List of longest-ruling non-royal national leaders since 1870

This list details national leaders since 1870 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	01959-02-1616 February 1959 ^[1]	02011-04-1919 April 2011 ^[1]	700152000000000000052 years, 700162000000000000062 days
2.	Chiang Kai-shek	Republic of China (1912–1949) Republic of China on Taiwan (1949–present)	Chairman of the National Government Premier/Director-General Generalissimo President	01926-07-099 July 1926 (1st time) 01932-03-066 March 1932 (2nd time) 01950-03-011 March 1950 (3rd time)	01931-12-1515 December 1931 (1st time) 01949-01-2121 January 1949 (2nd time) 01975-04-055 April 1975 (3rd time)	46 years, 82 days^{[N 1]}
3.	Kim Il-sung^{[N 2]}	North Korea	General Secretary Premier President Generalissimo	01948-09-099 September 1948	01994-07-088 July 1994	700145000000000000045 years, 7002302000000000000302 days
4.	Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal	Mongolia	General Secretary Prime Minister President	01940-04-088 April 1940	01984-08-2323 August 1984	44 years 129 days
5.	Muammar Gaddafi	Libyan Arab Republic Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Leader and Guide of the Revolution	01969-09-011 September 1969	02011-10-2020 October 2011^{[N 3]}	700142000000000000042 years, 700149000000000000049 days
6.	Omar Bongo	Gabon	President	01967-12-022 December 1967	02009-05-066 May 2009	700141000000000000041 years, 7002155000000000000155 days
7.	Enver Hoxha	Albania	Prime Minister First Secretary	01944-10-2222 October 1944	01985-04-1111 April 1985	700140000000000000040 years, 7002171000000000000171 days
8.	Francisco Franco	Spain	Generalísimo Head of State	01936-10-011 October 1936	01975-11-2020 November 1975	700139000000000000039 years, 700150000000000000050 days
9.	Paul Biya	Cameroon	Prime Minister President	01975-06-3030 June 1975	present	700137000000000000037 years, 7002325000000000000325 days
10.	Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	President	01967-04-1414 April 1967	02005-02-055 February 2005	700137000000000000037 years, 7002297000000000000297 days
11.	Mohamed Abdelaziz	Sahrawi Republic	General Secretary President	01976-08-3030 August 1976	present	700136000000000000036 years, 7002264000000000000264 days
12.	Josip Broz Tito	Yugoslavia	Prime Minister President Marshal	01943-11-2929 November 1943	01980-05-044 May 1980	700136000000000000036 years, 7002157000000000000157 days
13.	António de Oliveira Salazar	Portugal	Prime Minister	01932-07-055 July 1932	01968-09-2525 September 1968	700136000000000000036 years, 700182000000000000082 days
14.	Todor Zhivkov	Bulgaria	General Secretary Prime Minister	01954-03-044 March 1954	01989-11-1717 November 1989	700135000000000000035 years, 7002258000000000000258 days
15.	Alfredo Stroessner	Paraguay	President	01954-08-1515 August 1954	01989-02-033 February 1989	700134000000000000034 years, 7002172000000000000172 days
16.	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	Equatorial Guinea	President	01979-08-033 August 1979	present	700133000000000000033 years, 7002291000000000000291 days
17.	José Eduardo dos Santos	People's Republic of Angola Angola	President	01979-09-1010 September 1979	present	700133000000000000033 years, 7002253000000000000253 days
18.	Ali Abdullah Saleh	North Yemen Yemen	President	01978-07-1818 July 1978	02012-02-2525 February 2012	700133000000000000033 years, 7002222000000000000222 days
19.	Mao Zedong	Shaan-Gan-Ning, Republic of China People's Republic of China	Party Chairman State Chairman Paramount Leader	01943-03-2020 March 1943	01976-09-099 September 1976	700133000000000000033 years, 7002173000000000000173 days
20.	Félix Houphouët-Boigny	Côte d'Ivoire	Prime Minister President	01960-08-077 August 1960	01993-12-077 December 1993	700133000000000000033 years, 7002122000000000000122 days
21.	Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	Prime Minister President	01980-04-1818 April 1980	present	700133000000000000033 years, 700133000000000000033 days
22.	Dawda Kairaba Jawara	Gambia	Prime Minister President	01962-06-1212 June 1962	01994-07-2222 July 1994	700132000000000000032 years, 700140000000000000040 days
23.	Pham Van Dong	North Vietnam Vietnam	Prime Minister	01955-09-2020 September 1955	01987-06-1818 June 1987	700131000000000000031 years, 7002271000000000000271 days
24.	Sayyid Ali Khamenei	Iran	President Supreme Leader	01981-10-1313 October 1981	present	700131000000000000031 years, 7002220000000000000220 days
25.	János Kádár	Hungary	General Secretary	01956-10-2525 October 1956	01988-05-2727 May 1988	700131000000000000031 years, 7002215000000000000215 days
26.	Habib Bourguiba	Tunisia	Prime Minister President	01956-04-1111 April 1956	01987-11-077 November 1987	700131000000000000031 years, 7002210000000000000210 days
27.	Lee Kuan Yew	Singapore	Prime Minister	01959-06-055 June 1959	01990-11-2828 November 1990	700131000000000000031 years, 7002176000000000000176 days^{[N 4]}
28.	Mobutu Sese Seko	Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire	President	01965-11-2424 November 1965	01997-05-1616 May 1997	700131000000000000031 years, 7002173000000000000173 days
29.	Hastings Kamuzu Banda	Malawi	Prime Minister President	01963-02-011 February 1963	01994-05-2121 May 1994	700131000000000000031 years, 7002109000000000000109 days
30.	Suharto	Indonesia	President	01967-03-1212 March 1967	01998-05-2121 May 1998	700131000000000000031 years, 700170000000000000070 days
31.	Joseph Stalin	Soviet Union	General Secretary Premier Generalissimo	01922-04-033 April 1922	01953-03-055 March 1953	700130000000000000030 years, 7002336000000000000336 days
32.	Rafael Trujillo	Dominican Republic	President Generalísimo	01930-08-1616 August 1930	01961-05-3030 May 1961	700130000000000000030 years, 7002287000000000000287 days
33.	Porfirio Díaz	Mexico	President	01876-11-2828 November 1876 (1st time) 01877-02-1717 February 1877 (2nd time) 01884-12-011 December 1884 (3rd time)	01876-12-066 December 1876 (1st time) 01880-12-011 December 1880 (2nd time) 01911-05-2525 May 1911 (3rd time)	30 years, 106 days
34.	Abdou Diouf	Senegal	Prime Minister President	01970-02-2626 February 1970	02000-04-011 April 2000	700130000000000000030 years, 700135000000000000035 days
35.	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom	Maldives	President	01978-11-1111 November 1978	02008-11-1111 November 2008	700130000000000000030 years, 50000000000000000000 days

