Back to Women in politics Women's Suffrage
 A World Chronology of the Recognition of Women's Rights to Vote and to Stand for Election 

Important notice: The IPU is currently working on an updated version of this page, which will be posted soon.

Unless otherwise indicated, the date signifies the year women were granted the right both to vote and to stand for election. The countries listed below currently have a Parliament or have had one at some point in their history.

1788United States of America (to stand for election)
1893New Zealand (to vote)
1907Norway (to stand for election)*
1915Denmark, Iceland*
1917Canada (to vote)*, Netherlands (to stand for election)
1918Austria, Canada (to vote)*, Estonia, Georgia1, Germany, Hungary, Ireland*, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russian Federation, United Kingdom*
1919Belarus, Belgium (to vote)*, Luxembourg, Netherlands (to vote), New Zealand (to stand for election), Sweden*, Ukraine

Election poster
British suffragette poster of 1905

Back to Women in politics
1920Albania, Canada (to stand for election)*, Czech Republic, Iceland**, Slovakia, United States of America (to vote)
1921Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium (to stand for election)*, Georgia1, Sweden**
1924Kazakhstan1, Mongolia, Saint Lucia, Tajikistan
1928Ireland**, United Kingdom**
1929Ecuador*, Romania*
1930South Africa (Whites), Turkey (to vote)
1931Chile*, Portugal*, Spain, Sri Lanka
1932Brazil, Maldives, Thailand, Uruguay
1934Cuba, Portugal*, Turkey (to stand for election)
1935Myanmar (to vote)
1938Bolivia*, Uzbekistan
1939El Salvador (to vote)
1942Dominican Republic
1944Bulgaria, France, Jamaica
1945Croatia, Guyana (to stand for election), Indonesia, Italy, Japan1, Senegal, Slovenia, Togo
1946Cameroon, D.P.R. of Korea, Djibouti (to vote), Guatemala, Liberia, Myanmar (to stand for election), Panama**, Romania**, The F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia
1947Argentina, Japan1, Malta, Mexico (to vote), Pakistan, Singapore
1948Belgium**, Israel, Niger, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Suriname
1949Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile**, China, Costa Rica, Syrian Arab Republic (to vote)*
1950Barbados, Canada (to vote)**, Haiti, India
1951Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Nepal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1952 Bolivia**, Côte d'Ivoire, Greece, Lebanon
1953Bhutan, Guyana (to vote), Mexico (to stand for election), Syrian Arab Republic**
1954Belize, Colombia, Ghana
1955Cambodia, Eritrea2, Ethiopia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru
1956Benin, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia
1957Malaysia, Zimbabwe (to vote)**
1958Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria (South)
1959Madagascar, San Marino (to vote), Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania
1960Canada (to stand for election)**, Cyprus, Gambia, Tonga
1961Bahamas*, Burundi, El Salvador (to stand for election), Malawi, Mauritania, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone
1962Algeria, Australia**, Monaco, Uganda, Zambia
1963Afghanistan, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kenya, Morocco, Papua New Guinea (to stand for election)
1964Bahamas**, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Papua New Guinea (to vote), Sudan
1965Bostwana, Lesotho
1967Democratic Republic of the Congo (to vote), Ecuador**, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Yemen (D.P. R.)
1968Nauru, Swaziland
1970Andorra (to vote), Democratic Republic of the Congo (to stand for election), Yemen (Arab Republic)
1973Andorra (to stand for election), Bahrain3, San Marino (to stand for election)
1974Jordan, Solomon Islands
1975Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Vanuatu1
1977Guinea Bissau
1978Nigeria (North), Republic of Moldova1, Zimbabwe (to stand for election)
1979Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Fed. States), Palau
1980Iraq, Vanuatu1
1984Liechtenstein, South Africa (Coloureds + Indians)
1986Central African Republic, Djibouti (to stand for election)
1993Kazakhstan1, Republic of Moldova1
1994South Africa (Blacks)
Current percentage of women in parliaments

* Right subject to conditions or restrictions
** Restrictions or conditions lifted

  1. Reference to several dates reflects the stages in the granting of rights. It is not uncommon, in countries previously under colonial rule, for women to have been granted the rights to vote and be elected by the colonial administration and to have had them confirmed at the time of accession to independence. Similarly, it is not uncommon, in countries that were formerly part of a federation and in which women were entitled to vote and be elected under the federal legislation, for women to have had these rights confirmed under the Constitution of the newly independent State.
  2. In November 1955, Eritrea was part of Ethiopia. The Constitution of sovereign Eritrea adopted on 23 May 1997 stipulates that "All Eritrean citizens, of eighteen years of age or more, shall have the right to vote."