1932 (3rd time)	14 August 1927 (1st time) 15 December 1931 (2nd time) 5 April 1975 (3rd time)	48 years, 46 days (22 years, 296 days in Mainland China) (25 years, 116 days on Taiwan)

3	-	Kim Il-sung	North Korea	Chairman of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea Chairman of the Provisional People's Committee General Secretary Premier President 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	-	Paul Biya	Cameroon	Prime Minister President	30 June 1975	present	43 years, 304 days

6	-	Omar Bongo	Gabon	Acting President President	12 November 1966	6 May 2009	42 years, 175 days

7	-	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	42 years, 49 days

8	-	Enver Hoxha	Democratic Government of Albania People's Republic of Albania People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Prime Minister First Secretary	28 November 1944	11 April 1985	40 years, 134 days

9	-	Mohamed Abdelaziz	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	General Secretary President	30 August 1976	31 May 2016	39 years, 275 days

10	-	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	Equatorial Guinea	Chairman of the Supreme Military Council President	3 August 1979	present	39 years, 270 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) 25 October 1922 (2nd time) 9 March 1932 (3rd time) 13 June 1951 (4th time) 20 March 1957 (5th time) 25 June 1959 (6th time)	9 January 1922 (1st time) 30 May 1923 (2nd time) 18 February 1948 (3rd time) 2 June 1954 (4th time) 23 June 1959 (5th time) 24 June 1973 (6th time)	38 years, 199 days

12	-	Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	Chairman of military junta President	14 January 1967	5 February 2005	38 years, 22 days

13	-	José Eduardo dos Santos	People's Republic of Angola Angola	President and Chairman of the MPLA State President	10 September 1979	26 September 2017	38 years, 16 days

14	-	Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	Prime Minister Party President and First Secretary State President	18 April 1980	21 November 2017	37 years, 217 days

15	-	Ali Khamenei	Iran	President Supreme Leader	13 October 1981	present	37 years, 199 days

16	Franco0001.PNG	Francisco Franco	Spanish State	Generalísimo Head of State Caudillo Prime Minister	28 March 1939	20 November 1975	36 years, 237 days

17	-	António de Oliveira Salazar	Second Portuguese Republic	Prime Minister	5 July 1932	25 September 1968	36 years, 82 days

18	-	Todor Zhivkov	People's Republic of Bulgaria	General Secretary Prime Minister Chairman of the State Council	4 March 1954	17 November 1989	35 years, 258 days

19	-	Josip Broz Tito	Democratic Federal Yugoslavia 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	1 November 1944	4 May 1980	35 years, 185 days

20	-	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)	35 years, 27 days

21	-	Alfredo Stroessner	Paraguay	Commander in Chief President	5 May 1954	3 February 1989	34 years, 274 days

22	-	Félix Houphouët-Boigny	Côte d'Ivoire	Prime Minister President	1 May 1959	7 December 1993	34 years, 220 days

23	-	Hun Sen	People's Republic of Kampuchea State of Cambodia Cambodia	Prime Minister	26 December 1984	present	34 years, 125 days

-	Sonam Topgay Dorji	Bhutan	Chief Minister	1917	1952	34 years, 1 day to 35 years, 364 days

24	-	Ali Abdullah Saleh	North Yemen Yemen	President of North Yemen President	24 June 1978	25 February 2012	33 years, 222 days (21 years, 279 days after unification)

25	-	Yoweri Museveni	Uganda	President	26 January 1986	present	33 years, 94 days

26	-	Dawda Jawara	The Gambia	Prime Minister President	12 June 1962	22 July 1994	32 years, 40 days

27	Phạm Văn Đồng 1972	Phạm Văn Đồng	North Vietnam Vietnam	Prime Minister	20 September 1955	18 June 1987	31 years, 271 days (10 years, 351 days after unification)

28	-	János Kádár	Hungarian People's Republic	General Secretary Prime Minister	25 October 1956	27 May 1988	31 years, 215 days

29	-	Habib Bourguiba	Tunisia	Prime Minister President	11 April 1956	7 November 1987	31 years, 210 days

