Women’s Political Power: Number of Countries that Have Had a Women Head of State or Government
graph from Gapminder; slow reveal by Jenna Laib
Type of Graph: Line Graph
Purpose
This slow reveal is designed to support analysis and discussion of both the data and the design choices. The questions in the slide deck invite learners to examine trends, relationships, and possible interpretations. This graph comes from Gapminder — check out their free educational resources and open source data sets! — invites students to use proportional or fractional reasoning to estimate values, and also includes raw data sets about the current countries that have women acting as head of state or government.
About This Graph
This visualization is not provided for reuse or redistribution. Readers and educators are encouraged to view the original visualization in its published context.
Original Visualization:
Free material from www.gapminder.org
Gapminder. “Almost half of all countries have had a woman leader.” Accessed at: https://www.gapminder.org/facts/almost-half-of-all-countries-have-had-a-woman-leader/
Data Sources:
Claudia S for Gapminder
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eIIc06lbHFkBXLKBRywCyFnkpIo_3LjuOnpfyA7WV7k/edit?gid=501532268#gid=501532268
World Population Review, “Countries with Female Leaders 2025.” Accessed at https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-female-leaders
In The Classroom
There are many different mathematical connections that can be made to this data and data visualization.
Potential Math Content: line graph, estimating values, fractions, change over time
Potential Content Connections: government, governing structures, gender
Discover more from Slow Reveal Graphs
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Hi,
Please note that Golda Meir is missing from your records. She was the Prime Minister of Israel between 1969 and 1974 and is the only woman to have held this office in Israel to date.
Best regards,
Dorit Neria
The table included in the slide deck lists current female leaders only, as of January 2026. If you review the source material linked, you will find that Golda Meir is included in the data for countries that have previously had female leaders.
Jenna