1. Ilir Meta
   Vladimir Putin
2. Alexander Lukashenko
   Abdul Hamid

President of Russia Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is fond of animals. His elderly dog, Koni, has accompanied him at his press events. Putin also has owned a Bulgarian breed dog named Bafik and a Japanese dog named Yume, among other creatures.

1. Paul Biya
   Milos Zeman
2. Petro Poroshenko
   Kersti Kaljulaid

The president of Ukraine is known as "Chocolate King." Billionaire businessman and politician Petro Poroshenko made a fortune on the sweet confectionery. Poroshenko is reportedly worth approximately $1.3 billion.

1. Alpha Conde
   Janos Ader
2. Emmanuel Macron
   Michel Aoun

Brigitte Trogneux, also known as "Bibi," is wife to French President Emmanuel Macron, and she is 24 years his senior. Trogneux has been instrumental in her husband's political life. The two met when Macron was a schoolboy, and she was a teacher.

1. Felipe VI
   Andry Rajoelina
2. Igor Dodon
   Bidhya Devi Bhandari

King Felipe's parents are King Juan Carlos, who was born in Rome, and Princess Sofia of Greece, who is related to Queen Victoria of Britain and the czars of Russia. King Felipe VI has two other siblings.

1. Carl XVI Gustaf
   Martin Vizcarra
2. Paul Kagame
   Macky Sall

Carl XVI Gustaf ascended to Sweden's high throne as king in 1953 at the young age of 27. He has three children with Queen Silvia, whom he met at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Their daughter Crown Princess Victoria is heir to the throne.

1. Bashar al-Assad
   Harald V
2. Yoweri Museveni
   Brahim Ghali

Harald V, King of Norway, fled to the United States with his mother when the Nazis attacked the country in 1940. After World War II, he returned to Norway and married Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner, in 1968.

1. Ashraf Ghani
   Abdelkader Bensalah
2. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
   Armen Sarkissian

Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is Germany's current president and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party and served as Chief of Staff in the German Chancellery from 1999 to 2005.

1. Joseph Ngute
   Sauli Niinistö
2. Bruno Tshibala
   Taur Matan Ruak

Sauli Väinämö Niinistö was born in Salo. His mother, Hilkka Heimo, was a nurse and his father, Vaino Niinisto, a circulation manager. The president is the youngest of three siblings, Virve, Kari and Kirsi.

1. Angela Merkel
   Keith Mitchell
2. Andrzej Duda
   Leo Varadkar

President Andrzej Duda of Poland was born on May 16, 1972, in Krakow, Poland. As a member of the conservative Law and Justice party, he served as an adviser to its caucus in parliament in 2005.

1. Sergio Mattarella
   Shinzo Abe
2. Michel Aoun
   Pavel Filip

Sergio Mattarella is a former judge from Sicily. Mattarella also served as defense and education minister before winning the presidency in 2015. The president was inspired to start a political career after his brother Piersanti was killed by the Mafia in 1980.

1. Baron Waqa
   Mark Rutte
2. Theresa May
   Jacinda Ardern

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May is the only child of an Anglican vicar. May grew up in Oxfordshire, located in central England. She married an investment banker before starting a political career as a member of parliament in 1997.

1. Erna Solberg
   Peter O'Neill
2. Klaus Iohannis
   Timothy Harris

Born in Sibiu, Romania on June 13, 1959, Klaus Iohannis became Romania's fourth president in 2014. He was mayor of Sibiu from 2000 to 2014. Iohannis is an ethnic German from Transylvania.

1. Alexander Lukashenko
   Evaristo Carvalho
2. Halimah Yacob
   Imad Khamis

Dubbed "the last dictator in Europe" by his critics, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is affectionately called "batka," or father, by his supporters. A former farm director, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994.

1. Jair Bolsonaro
   Hun Sen
2. Alexis Tsipras
   Xi Jinping

Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras was trained as a civil engineer, earning his Master's degree from National Technical University in Athens. Tsipras was a member of the Communist Youth while in secondary school.

1. Edi Rama
   Gaston Browne
2. Scott Morrison
   Boyko Borisov

Born on June 13, 1959, in Bankya, Bulgaria, Boyko Borisov learned fire and safety procedures at the Higher Special School of the Ministry of Interior. He began a political career in 2001, serving as the secretary general of the Ministry of Interior.

1. Mia Mottley
   Katrin Jakobsdottir
2. Sheikh Hasina
   Dean Barrow

Born in Reykjavik, Iceland on February 1, 1976, Katrin Jakobsdottir earned her undergraduate and master's degrees at the University of Iceland. The Icelandic prime minister's constituency has regarded her as one of the nation's most trusted politicians.