30	-	Lee Kuan Yew	Singapore	Prime Minister	5 June 1959	28 November 1990	31 years, 176 days

31	-	Mobutu Sese Seko	Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire	President	24 November 1965	16 May 1997	31 years, 173 days

32	-	Hastings Kamuzu Banda	Malaŵi	Prime Minister President	1 February 1963	21 May 1994	31 years, 109 days

33	-	Rafael Trujillo	Dominican Republic	President Generalísimo	3 March 1930	30 May 1961	31 years, 88 days

34	-	Suharto	Indonesia	President	12 March 1967	21 May 1998	31 years, 70 days

35	-	Urho Kekkonen	Finland	Prime Minister President	17 March 1950 (1st time) 20 October 1954 (2nd time)	17 November 1953 (1st time) 27 January 1982 (2nd time)	30 years, 342 days

36	-	Joseph Stalin	Soviet Union	General Secretary Premier Marshal	3 April 1922	5 March 1953	30 years, 336 days

37	-	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

38	-	Abdou Diouf	Senegal	Prime Minister President	26 February 1970	1 April 2000	30 years, 35 days

39	-	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom	Maldives	President	11 November 1978	11 November 2008	30 years, 0 days

40	-	Omar al-Bashir	Sudan	President of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation President	30 June 1989	11 April 2019	29 years, 285 days

41	-	Hafez al-Assad	Syria	Prime Minister President	21 November 1970	10 June 2000	29 years, 202 days

42	-	Hosni Mubarak	Egypt	Prime Minister President	7 October 1981	11 February 2011	29 years, 127 days

43	-	Haxhi Lleshi	People's Republic of Albania People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly	1 August 1953	21 November 1982	29 years, 112 days

44	-	İsmet İnönü	Turkey	Prime Minister President	1 November 1923 (1st time) 4 March 1925 (2nd time) 11 November 1938 (3rd time) 20 November 1961 (4th time)	22 November 1924 (1st time) 25 October 1937 (2nd time) 27 May 1950 (3rd time) 20 February 1965 (4th time)	28 years, 180 days

45	-	Mathieu Kérékou	Dahomey People's Republic of Benin Benin	President	26 October 1972 (1st time) 4 April 1996 (2nd time)	4 April 1991 (1st time) 6 April 2006 (2nd time)	28 years, 162 days

46	-	Idriss Déby	Chad	President of the Patriotic Salvation Movement President of the Council of State President	2 December 1990	present	28 years, 149 days

47	-	France-Albert René	Seychelles	Prime Minister President	29 June 1976	14 July 2004	28 years, 15 days

48	President Ne Win Portrait.JPG	Ne Win	Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma	Prime Minister Chairman of the Union Revolutionary Council Party Chairman President	29 October 1958 (1st time) 2 March 1962 (2nd time)	4 April 1960 (1st time) 23 July 1988 (2nd time)	27 years, 301 days

49	-	William Tubman	Liberia	President	3 January 1944	23 July 1971	27 years, 201 days

50	-	Kamisese Mara	Fiji	Prime Minister President	10 October 1970 (1st time) 5 December 1987 (2nd time) 16 December 1993 (3rd time)	13 April 1987 (1st time) 2 June 1992 (2nd time) 29 May 2000 (3rd time)	27 years, 165 days

51	-	Mehmet Shehu	People's Republic of Albania People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Prime Minister	20 July 1954	18 December 1981	27 years, 151 days

52	-	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Kazakhstan	President	16 December 1991	20 March 2019	27 years, 94 days

53	-	Sir Anerood Jugnauth	Mauritius	Prime Minister President	16 June 1982 (1st time) 17 September 2000 (2nd time) 7 October 2003 (3rd time) 17 December 2014 (4th time)	22 December 1995 (1st time) 30 September 2003 (2nd time) 31 March 2012 (3rd time) 23 January 2017 (4th time)	27 years, 50 days

54	-	Paul Eyschen	Luxembourg	Prime Minister	22 September 1888	11 October 1915	27 years, 19 days

