Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries



This timeline lists the dates of the first women's suffrage in Muslim majority countries. Dates for the right to vote, suffrage, as distinct from the right to stand for election and hold office, are listed.

Some countries with majority Muslim populations established universal suffrage upon national independence, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In most North Africa countries, women participated in the first national elections or soon following. Some dates relate to regional elections and, where possible, the second date of general election has been included. Even countries listed may not have universal suffrage for women, and some may have regressed in women's rights since the initial granting of suffrage.

1917

 * Crimean People's Republic

1918

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
 * Kyrgyz SSR (Soviet Republic)

1920

 * 🇦🇱 Albania

1921

 * Azerbaijan SSR (Soviet Republic)

1924

 * Tajik SSR (Soviet Republic)
 * Kazakh SSR (Soviet Republic)

1927

 * Turkmen SSR (Soviet Republic)

1930

 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (municipal elections)

1932

 * 🇲🇻 Maldives

1934

 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (national elections)

1938

 * Uzbek SSR (Soviet Republic)

1945

 * 🇸🇳 Senegal
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia

1946

 * 🇫🇷 French Somaliland

1947

 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan (Upon its national independence)

1948

 * 🇮🇶 Iraq
 * 🇳🇪 Niger

1949

 * Syria

1952

 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon (An educational requirement).
 * Ivory Coast

1956

 * 🇰🇲 Comoros
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt
 * 🇲🇱 Mali
 * British Somaliland

1957

 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon (universal).
 * Malaya (Now Peninsular Malaysia)

1958

 * Upper Volta
 * 🇹🇩 Chad
 * 🇬🇳 Guinea

1959

 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia
 * Brunei

1960

 * 🇬🇲 Gambia

1961

 * 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
 * 🇲🇷 Mauritania

1962

 * 🇩🇿 Algeria
 * Brunei (revoked)

1963

 * 🇮🇷 Iran (after a referendum)
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco

1964

 * 🇱🇾 Libya
 * 🇸🇩 Sudan

1965

 * 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (first time)

1967

 * South Yemen

1970

 * North Yemen

1972

 * 🇧🇩 Bangladesh (Bangladesh achieved independence on December 16, 1971 and women suffrage was never barred)

1973

 * 🇧🇭 Bahrain (Bahrain did not hold elections until 2002)

1974

 * 🇯🇴 Jordan

1976

 * West Bank (women allowed to vote in local elections for the first time; at the previous election, in 1972, only male property owners could vote)

1978

 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria (North)

1985

 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait (first time)

1996

 * 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (revoked by Taliban)
 * Gaza Strip (first elections held in the territory since 1923)

1999

 * 🇶🇦 Qatar
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait (revoked)

2002

 * 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (re-granted after the fall of Taliban)

2003

 * 🇴🇲 Oman

2005

 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait (re-granted)

2006

 * 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

2011

 * 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia (introduced along with right to run for municipal elections in 2015)