List of state leaders in 1781

1780 state leaders – Events of 1781 – 1782 state leaders – State leaders by year

Africa

• Ashanti Confederacy – Osei Kwame Panyin, Asantehene (1777–1803)
• Dahomey – Kpengla, King of Dahomey (1774–1789)
• Ethiopia – Tekle Giyorgis I, Emperor of Ethiopia (first reign, 1779–1784)
• Fouta Tooro - Abdul Kaader, King of Fouta Tooro (1776–1807)
• Zulu –
  1. Jama kaNdaba, King of the Zulu (1763–1781)
  2. Senzangakona kaJama, King of the Zulu (1781–1816)

Americas

• United States –
  • President of the Second Continental Congress of the United States:
    • Samuel Huntington, 28 September 1779 to 28 February 1781
  • Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled:
    1. Samuel Huntington, 1 March 1781 to 6 July 1781
    2. Thomas McKean, 10 July 1781 to 5 November 1781
    3. John Hanson, 5 November 1781 to 4 November 1782
• Vermont – Thomas Chittenden, Governor of Vermont (13 March 1778 – 13 October 1789)

Asia

• Afghanistan – Timur Shah, King of Afghanistan (1772–1793)
• Brunei - Omar Ali Saifuddin I, Sultan of Brunei (1762–1795)
• China (Qing Dynasty) – Qianlong, Emperor of China (1735–1796)
• Japan
  • Monarch – Kokaku, Emperor of Japan (1780–1817)
  • Shogun (Tokugawa) – Tokugawa Ieharu, Shogun of Japan (1760–1786)
  • Ryūkyū Kingdom – Shō Boku, King of Ryūkyū (1752–1795)
• Korea (Joseon Dynasty) – Jeongjo, King of Joseon (1776–1800)

Europe

• Andorra – Co-Princes:
  • Joan de García y Montenegro, Bishop of Urgell (1780–1783)
  • Louis XVI, King of France (1774–1792)
• Denmark–Norway
  • Monarch – Christian VII, King of Denmark (1766–1808)
  • Prime Minister – Ove Høegh-Guldberg, Minister of State of Denmark (1772–1784)
• France – Louis XVI, King of France (1774–1792)
• Great Britain –
  • Monarch – George III, King of Great Britain (1760–1820)
  • Prime Minister – Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1770–1782)
• Holy Roman Empire – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790)
  • Anhalt-Zerbst – Friedrich August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1747–1793)
  • Auersperg – Heinrich Joseph Johann, Prince of Auersperg (1713–1783)
  • Baden-Durlach – Karl IV Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (1738–1771, ruled all of Baden 1771–1811)
  • Brandenburg – Friedrich II of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg (1740–1786)
  • Hanover – Georg III, Elector of Hanover (1760–1814/1820)
  • Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen – Philipp Heinrich, Count of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1743–1764, prince 1764–1781)
  • Lippe-Biesterfeld – Friedrich Carl August, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1736–1781)
  • Lippe-Weissenfeld – Ferdinand Johann, Count of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1736–1781)
  • Palatinate – Karl IV Philipp Theodor, Elector Palatine (1742–1799)
  • Palatinate-Sulzbach – Karl Theodor, Count Palatine and Duke of Palatinate-Sulzbach (1733–1799)
  • Reuss-Lobenstein – Heinrich II, Count of Reuss-Lobenstein (1739–1782)
  • Reuss-Schleiz – Heinrich XII, Count of Reuss-Schleiz (1744–1784)
  • Saxony – Friedrich August III, Elector of Saxony (1763–1806/1827)
  • Weingarten – Domenicus II Schnitzer, Prince-Abbot of Weingarten (1746–1784)
  • Westerburg-Leiningen-Neu-Leiningen (Nassau Line) – Georg Karl I August Ludwig, Count of Westerburg-Leiningen-Neu-Leiningen (Nassau Line) (1726–1787)
  • Wied – Johann Friedrich Alexander, Count of Wied (1737–1784)
  • Württemberg – Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (1737–1793)

• Ireland – George III, King of Ireland (1760–1820)
• Ottoman (Turkish) Empire
  • Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – Abd-ul-Hamid I (1774–1789)
  • Grand Vizier
    1. Silahdar Seyyid Mehmed Pasha (1779–1781)
    2. Izzet Mehmed Pasha (1781–1782)
• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland (1764–1795)
• Portugal – Maria I Francisca, Queen of Portugal (1777–1816)
• Prussia – Frederick II King of Prussia (1740–1786)
• Russia – Catherine II, Tsaritsa of Russia (1762–1796)
• Spain – Charles III, King of Spain (1759–1788)
• Sweden – Absolutism
  • Monarch – Gustav III, King of Sweden (1771–1792)
• Tuscany – Peter Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1765–1790)
• United Provinces –
  • Estates of Friesland, Groningen (province), Guelders, Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (1581–1795)
  • Stadtholder – William V, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen (province), Guelders, Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (1751–1795)
    • Holland – Grand Pensionary Pieter van Bleiswijk of Holland (1772–1787)
• Venice – Paolo Renier, Doge of Venice (1779–1789)

Middle East and North Africa

• Abu Dhabi – Dhiyab bin Isa, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi (1761–1793)
• Morocco – Mohammed III, Sultan of Morocco (1757–1790)