Which nations gave women the right to vote first?
Which nations gave women the right to vote first?
While not every one of these nations can be labeled a full democracy , they each have some form of women's suffrage.
While not every one of these nations can be labeled a full democracy , they each have some form of women's suffrage.
This was the first state in the US where women won this right by popular vote. (Above is Susan B. Anthony, who promoted suffragism across the country for five decades in the 19th century).
In 2015, this nation became the most recent to grant women's suffrage, four decades after several of its neighbors. (Above is Rawya Ateya, who became the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world in 1957).
In 1950, women earned the vote in this country, the largest democracy on Earth. (Above: Suffragists march on the streets of New York in 1917).
In 1929, this became the first independent nation in South America where women could elect their president, although authoritarian rule in the 1970s temporarily diminished the power of their vote. (Above is Rosalía Arteaga, who was briefly the nation's first female head of state in 1997).
In 1906, this became the first European nation where women could vote and the first European nation to elect women to parliament.
This was the last European nation to deliver women's suffrage in 1971. (The first female head of state was elected in 1999 (above)).
This became the first semi-autonomous colony to give women the right to vote in 1893 and was also home to the first female mayor (Elizabeth Yates) in the British Empire.
This was one of the first African colonies where white women were allowed to vote. Universal suffrage was not obtained until the 60s, and women were excluded from higher offices until the 2010s. (Above is Wangari Muta Maathai, who served in parliament and was also the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize).
While this was the first nation in the Americas where some women could vote starting in 1917, it wasn't until 1960 when suffrage was granted to all women, regardless of race or ethnicity.
In 1903, this became the first independent democracy where certain women could vote nationwide in federal elections. (Above is suffragist Catherine Helen Spence, who was the first woman to run for political office in her country).