55	-	Blaise Compaoré	Burkina Faso	President of the Popular Front and Head of State President	15 October 1987	31 October 2014	27 years, 16 days

56	-	Kenneth Kaunda	Zambia	President	24 October 1964	2 November 1991	27 years, 9 days

57	-	Mikhail Kalinin	Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Soviet Union	Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (RSFSR) Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets (All-Union) Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	30 March 1919	19 March 1946	26 years, 354 days (3 years, 275 days as head of state of the partially-recognized RSFSR)

58	-	Mao Zedong	China People's Republic of China	Chairman of the Communist Party Chairman of the Central Military Commission Paramount Leader	1 October 1949	9 September 1976	26 years, 344 days

59	-	Emomali Rahmon	Tajikistan	Acting Chairman of the Supreme Council Chairman of the Supreme Council President	19 November 1992	present	26 years, 162 days

60	-	Zhou Enlai	China People's Republic of China	Premier	1 October 1949	8 January 1976	26 years, 99 days

61	-	Pedro Pires	Cape Verde Cabo Verde	Prime Minister President	8 July 1975 (1st time) 22 March 2001 (2nd time)	4 April 1991 (1st time) 9 September 2011 (2nd time)	26 years, 76 days

62	-	Isaias Afwerki	Eritrea	President	23 May 1993	present	25 years, 342 days

63	-	Lê Duẩn	North Vietnam Vietnam	First Secretary General Secretary	10 September 1960	10 July 1986	25 years, 303 days (10 years, 8 days after unification)

64	-	Ahmed Sékou Touré	Guinea	President	2 October 1958	26 March 1984	25 years, 176 days

65	-	Sir Colville Young	Belize	Governor-General	17 November 1993	present	25 years, 164 days

66	-	Willi Stoph	German Democratic Republic	Prime Minister Chairman of the State Council	21 September 1964	13 November 1989	25 years, 53 days

67	-	Islam Karimov	Uzbekistan	President	1 September 1991	2 September 2016	25 years, 1 day

68	-	Carl von In der Maur	Liechtenstein	Governor	23 September 1884 (1st time) 4 January 1897 (2nd time)	5 September 1892 (1st time) 11 December 1913 (2nd time)	24 years, 324 days

69	Alexander Lukashenko crop.jpeg	Alexander Lukashenko	Belarus	President	20 July 1994	present	24 years, 284 days

70	-	Óscar Carmona	Ditadura Nacional Second Portuguese Republic	Prime Minister President	9 July 1926	18 April 1951	24 years, 283 days

71	-	Nicolae Ceaușescu	Socialist Republic of Romania	General Secretary Conducător Head of State (President) President of the State Council	22 March 1965	22 December 1989	24 years, 275 days

72	-	Lansana Conté	Guinea	Chairman of the Military Committee of National Restoration President	5 April 1984	22 December 2008	24 years, 261 days

73	-	Miklós Horthy	Kingdom of Hungary	Regent	1 March 1920	15 October 1944	24 years, 228 days

74	-	Daniel arap Moi	Kenya	Acting President President	22 August 1978	30 December 2002	24 years, 130 days

75	-	João Bernardo Vieira	Guinea-Bissau	Prime Minister President	22 September 1978 (1st time) 16 May 1984 (2nd time) 1 October 2005 (3rd time)	14 May 1984 (1st time) 7 May 1999 (2nd time) 2 March 2009 (3rd time)	24 years, 13 days

76	-	Józef Cyrankiewicz	Polish People's Republic	Prime Minister Chairman of the Council of State	6 February 1947 (1st time) 18 March 1954 (2nd time)	20 November 1952 (1st time) 28 March 1972 (2nd time)	23 years, 298 days

77	-	Saddam Hussein	Iraq	Prime Minister President	16 July 1979	9 April 2003	23 years, 267 days

78	-	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya	Mauritania	Prime Minister Head of State and Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation President	25 April 1981 (1st time) 12 December 1984 (2nd time)	8 March 1984 (1st time) 3 August 2005 (2nd time)	23 years, 187 days

