List of current longest ruling non-royal national leaders - wikipedia 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, who are not royalty, and have served ten years or longer, sorted by length of tenure. 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 figure 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 Country Office Tenure began Length of tenure 1. Paul Biya Cameroon Prime Minister, then President 30 June 1975 7004154640000000000 ♠ 42 years, 123 days 2. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Equatorial Guinea President 3 August 1979 7004139690000000000 ♠ 38 years, 89 days 3. Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe Prime Minister, then President 18 April 1980 7004137100000000000 ♠ 37 years, 196 days 4. Ali Khamenei Iran President, then Supreme Leader 13 October 1981 7004131670000000000 ♠ 36 years, 18 days 5. Nursultan Nazarbayev Kazakhstan Prime Minister, then First Secretary, then President 22 March 1984 7004122760000000000 ♠ 33 years, 223 days 6. Denis Sassou Nguesso Republic of the Congo President 8 February 1979 -- 31 August 1992 ( 1st time ) 25 October 1997 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7004122640000000000 ♠ 33 years, 211 days 7. Hun Sen Cambodia Prime Minister 14 January 1985 7004119780000000000 ♠ 32 years, 290 days 8. Yoweri Museveni Uganda President 26 January 1986 7004116010000000000 ♠ 31 years, 278 days 9. Omar al - Bashir Sudan President 30 June 1989 7004103500000000000 ♠ 28 years, 123 days 10. Idriss Déby Chad President 2 December 1990 7003983000000000000 ♠ 26 years, 333 days 11. Isaias Afwerki Eritrea President 27 April 1991 7003968400000000000 ♠ 26 years, 187 days 12. Emomali Rahmon Tajikistan Acting Head of State, then President 19 November 1992 7003911200000000000 ♠ 24 years, 346 days 13. Paul Kagame Rwanda Vice-President, then President 19 July 1994 7003850500000000000 ♠ 23 years, 104 days 14. Alexander Lukashenko Belarus President 20 July 1994 7003850400000000000 ♠ 23 years, 103 days 15. Artur Rasizade Azerbaijan Prime Minister 20 July 1996 -- 4 August 2003 ( 1st time ) 6 August 2003 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003777100000000000 ♠ 21 years, 101 days 16. Daniel Ortega Nicaragua Acting Head of State, then President 4 March 1981 -- 25 April 1990 ( 1st time ) 10 January 2007 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003728600000000000 ♠ 19 years, 346 days 17. Kim Yong - nam North Korea President of the Presidium of the Supreme People 's Assembly 5 September 1998 7003699600000000000 ♠ 19 years, 56 days 18. Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi Samoa Prime Minister 23 November 1998 7003691700000000000 ♠ 18 years, 342 days 19. Abdelaziz Bouteflika Algeria President 27 April 1999 7003676200000000000 ♠ 18 years, 187 days 20. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Djibouti President 8 May 1999 7003675100000000000 ♠ 18 years, 176 days 21. Vladimir Putin Russia Prime Minister, then President 9 August 1999 7003665800000000000 ♠ 18 years, 83 days 22. Keith Mitchell Grenada Prime Minister 22 June 1995 -- 9 July 2008 ( 1st time ) 20 February 2013 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003648000000000000 ♠ 17 years, 270 days 23. Hage Geingob Namibia Prime Minister, then President 21 March 1990 -- 28 August 2002 ( 1st time ) 4 December 2012 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003633500000000000 ♠ 17 years, 126 days 24. Bashar al - Assad Syria President 17 July 2000 7003631500000000000 ♠ 17 years, 106 days 25. Joseph Kabila Democratic Republic of the Congo President 17 January 2001 7003613100000000000 ♠ 16 years, 287 days 26. Ralph Gonsalves Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister 29 March 2001 7003606000000000000 ♠ 16 years, 216 days 27. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini Swaziland Prime Minister 26 July 1996 -- 29 September 2003 ( 1st time ) 23 October 2008 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003591600000000000 ♠ 16 years, 72 days 28. Dési Bouterse Suriname De Facto Head of State, then President 25 February 1980 -- 25 January 1988 ( 1st time ) 12 August 2010 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003552800000000000 ♠ 15 years, 49 days 29. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Turkey Prime Minister, then President 14 March 2003 7003534500000000000 ♠ 14 years, 231 days 30. Filip Vujanović Montenegro President 22 May 2003 7003527600000000000 ♠ 14 years, 162 days 31. Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan Prime Minister, then President 4 August 2003 7003520200000000000 ♠ 14 years, 88 days 32. Abdelkader Taleb Omar Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Prime Minister 29 October 2003 7003511600000000000 ♠ 14 years, 2 days 33. Shavkat Mirziyoyev Uzbekistan Prime Minister, then President 12 December 2003 7003507200000000000 ♠ 13 years, 323 days 34. Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh Prime Minister 23 June 1996 -- 15 July 2001 ( 1st time ) 6 January 2009 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003506900000000000 ♠ 13 years, 320 days 35. Roosevelt Skerrit Dominica Prime Minister 8 January 2004 7003504500000000000 ♠ 13 years, 296 days 36. Mahmoud Abbas Palestine Prime Minister, then President 19 March 2003 -- 6 September 2003 ( 1st time ) 15 January 2005 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003484300000000000 ♠ 13 years, 95 days 37. Lee Hsien Loong Singapore Prime Minister 12 August 2004 7003482800000000000 ♠ 13 years, 80 days 38. Tommy Remengesau Palau President 1 January 2001 -- 15 January 2009 ( 1st time ) 17 January 2013 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003468400000000000 ♠ 12 years, 301 days 39. Faure Gnassingbé Togo President 5 February 2005 -- 25 February 2005 ( 1st time ) 4 May 2005 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003458300000000000 ♠ 12 years, 200 days 40. Salva Kiir Mayardit South Sudan President 30 July 2005 7003447600000000000 ♠ 12 years, 93 days 41. Pierre Nkurunziza Burundi President 26 August 2005 7003444900000000000 ♠ 12 years, 66 days 42. Angela Merkel Germany Federal Chancellor 22 November 2005 7003436100000000000 ♠ 11 years, 343 days 43. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Liberia President 16 January 2006 7003430600000000000 ♠ 11 years, 288 days 44. Evo Morales Bolivia President 22 January 2006 7003430000000000000 ♠ 11 years, 282 days 45. Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Prime Minister 18 June 1996 -- 6 July 1999 ( 1st time ) 31 March 2009 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003424900000000000 ♠ 11 years, 231 days 46. Viktor Orbán Hungary Prime Minister 6 July 1998 -- 27 May 2002 ( 1st time ) 29 May 2010 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003413300000000000 ♠ 11 years, 115 days 47. Raúl Castro Cuba First Secretary, President and Prime Minister 31 July 2006 7003411000000000000 ♠ 11 years, 92 days 48. Doris Leuthard Switzerland Federal Council Member, currently President 1 August 2006 7003410900000000000 ♠ 11 years, 91 days 49. Frank Bainimarama Fiji Acting Head of State, then Prime Minister 29 May 2000 -- 13 July 2000 ( 1st time ) 5 December 2006 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003402800000000000 ♠ 11 years, 10 days 50. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Turkmenistan President 21 December 2006 7003396700000000000 ♠ 10 years, 314 days 51. Serzh Sargsyan Armenia Prime Minister, then President 25 March 2007 7003387300000000000 ♠ 10 years, 220 days 52. Ahmed Ouyahia Algeria Prime Minister 31 December 1995 -- 15 December 1998 ( 1st time ) 5 May 2003 -- 24 May 2006 ( 2nd time ) 23 June 2008 -- 3 September 2012 ( 3rd time ) 16 August 2017 -- present ( 4th time ) 7003380400000000000 ♠ 10 years, 151 days 53. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Mali Prime Minister, then President 4 February 1994 -- 15 February 2000 ( 1st time ) 4 September 2013 -- present ( 2nd time ) 7003372100000000000 ♠ 10 years, 68 days 54. Bako Sahakyan Artsakh President 7 September 2007 7003370700000000000 ♠ 10 years, 54 days 55. Ernest Bai Koroma Sierra Leone President 17 September 2007 7003369700000000000 ♠ 10 years, 44 days Footnotes Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of Cameroon from 30 June 1975 to 6 November 1982 Jump up ^ was Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council / Supreme Military Council of Equatorial Guinea from 3 August 1979 to 12 October 1982 Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 18 April 1980 to 31 December 1987 Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ Was Prime Minister of the Kazakh SSR from 22 March 1984 to 27 July 1989, 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 -- 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, when Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union. Jump up ^ 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 Jump up ^ Was