Every dictator ruling today, at a glance.
A running record of the world's dictators and the elected leaders edging toward authoritarian rule — updated as regimes fall, succeed, or tighten their grip.
Press enter or click a result to go straight to their profile.
Two of the year's biggest shifts happened within months of each other. In January 2026, US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, an operation detailed in Wikipedia's account of the intervention, and installed vice president Delcy Rodríguez as interim president. Then in March, Iran's Assembly of Experts named Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader following his father's assassination in a joint Israeli-US strike — the first hereditary transfer of power in the Islamic Republic's history. Meanwhile in Cameroon, 93-year-old Paul Biya began an eighth term as the world's oldest head of state, and parliament created a vice-presidential post for the first time since 1972 to manage what happens next. And in April, Hungary's Viktor Orbán conceded defeat after 16 years in power, a rare case in our list of a leader voted out rather than removed by force — he now joins the fallen archive.
The dictator list
Dictator
New
Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran
Supreme Leader since March 2026
Dictator
New
Delcy Rodríguez
Venezuela
Interim president since January 2026
Dictator
15 yrs
Kim Jong Un
North Korea
Supreme Leader since 2011
Dictator
26 yrs
Vladimir Putin
Russia
President since 1999/2000
Dictator
44 yrs
Paul Biya
Cameroon
President since 1982
Dictator
32 yrs
Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus
President since 1994
Dictator
47 yrs
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Equatorial Guinea
President since 1979
Elected
23 yrs
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey
President since 2014 (PM since 2003)
Fallen
Fallen
Viktor Orbán
Hungary
Prime Minister 2010–2026, defeated in April 2026
Elected
12 yrs
Narendra Modi
India
Prime Minister since 2014
Fallen
Fallen
Bashar al-Assad
Syria
Ruled 2000–2024, fled to Russia
Dictator
14 yrs
Xi Jinping
China
General Secretary since 2012
Dictator
19 yrs
Daniel Ortega
Nicaragua
President since 2007 (also 1985–90)
Dictator
33 yrs
Isaias Afwerki
Eritrea
President since 1993
Dictator
40 yrs
Yoweri Museveni
Uganda
President since 1986
Dictator
32 yrs
Emomali Rahmon
Tajikistan
President since 1994
Dictator
4 yrs
Serdar Berdimuhamedov
Turkmenistan
President since 2022
Dictator
27 yrs
Ismail Omar Guelleh
Djibouti
President since 1999
Dictator
26 yrs
Paul Kagame
Rwanda
President since 2000
Dictator
29 yrs
Denis Sassou Nguesso
Republic of the Congo
President since 1997 (also 1979–92)
Dictator
23 yrs
Ilham Aliyev
Azerbaijan
President since 2003
Dictator
5 yrs
Min Aung Hlaing
Myanmar
Junta leader since 2021 coup
Dictator
40 yrs
King Mswati III
Eswatini
Monarch since 1986
Dictator
9 yrs
Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia
De facto ruler since 2017
Elected
17 yrs
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel
Prime Minister since 2009
Elected
7 yrs
Nayib Bukele
El Salvador
President since 2019
Elected
9 yrs
Aleksandar Vučić
Serbia
President since 2017
Elected
1 yrs
Donald Trump
United States
President since 2025
Dictator
9 yrs
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe
President since 2017
Dictator
6 yrs
Évariste Ndayishimiye
Burundi
President since 2020
Dictator
10 yrs
Faustin-Archange Touadéra
Central African Republic
President since 2016
Dictator
59 yrs
Hassanal Bolkiah
Brunei
Sultan since 1967
Dictator
5 yrs
Hibatullah Akhundzada
Afghanistan
Taliban supreme leader, Afghanistan's ruler since 2021
Dictator
2 yrs
Tô Lâm
Vietnam
General Secretary & State President since 2024
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