79	-	Zine El Abidine Ben Ali	Tunisia	Prime Minister President	2 October 1987	14 January 2011	23 years, 104 days

80	-	Mahathir Mohamad	Malaysia	Prime Minister	16 July 1981 (1st time) 10 May 2018 (2nd time)	31 October 2003 (1st time) present (2nd time)	23 years, 97 days

81	-	Ho Chi Minh	North Vietnam	Prime Minister President Chairman of the Workers' Party First Secretary	15 June 1946	2 September 1969	23 years, 79 days

82	-	Julius Nyerere	Tanganyika Tanzania	Prime Minister President	9 December 1961 (1st time) 9 December 1962 (2nd time)	22 January 1962 (1st time) 5 November 1985 (2nd time)	23 years, 10 days

83	-	Walter Ulbricht	German Democratic Republic	First Secretary Chairman of the State Council	25 July 1950	1 August 1973	23 years, 7 days

84	-	Didier Ratsiraka	Malagasy Republic Democratic Republic of Madagascar Madagascar	President of the Supreme Revolutionary Council President	15 June 1975 (1st time) 9 February 1997 (2nd time)	27 March 1993 (1st time) 6 May 2002 (2nd time)	23 years, 6 days

85	-	Tage Erlander	Sweden	Prime Minister	11 October 1946	14 October 1969	23 years, 3 days

86	-	Ahmadou Ahidjo	Cameroun Cameroon	Prime Minister President	1 January 1960	6 November 1982	22 years, 309 days

-	Konstantinos Karamanlis	Kingdom of Greece Greece	Prime Minister President	6 October 1955 (1st time) 17 May 1958 (2nd time) 4 November 1961 (3rd time) 24 July 1974 (4th time) 5 May 1990 (5th time)	5 March 1958 (1st time) 20 September 1961 (2nd time) 17 June 1963 (3rd time) 10 March 1985 (4th time) 10 March 1995 (5th time)	22 years, 309 days

88	-	Joaquín Balaguer	Dominican Republic	President President of the Council of State junta	30 May 1961 (1st time) 1 July 1966 (2nd time) 16 August 1986 (3rd time)	16 January 1962 (1st time) 16 August 1978 (2nd time) 16 August 1996 (3rd time)	22 years, 277 days

89	-	Yahya Jammeh	The Gambia	Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council President	22 July 1994	21 January 2017	22 years, 183 days

90	-	Barkat Gourad Hamadou	Djibouti	Prime Minister	2 October 1978	7 March 2001	22 years, 156 days

91	-	Nicola Canali	Vatican	President of the Governatorate	20 March 1939	3 August 1961	22 years, 136 days

92	-	Moussa Traoré	Mali	Chairman of the Military Committee for National Liberation Head of State President	19 November 1968	26 March 1991	22 years, 127 days

93	-	Benito Mussolini	Italy Italian Social Republic	Prime Minister Duce	31 October 1922 (1st time) 23 September 1943 (2nd time)	25 July 1943 (1st time) 25 April 1945 (2nd time)	22 years, 116 days

94	-	Leonid Brezhnev	Soviet Union	General Secretary Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet	7 May 1960 (1st time) 14 October 1964 (2nd time)	15 July 1964 (1st time) 10 November 1982 (2nd time)	22 years, 96 days

95	-	Manuel Estrada Cabrera	Guatemala	President	8 February 1898	15 April 1920	22 years, 67 days

96	-	Sam Hinds	Guyana	Prime Minister President	9 October 1992 (1st time) 22 December 1997 (2nd time) 9 August 1999 (3rd time) 11 August 1999 (4th time)	17 March 1997 (1st time) 9 August 1999 (2nd time) 11 August 1999 (3rd time) 20 May 2015 (4th time)	21 years, 308 days

97	-	Hassan Gouled Aptidon	Djibouti	Prime Minister President	27 June 1977	8 May 1999	21 years, 285 days

