International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present

World Woman Suffrage Map 1908
Progress of states and nations with woman suffrage.

Courtesy Library of Congress. Original published in Harper's Magazine, April 25, 1908.

When did various nations give all women the right to vote? Many granted suffrage in steps: Some locales gave the vote in local elections first, while some racial or ethnic groups were excluded until later. Often, the right to stand for election and the right to vote were given at separate times. "Full suffrage" means that all groups of women were included and could vote and run for any office.

1850–1879

  • 1851: Prussian law forbids women from joining political parties or attending meetings where politics is discussed.
  • 1869: Britain grants unmarried women who are householders the right to vote in local elections.
  • 1862–1863: Some Swedish women gain voting rights in local elections.

1880–1899

  • 1881: Some Scottish women get the right to vote in local elections.
  • 1893: New Zealand grants equal voting rights to women.
  • 1894: The United Kingdom expands women's voting rights to married women in local, but not national, elections.
  • 1895: South Australian women gain voting rights.
  • 1899: Western Australian women are granted voting rights.

1900–1909

  • 1901: Women in Australia gain the right to vote, with some restrictions.
  • 1902: Women in New South Wales, Australia, get the right to vote.
  • 1902: Australia grants more voting rights to women.
  • 1906: Finland adopts women's suffrage.
  • 1907: Women in Norway are permitted to stand for election.
  • 1908: Some women in Denmark are granted local voting rights.
  • 1908: Victoria, Australia, grants women voting rights.
  • 1909: Sweden grants the vote in municipal elections to all women.

1910–1919

  • 1913: Norway adopts full women's suffrage.
  • 1915: Women get the vote in Denmark and Iceland.
  • 1916: Canadian women in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan get the vote.
  • 1917: When the Russian czar is toppled, the provisional government grants universal suffrage with equality for women; later, the new Soviet Russian constitution includes full suffrage to women.
  • 1917: Women in the Netherlands are granted the right to stand for election.
  • 1918: The United Kingdom gives a full vote to some women—over 30, with property qualifications or a UK university degree—and to all men age 21 and older.
  • 1918: Canada gives women the vote in most provinces by federal law. Quebec is not included. Native women were not included.
  • 1918: Germany grants women the vote.
  • 1918: Austria adopts women's suffrage.
  • 1918: Women are given full suffrage in Latvia, Poland, and Estonia.
  • 1918: The Russian Federation gives women the right to vote.
  • 1918: The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918–1920) grants civil and political rights (including suffrage) to all citizens regardless of ethnic origin, religion, class, profession, or sex.
  • 1918: Women granted limited voting rights in Ireland.
  • 1919: The Netherlands gives women the right to vote.
  • 1919: Women's suffrage is granted in Belarus, Luxembourg, and Ukraine.
  • 1919: Women in Belgium are granted the right to vote.
  • 1919: New Zealand allows women to stand for election.
  • 1919: Sweden grants women's suffrage, with some restrictions.

1920–1929

  • 1920: On August 26, a constitutional amendment is adopted when the state of Tennessee ratifies it, granting women full suffrage in all U.S. states.
  • 1920: Women's suffrage is granted in Albania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
  • 1920: Canadian women get the right to stand for election (but not for all offices—see 1929 below).
  • 1921: Sweden gives women voting rights with some restrictions.
  • 1921: Armenia grants women's suffrage.
  • 1921: Lithuania grants women's suffrage.
  • 1921: Belgium grants women the right to stand for election.
  • 1922: The Irish Free State, separating from the UK, gives equal voting rights to women.
  • 1922: Burma grants women voting rights.
  • 1924: Mongolia, Saint Lucia, and Tajikistan give suffrage to women.
  • 1924: Kazakstan gives limited voting rights to women.
  • 1925: Italy grants limited voting rights to women.
  • 1927: Turkmenistan grants women's suffrage.
  • 1928: The United Kingdom grants full equal voting rights to women.
  • 1928: Guyana grants women's suffrage.
  • 1928: Ireland (as part of the UK) expands women's suffrage rights.
  • 1929: Ecuador grants suffrage, Romania grants limited suffrage.
  • 1929: Women are found to be "persons" in Canada and are, therefore, able to become members of the Senate.

1930–1939

  • 1930: White women are granted suffrage in South Africa.
  • 1930: Turkey grants women the right to vote.
  • 1931: Women get full suffrage in Spain and Sri Lanka.
  • 1931: Chile and Portugal grant women's suffrage, with some restrictions.
  • 1932: Uruguay, Thailand, and Maldives jump on the women's suffrage bandwagon.
  • 1934: Cuba and Brazil adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1934: Turkish women are able to stand for election.
  • 1934: Portugal grants women's suffrage, with some restrictions.
  • 1935: Women gain the right to vote in Myanmar (Burma).
  • 1937: The Philippines grants women full suffrage.
  • 1938: Women get the right to vote in Bolivia.
  • 1938: Uzbekistan grants full suffrage to women.
  • 1939: El Salvador grants voting rights to women.

