Interesting Facts About Some World Leaders

The world is currently led by people who have worked in politics for a very long time. This group of leaders is powerful because they have survived many challenges.

Their age shows that experience is the most important thing in ruling a country.

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These powerful people have seen the world change over many decades. They lived through the old conflicts and the start of the digital age. Here is a list of these ten leaders.

1. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King Salman is 89 years old. He is the ruler of Saudi Arabia. He keeps the royal family stable. He became King in 2015, but his work in government started almost 70 years ago.

Before he became King, he worked for nearly 50 years as the Governor of Riyadh Province. He was the man who turned the city of Riyadh from a small place into a huge, modern city. People knew him as a good manager and a peacemaker in the royal family.

As King, he quickly changed how the government worked. He put younger people in key positions. He ordered the Saudi military to start fighting in Yemen in 2015. He gave his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the power to make big changes in the country.

2. Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been the Supreme Leader of Iran since 1989. His power is total. He is more powerful than the elected President. He is the ultimate religious and political head of the entire country.

Before becoming the Supreme Leader, Khamenei was the President of Iran for eight years, from 1981 to 1989. He was a revolutionary early in life. He was a trusted friend of the first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Khamenei created the powerful military group called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This group controls many parts of the country, including the economy. He decided that Iran’s nuclear program and a policy against the West are necessary to protect the nation.

3. Donald Trump

Donald Trump is now the only U.S. President ever elected to serve two terms that were not back-to-back. He won the election in 2024. His career background is unusual for a president because he was mainly a businessman and TV star.

Before he started politics, Trump was famous for his real estate business and TV show. He built a worldwide brand with luxury buildings. He became a celebrity as the host of the reality show The Apprentice.

In his first time as President, he signed a large tax reduction law. He also used policies to protect American trade by putting high taxes on goods from countries like China and Mexico. His team successfully helped Israel make peace agreements with several Arab countries.

4. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called “Lula,” is a founder of the Workers’ Party (PT) in Brazil. He is one of the few politicians to win the presidency three times, with breaks in between.

His first job was as a metalworker. He became a very important leader for the workers’ unions near São Paulo. He bravely led big workers’ strikes in the late 1970s, challenging the military rulers and helping Brazil become a democracy again.

During his first two terms, from 2003 to 2010, Lula started huge programs to help poor people. The most famous one is Bolsa Família. This program gave money to poor families, which greatly reduced poverty and lifted millions of Brazilians into the middle class.

5. Han Duck-soo

Han Duck-soo is a professional economist and diplomat who is the Prime Minister of South Korea. This is special because he has been Prime Minister twice under two different Presidents, Roh Moo-hyun and Yoon Suk Yeol.

He studied economics at Harvard University. Most of his early career was spent working for the government ministries that planned the economy and managed money. His power comes from his technical skill and knowledge of the economy, not just from winning elections.

He is widely known as the main person who planned and negotiated the Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and South Korea, KORUS FTA. He served as an advisor and Ambassador to the U.S., which was crucial for South Korea’s economic strength today.

6. Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi has been the Prime Minister of India since 2014. He has held the job longer than any Prime Minister who was not from the Indian National Congress party. He is a key leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Before he became Prime Minister, Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for over twelve years, from 2001 to 2014. During this time, he managed the state’s recovery from a big earthquake. He also successfully focused on building new infrastructure and creating new industries.

His government has launched several important national programs. These include “Make in India,” which aims to increase manufacturing in the country, and “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” a mission to clean up India. His leadership has greatly increased India’s spending on new roads and its power in the global economy.

7. Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel for the longest time in the country’s history. He has led the country across many terms, totaling over sixteen years in the top office.

Netanyahu has a respected military background. He was a Captain in a very special army unit called Sayeret Matkal. He took part in many dangerous missions, including the famous rescue of hostages from a hijacked plane in 1972.

Before his long political career, Netanyahu worked for a time in the private business sector. He worked for the well-known American company, the Boston Consulting Group. This experience gave him a deep understanding of global business and finance.

8. Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo Subianto became the President of Indonesia in 2024. He is the third Indonesian President who came from the military. He is also the oldest person ever to be elected President for the first time in Indonesia.

He spent most of his professional life in the Indonesian Army Special Forces, Kopassus. He held powerful jobs, including the Commandant General. His army career ended when he was controversially dismissed in 1998.

After leaving the military, Prabowo started his own political party, the Gerindra Party, in 2008. He lost the election for President in 2014 and 2019. He showed great determination by finally winning the election in 2024 on his third try.

9. Bola Tinubu

Bola Tinubu is the current President of Nigeria, winning the election in 2023. His great power comes from being a major political thinker and a key person who brings different groups together in the nation.

He was the Governor of Lagos State for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. As governor, he created a large plan that many people say turned Lagos into the biggest economic center in West Africa. He started new ways to manage money and built many roads for the state’s large population.

Before he was governor, Tinubu was a strong activist who fought for democracy. He helped start the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO. He campaigned for democracy to return after the military canceled the 1993 presidential election. This fight forced him to leave the country for a time.

10. Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping holds the highest office as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President of China. This makes him the nation’s absolute ruler. He has more power than any leader in China since Mao Zedong.

He is known as a “princeling,” meaning his father was a very important Communist Party leader, Xi Zhongxun. His father was a high-ranking official when the country was founded. It is important to know that his father was removed from power during the Cultural Revolution, an event that shaped Xi Jinping’s tough style.

Xi has defined his time in power with a massive campaign against corruption called “Tigers and Flies.” This campaign targeted both powerful officials, the “tigers,” and smaller government workers, the “flies.” This strategy successfully made his own power inside the CCP much stronger.