How old are the youngest world leaders?

Politics used to be a thing for rather elder people - youth often feels bored or discussed to go into it, and people tend to trust those who have more experience than those who have a fresh look. But recently, in Finland 31-old woman became the prime minister, and now she is the youngest leader of the country. Is she the only one?

Luckily, no - and here goes the rating of the youngest world leaders:

1) Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland. She’s not the first female prime minister of the country, but she’s the first to have the Government, where the majority of seats is also taken by women - 12 of 19 ministers in Finland are female now. When she was sworn in to be the PM, she was 34 years old - but nevertheless, she can’t be called young and inexperienced, as she used to be the Minister of Transport and Communication in the former cabinet. 

2) Oleksiy Honcharuk, the Prime Minister of Ukraine. It’s a rare occasion for me to put my country in a top of something good. Even though in Ukraine the President is considered to be the leader of the state, PM is the head of the Government and deals with most of the governing issues, which makes him very important figure for Ukraine. He’s 35 years old, and he used to work as an advisor for the Ministry of Ecology and was the Head of Ukrainian NGO, supporting reforms and development. 

3) Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea. He’s a very controversial figure indeed, but we have to give it to him - Kim is quite young. He became the leader of his nation in the age of 30, and now he is 36 years old, which makes him the 3rd youngest national leader in the world.

4) Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador. He is 38 years old former businessman, who won the election in February this year with major support, even though he wasn’t a member of any of 2 largest political parties. He’s quite charismatic, has more than 1 million followers in Twitter and comes from a mixed Muslim-Christian family. He used to be a mayor of San Salvador before he was elected as President, so he has solid experience for the job.

5) Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She became the leader of the country in 2017, only one year after she entered the Parliament. Now, she is 39 years old and she is famous for being a very progressive politician, standing against racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. She also banned semi-automatic and assault rifles in the country after the shooting in Christchurch.

6) Fritz-William Michel, the Prime Minister of Haiti. He was appointed to the position in July 2019, at the age of 39. Before that, he wasn’t very well-known, although he used to work in the Government and used to be the Chief Accountant at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.

7) Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar. He took over his father’s rule and became the leader of one of the richest countries in the world when he was 33 years old. He was the fourth son of previous Emir, but due to his motivation and strong personal characteristics, he took the reign in the end. Now he is 39, and yet he is the youngest sovereign in the world, doing great in domestic politics and keeping things smooth with the West.

8) Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan. Khesar took the post when he was only 26 years old from his father, and reigns from that on till nowadays when he is 39 years old. He used to study the US and in Oxford before he became the King, and according to his words - one of his main goals is to strengthen democracy in the country. 

9) Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the President of Costa Rica. He took the post in 2018 when he was 38 years old. When he was younger, he got his master’s in Britain, worked for Procter & Gamble, gambling call centre and even published some books. He said his desire to run for the office was forced by the rise of populism and fundamentalism. He also has some experience in politics - he used to be the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Social Development.

10) Xavier Espot Zamora, the Prime Minister of Andorra. The last one on the list was appointed to the post in April this year, at the age of 40. He used to be a lawyer and the Minister of Social Affairs, Justice and Interior. 

What can we learn from the list? The fact, that politics is changing. All around the world, people who are far from being old are taking over key positions of their states and get the leverages to change the situation according to their progressive views. Most of them have outstanding education, and despite their young age - a significant record of work in the field of politics.

That means, as young people, we actually have power in our hands - the time when you had to be older than 50 to be important are gone. Everyone from us can be active in politics and try to change the world for better using all the power of our states. And the more of us will be there, the more chances we have. 

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_state_leaders_by_age