98	-	Sukarno	Indonesia	President	18 August 1945	12 March 1967	21 years, 206 days

99	-	Artur Rasizade	Azerbaijan	Prime Minister	20 July 1996 (1st time) 4 November 2003 (2nd time)	4 August 2003 (1st time) 21 April 2018 (2nd time)	21 years, 183 days

100	-	Daniel Ortega	Nicaragua	Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction President	4 March 1981 (1st time) 10 January 2007 (2nd time)	25 April 1990 (1st time) present (2nd time)	21 years, 162 days

101	-	William Lyon Mackenzie King	Canada	Prime Minister	29 December 1921 (1st time) 25 September 1926 (2nd time) 23 October 1935 (3rd time)	28 June 1926 (1st time) 7 August 1930 (2nd time) 15 November 1948 (3rd time)	21 years, 154 days

102	-	Siad Barre	Somali Democratic Republic	President of the Supreme Revolutionary Council President	21 October 1969	26 January 1991	21 years, 97 days

103	-	Meles Zenawi	Transitional Government of Ethiopia Ethiopia	Acting President Prime Minister	28 May 1991	20 August 2012	21 years, 84 days

104	-	Paul Kruger	South African Republic	Member of the Triumvirate State President	8 August 1881	31 May 1902	20 years, 296 days

105	-	Juvénal Habyarimana	Rwanda	President	5 July 1973	6 April 1994	20 years, 275 days

106	Gustáv Husák - oříznuto.JPG	Gustáv Husák	Czechoslovakia	First Secretary President	17 April 1969	10 December 1989	20 years, 237 days

107	-	Manuel Pinto da Costa	São Tomé and Príncipe	President	12 July 1975 (1st time) 3 September 2011 (2nd time)	4 March 1991 (1st time) 3 September 2016 (2nd time)	20 years, 235 days

108	-	Kim Yong-nam	North Korea	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly	5 September 1998	11 April 2019	20 years, 218 days

109	-	Leabua Jonathan	Lesotho	Prime Minister	7 July 1965	20 January 1986	20 years, 197 days

110	-	Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi	Samoa	Prime Minister	23 November 1998	present	20 years, 158 days

111	-	Léopold Sédar Senghor	Senegal	President	6 September 1960	31 December 1980	20 years, 116 days

112	-	Pierre Werner	Luxembourg	Prime Minister	2 March 1959 (1st time) 16 July 1979 (2nd time)	15 June 1974 (1st time) 20 July 1984 (2nd time)	20 years, 109 days

113	-	Dame Pearlette Louisy	Saint Lucia	Governor-General	19 September 1997	31 December 2017	20 years, 103 days

114	-	Pál Losonczi	Hungarian People's Republic	Chairman of the Presidential Council	14 April 1967	25 June 1987	20 years, 72 days

115	-	Ferdinand Marcos	Philippines	President	30 December 1965	25 February 1986	20 years, 57 days

116	-	Hammer DeRoburt	Nauru	President	31 January 1968 (1st time) 15 May 1978 (2nd time) 1 October 1986 (3rd time) 22 December 1986 (4th time)	22 December 1976 (1st time) 7 September 1986 (2nd time) 12 December 1986 (3rd time) 17 August 1989 (4th time)	20 years, 31 days

117	-	Eddie Fenech Adami	Malta	Prime Minister President	12 May 1987 (1st time) 6 September 1998 (2nd time) 4 April 2004 (3rd time)	28 October 1996 (1st time) 23 March 2004 (2nd time) 4 April 2009 (3rd time)	20 years, 3 days

118	-	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson	Iceland	President	1 August 1996	1 August 2016	20 years, 0 days

Sentence(s)

Stroessner's rule is one of the longest among non-royal national leaders since 1900.
Stroessner is among the longest ruling non-royal national leaders since 1900.
Stroessner was one of the longest-ruling non-royal national leader since 1900.

final_sentence: Stroessner's rule is one of the longest among non-royal national leaders since 1900.
final_sentence: Stroessner is among the longest ruling non-royal national leaders since 1900.
final_sentence: Stroessner was one of the longest-ruling non-royal national leader since 1900.