Prime Minister of the Vietnam - occupation one - Party state called the 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. Jump up ^ was Chairman of the Sudanese Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation from 30 June 1989 to 16 October 1993 Jump up ^ was President of the Council of State of Chad from 2 December 1990 to 4 March 1991 Jump up ^ Was Secretary - General of the Provisional Government of Eritrea from 27 April 1991 to 24 May 1993, when Eritrea declared independence from Ethiopia. Jump up ^ was Chairman of the Supreme Assembly ( Speaker of Parliament ) of Tajikistan -- de facto head of state -- from 19 November 1992 to 16 November 1994 Jump up ^ Was Vice-President from 19 July 1994 to 22 April 2000 and Acting President from 24 March 2000 to 22 April 2000. Jump up ^ was Interim Prime Minister of Azerbaijan from 6 August 2003 to 4 November 2003 Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ The `` President of the Presidium of the Supreme People 's Assembly '' performs some of the duties of a head of state. The position of President ( formerly the head of state ) was written out of the constitution in 1998. State founder Kim Il - sung, who died in 1994, was given the appellation `` Eternal President ''. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of Namibia from 21 March 1990 to 28 August 2002 and 4 December 2012 to 21 March 2015 Jump up ^ Was Chairman of the National Military Council ( de facto leader of Suriname ) from 25 February 1980 to 25 January 1988 and head of state as National Army Commander from 13 August 1980 to 15 August 1980 and from 4 February 1982 to 8 February 1982. Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of Turkey from 14 March 2003 to 28 August 2014 Jump up ^ Montenegro did not gain independence until 3 June 2006, being part of Serbia and Montenegro. Vujanović was previously Acting President from 25 November 2002 to 19 May 2003. Jump up ^ was Acting President of Azerbaijan from 6 August 2003 to 31 October 2003 Jump up ^ Was Prime Minister of Uzbekistan from 12 December 2003 to 14 December 2016, and Acting President from 8 September 2016 to 14 December 2016. Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority from 19 March 2003 to 6 September 2003 Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ South Sudan did not gain independence until 9 July 2011, being part of Sudan. Kiir was Acting President of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region from 30 July 2005 to 11 August 2005. Jump up ^ Was Acting President and Acting Prime Minister of Cuba from 31 July 2006 to 24 February 2008 ; 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 position than the Presidency of Cuba. Jump up ^ The Swiss Federal Council is a collective seven - member head of state. Since 1 January 2017, Leuthard is the incumbent chairperson of the Federal Council, i.e. the President of the Swiss Confederation. Leuthard previously served as chairperson of the Federal Council, or President, in the constitutional customary one - year period from 1 January to 31 December 2010. From 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016, she was the deputy chairperson of the Federal Council, or Vice President of Switzerland. Jump up ^ Was President of the Interim Military Government of Fiji from 29 May 2000 to 13 July 2000 ; then again President of the 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. Jump up ^ was Acting President of Turkmenistan from 21 December 2006 to 14 February 2007 Jump up ^ Was Acting Prime Minister of Armenia from 25 March 2007 to 4 April 2007, then Prime Minister from 4 April 2007 to 9 April 2008. Jump up ^ was Prime Minister of Mali from 4 February 1994 to 15 February 2000 Jump up ^ The country was called the Republic of Nagorno - Karabakh until 10 March 2017. 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 since 1900 List of the oldest living state leaders External links Rulers.org List of rulers throughout time and places Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_current_longest_ruling_non-royal_national_leaders&oldid=808032453 '' Categories : Lists of people by time in office Longest serving Lists of rulers Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from October 2016 Talk About Wikipedia Português Edit links This page was last edited on 31 October 2017, at 13 : 37. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: who is the longest serving president in the world
Answer: Paul Biya