You Gotta Know These World Leaders
As of May 2002, there are 267 entities with some sort of self-government listed in the CIA World Factbook, but for a quiz bowler's practical purposes there are only a few of those whose leaders players gotta know. Any election in the world is fair game if it's in the news, but the leaders of these twelve countries have come up over and over again in past years. Remember that this page was written in May 2002 and may not have been updated--so verify that the list is still accurate before you start blindly memorizing names...
Canada The head of government of Canada, a confederation of 10 provinces with a national parliament, is Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of the Liberal Party. He took office in November 1993 after nine years in which the Progressive Conservative party ran the country.
China The two chief political figures in the People's Republic of China are Jiang Zemin, the country's president and Communist party leader (who took power in March 1993) and Premier Zhu Rongji ["joo rong-jee"] (who was appointed in March 1998.)
France France's head of state is President Jacques Chirac, a former Gaullist prime minister who took office in 1995. (As of May 2002, Jean-Pierre Raffarin was the country's interim prime minister, but he may not remain in office long, and quiz bowlers should pay more attention to the French presidency in any case.)
Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) took office in October 1998, after 16 years in which Helmut Kohl of the Christian Democrats served as chancellor.
India Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected in early 1998.
Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former opposition leader and the daughter of Indonesia's first president, assumed the presidency in July 2001 after the impeachment of her predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid.
Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of the right-wing Likud Party defeated Ehud Barak (of the left-wing Labor Party) in February 2001 elections.
Japan Japan's head of government is Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who was elected in April 2001 by Japan's Diet. The country's head of state is Emperor Akihito, a largely ceremonial figure who replaced his father Hirohito in 1989.
Mexico President Vicente Fox Quesada of the National Action Party (PAN) took office in December 2000, ending seven decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (or PRI).
Nigeria Obasanjo Olusegun, a former dictator, became Nigeria's first civilian president in 15 years when he was elected in 1999.
Russia Russia's president is Vladimir Putin, a former spy, intelligence chief, and prime minister who became acting president upon the resignation of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, and then won election in his own right in March 2000.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair has led the United Kingdom since his Labour Party won a majority of the seats in parliament in May 1997, ending 18 years of leadership by the Conservative Party. The country's head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, whose powers are now almost entirely ceremonial.
One good source of current (and historical) leaders is rulers.org.
This article was contributed by former NAQT editor Ed Cohn.