Notes

^ For the first time Chiang Kai-shek stepped down in December 1931, his power was then shared by Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, and Lin Sen among others. For the second time he left his state position in January 1949, Chiang was succeed by then Vice President Li Zongren.
^ 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.
^ The date given reflects the date of death of Muammar Gaddafi at the hands of National Transitional Council forces. Gaddafi had lost de facto control of the majority of Libya some time beforehand; however, he had not formally relinquished his position as Leader and Guide of the Revolution before his death and the state (The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) still remained in existence. Between March 1979 and October 20, 2011, the position of "Secretary-General of the General People's Congress" referred to the nominal head of state of Libya, and was not held by Gaddafi who retained an informal position (in de facto control over the country) as per his Jamahiriya philosophy.^{[citation needed]}
^ After leaving office as Prime Minister, Lee was given the emeritus positions of Senior Minister (1990–2004) and Minister Mentor (2004–2011). The latter title, unique in world politics, maintained Lee's status as a "power behind the throne" in Singaporean politics.

References

^ ^a ^b Depalma, Anthony (Updated: Aug. 3, 2011). "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

[Chiang-2] For the first time Chiang Kai-shek stepped down in December 1931, his power was then shared by Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, and Lin Sen among others. For the second time he left his state position in January 1949, Chiang was succeed by then Vice President Li Zongren.

[DPRK-3] 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.

[Gaddafi-1-4] The date given reflects the date of death of Muammar Gaddafi at the hands of National Transitional Council forces. Gaddafi had lost de facto control of the majority of Libya some time beforehand; however, he had not formally relinquished his position as Leader and Guide of the Revolution before his death and the state (The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) still remained in existence. Between March 1979 and October 20, 2011, the position of "Secretary-General of the General People's Congress" referred to the nominal head of state of Libya, and was not held by Gaddafi who retained an informal position (in de facto control over the country) as per his Jamahiriya philosophy.^{[citation needed]}

[Lee-1-5] After leaving office as Prime Minister, Lee was given the emeritus positions of Senior Minister (1990–2004) and Minister Mentor (2004–2011). The latter title, unique in world politics, maintained Lee's status as a "power behind the throne" in Singaporean politics.

[Castro-1] Depalma, Anthony (Updated: Aug. 3, 2011). "Fidel Castro News". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

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List of longest-ruling non-royal national leaders since 1870

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