Women’s Equality Day: When did Women Around the World Start Voting?

Nearly 100 years ago, women in the United States achieved the right to vote. But they were not the first or the last.

Women around the world have worked tirelessly for a voice in decision-making, both as elected leaders and the constituents who select them. The slow progress of women’s suffrage began as early as 1893 in New Zealand and continues even today.

 

1983-1929:

  • 1893 New Zealand
  • 1902 Australia
  • 1906 Finland
  • 1913 Norway
  • 1915 Kingdom of Denmark (Including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland)
  • 1917 Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Netherlands, Russia
  • 1918 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Hungarian People’s Republic, Kyrgyz SSR, Lithuania, Poland
  • 1919 Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Jersey, Luxembourg, Ukrainian SSR, Zimbabwe
  • 1920 Albania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United States
  • 1921 Sweden
  • 1922 Burma, Ireland
  • 1924 Kazakh SSR, Mongolia, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR
  • 1925 Trinidad and Tobago
  • 1927 Uruguay
  • 1928 United Kingdom

 

1930 – 1954:

  • 1931 Spain, Sri Lanka
  • 1932 Brazil, Maldives, Thailand
  • 1934 Cuba, Turkey
  • 1935 Puerto Rico
  • 1936 United States Virgin Islands
  • 1937 Philippines
  • 1938 Uzbek SSR
  • 1939 Romania
  • 1940 Moldova
  • 1942 Dominican Republic
  • 1944 Bermuda, Kingdom of Bulgaria, France, Jamaica
  • 1945 Indonesia, Italy, Senegal, Togo, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia
  • 1946 Cameroon, Djibouti, North Korea, Liberia, Panama, Venezuela, Vietnam
  • 1947 Argentina, China, India, Japan, Malta, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan (Republic of China)
  • 1948 Belgium, Israel, South Korea, Niger, Seychelles, Netherlands
  • 1949 Chile, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Syria
  • 1950 Barbados, El Salvador, Haiti
  • 1951 Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Libya, Nepal
  • 1952 Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Greece, Lebanon
  • 1953 Bhutan, Guyana, Mexico
  • 1954 Belize, Colombia, Ghana

 

1955 – 1985:

  • 1955 Cambodia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru
  • 1956 Benin, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia
  • 1957 Cayman Islands, Malaysia, Tunisia
  • 1958 Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Laos, Nigeria
  • 1959 Brunei, Madagascar, San Marino, Tanzania
  • 1960 Bahamas, Cyprus, The Gambia, Tonga
  • 1961 Burundi, Malawi, Mauritania, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone
  • 1962 Algeria, Monaco, Uganda, Zambia
  • 1963 Afghanistan, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Iran, Kenya, Morocco
  • 1964 Papua New Guinea, Sudan
  • 1965 Botswana, Guatemala, Lesotho
  • 1967 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Yemen
  • 1968 Nauru, Swaziland
  • 1970 Andorra
  • 1971 Bangladesh, Switzerland
  • 1974 Jordan, Solomon Islands
  • 1975 Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu
  • 1976 Portugal, Timor-Leste
  • 1977 Guinea-Bissau
  • 1979 Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau
  • 1980 Iraq
  • 1984 Liechtenstein
  • 1985 Kuwait

 

1986 – 2015:

  • 1986 Central African Republic
  • 1989 Namibia
  • 1990 Samoa
  • 1994 South Africa
  • 1997 Qatar
  • 2002 Bahrain
  • 2003 Oman
  • 2006 United Arab Emirates
  • 2015 Saudi Arabia

 

This post written with support from Nora Wu, WPSP Intern

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