1940–1949

  • 1940: Women of Quebec are granted voting rights.
  • 1941: Panama grants limited voting rights to women.
  • 1942: Women gain full suffrage in the Dominican Republic.
  • 1944: Bulgaria, France, and Jamaica grant suffrage to women.
  • 1945: Croatia, Indonesia, Italy, Hungary, Japan (with restrictions), Yugoslavia, Senegal, and Ireland enact women's suffrage.
  • 1945: Guyana allows women to stand for election.
  • 1946: Women's suffrage is adopted in Palestine, Kenya, Liberia, Cameroon, Korea, Guatemala, Panama (with restrictions), Romania (with restrictions), Venezuela, Yugoslavia, and Vietnam.
  • 1946: Women are allowed to stand for election in Myanmar (Burma).
  • 1947: Bulgaria, Malta, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, and Argentina extend suffrage to women.
  • 1947: Japan extends suffrage but retains some restrictions.
  • 1947: Mexico grants the vote to women at the municipal level.
  • 1948: Israel, Iraq, Korea, Niger, and Surinam adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1948: Belgium, which previously granted the vote to women, establishes suffrage with a few restrictions for women.
  • 1949: Bosnia and Herzegovina grant women's suffrage.
  • 1949: China and Costa Rica give women the vote.
  • 1949: Women gain full suffrage in Chile but most vote separately from men.
  • 1949: The Syrian Arab Republic gives the vote to women.
  • 1949: As a Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldova adopts full suffrage with a few restrictions.
  • 1949/1950: India grants women's suffrage.

1950–1959

  • 1950: Haiti and Barbados adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1950: Canada grants full suffrage, extending the right to vote to some women (and men) previously not included, although still excluding Native women.
  • 1951: Antigua, Nepal, and Grenada give women the right to vote.
  • 1952: The Convention on the Political Rights of Women is enacted by the United Nations, calling for the women's right to vote and to stand for elections.
  • 1952: Greece, Lebanon, and Bolivia (with restrictions) extend suffrage to women.
  • 1953: Mexico grants women the right to stand for election and to vote in national elections.
  • 1953: Hungary and Guyana give voting rights to women.
  • 1953: Bhutan and the Syrian Arab Republic establish full women's suffrage.
  • 1954: Ghana, Colombia, and Belize grant women's suffrage.
  • 1955: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Peru, Honduras, and Nicaragua adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1956: Women are given suffrage in Egypt, Somalia, Comoros, Mauritius, Mali, and Benin.
  • 1956: Pakistani women gain the right to vote in national elections.
  • 1957: Malaysia extends suffrage to women.
  • 1957: Zimbabwe grants women the right to vote.
  • 1959: Madagascar and Tanzania give suffrage to women.
  • 1959: San Marino permits women to vote.

1960–1969

  • 1960: Women of Cyprus, Gambia, and Tonga get suffrage.
  • 1960: Canadian women win full rights to stand for election, including Native women.
  • 1961: Burundi, Malawy, Paraguay, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1961: Women in the Bahamas gain suffrage, with limits.
  • 1961: Women in El Salvador are permitted to stand for election.
  • 1962: Algeria, Monaco, Uganda, and Zambia adopt women's suffrage.
  • 1962: Australia adopts full women's suffrage (a few restrictions remain).
  • 1962: In the Bahamas,women over 21 years vote for the first time.
  • 1963: Women in Morocco, Congo, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Kenya gain suffrage.
  • 1964: Sudan adopts women's suffrage.
  • 1965: Women gain full suffrage in Afghanistan, Botswana, and Lesotho.
  • 1967: Ecuador adopts full suffrage with a few restrictions.
  • 1968: Full women's suffrage is adopted in Swaziland.

1970–1979

  • 1970: Yemen adopts full women's suffrage.
  • 1970: Andorra permits women to vote.
  • 1971: Switzerland adopts women's suffrage, and the United States lowers the voting age for both men and women to 18 via a constitutional amendment.
  • 1972: Bangladesh grants women's suffrage.
  • 1973: Full suffrage granted to women in Bahrain.
  • 1973: Women are permitted to stand for election in Andorra and San Marino.
  • 1974: Jordan and the Solomon Islands extend suffrage to women.
  • 1975: Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique give suffrage to women.
  • 1976: Portugal adopts full women's suffrage with a few restrictions.
  • 1978: Women in Zimbabwe are able to stand for election.
  • 1979: Women in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia gain full suffrage.

1980–1989

  • 1980: Iran gives women the right to vote.
  • 1984: Full suffrage is granted to women of Liechtenstein.
  • 1984: In South Africa, voting rights are extended to women of mixed ethnicity and Indians.
  • 1986: The Central African Republic adopts women's suffrage.

1990–1999

  • 1990: Samoan women gain full suffrage.
  • 1994: Kazakhstan grants women full suffrage.
  • 1994: Black women gain full suffrage in South Africa.

2000–

  • 2005: The Kuwaiti Parliament grants women of Kuwait full suffrage.
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Lewis, Jone Johnson. "International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/international-woman-suffrage-timeline-3530479. Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2023, April 5). International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/international-woman-suffrage-timeline-3530479 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/international-woman-suffrage-timeline-3530479 (accessed March 19, 2024).