1. Viktor Orban
   Antoni Marti
2. Charles Michel
   Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban was president of the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic party. Orban graduated from Eotvos Lorand University in 1987 with a degree in law, and he founded the center-right political group one year later.

1. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
   Juri Ratas
2. Salome Zourabichvili
   Barham Salih

On January 24, 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won Portugal's presidential election with 52 percent of the votes. The center-right Social Democratic Party backed Rebelo de Sousa's presidential bid.

1. Reuven Rivlin
   Sergio Mattarella
2. Sebastian Kurz
   Giuseppe Conte

In 2014, Sebastian Kurz seized the role of Austrian Foreign Minister at the age of 27, and was the world's youngest foreign minister at the time. Kurz currently serves as Chancellor.

1. Andrej Babis
   Hassan Rouhani
2. Joko Widodo
   Tom Thabane

Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis is a billionaire and former Finance Minister. Before becoming prime minister, Babis was accused of unlawfully securing EU funds for his wife and daughter.

1. Jacinda Ardern
   Aleksandar Vucic
2. Arif Alvi
   Timothy Harris

President Aleksandar Vucic had served as Serbia's first deputy prime minister. In 2017, Vucic secured the presidency, winning 55.7 percent of the votes cast. His nearest contender, Sasa Jankovic, won 15.6 percent of the votes.

1. Macky Sall
   Stefan Lofven
2. Michael D. Higgins
   Moon Jae-in

Ireland elected Michael Daniel Higgins, a Limerick native, as president in October 2011. Higgins had served previously as a member of parliament for a few decades. The Irish president, who lived in poverty as a youth, has long promoted an anti-poverty agenda.

1. Maithripala Sirisena
   Dalia Grybauskaitė
2. Keith Rowley
   Charlot Salwai

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė is a martial arts expert and holds a Ph.D. in social science. Grybauskaite is not married and does not have children. She began her professional life working the night shift at a Russian fur factory.

1. Edi Rama
   Armen Sarkissian
2. Bruno Tshibala
   Raimonds Vejonis

Lativia swore in its ninth president, Raimonds Vejonis, on July 8, 2015. Vejonis had previously served as Minister of Defense starting in January 2014, and from 2011 to 2014 he was a National Security Committee member.

1. Paul Biya
   Idriss Deby
2. Felix Tshisekedi
   Andrej Plenkovic

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic served in the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the early 1990s. Considered one of the most powerful leaders in Croatia, Plenkovic is the leader of the HDZ, Croatian Democratic Union.

1. Kersti Kaljulaid
   Francisco Guterres
2. Aristides Gomes
   Barham Salih

In October 2016, at the age of 46, Kersti Kaljulaid made history, becoming the first female president of Estonia. Kaljulaid had been a member of the European Audit Board for 12 years before winning the Estonian presidency.

1. Leo Varadkar
   Margrethe II
2. Tom Thabane
   Taneti Mamau

The same royal family has reigned over Denmark for nearly 50 generations. The current Queen of Denmark is Margrethe II, who can trace her lineage to Gorm the Old, a Viking who once ruled over a thousand years ago.

1. Willem-Alexander
   Peter Mutharika
2. Hilda Heine
   Brigi Rafini

Before King Willem-Alexander's ascension to the throne, his mother Beatrix was queen. Beatrix married Claus von Amsberg, a German diplomat, in 1966. In 1982, Claus was relieved of his royal duties after the court announced he was suffering from depression.

1. Igor Dodon
   Rodrigo Duterte
2. Mahmoud Abbas
   Paul Kagame

Igor Dodon is a self-proclaimed "pro-Moscow" president. The Moldovan head-of-state won nearly 56 percent of the vote in his country's 2016 presidential election. His wife Galina heads "Din Suflet," a family charity foundation.

1. Jorge Bom Jesus
   King Philippe
2. Danny Faure
   Borut Pahor

Before Philippe became king of the Belgians, King Albert II was chief monarch. Albert II is a descendant of Leopold II and married Queen Paola of Italian royal lineage. King Philippe is married to former speech therapist Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.

1. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
   Martin Vizcarra
2. Jacinda Ardern
   Filipe Nyusi

Born in Istanbul in 1954, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had served as Turkey's prime minister for a little more than a decade. The controversial leader is married and has four children.

1. Ilham Aliyev
   Saad Hariri
2. Adrian Hasler
   Serge Telle

During the Azerbaijan presidential election held on October 15, 2003, then prime minister of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev campaigned on behalf of his father, incumbent President Heydar Aliyev, who was hospitalized in the United States at the time. Ilham was elected as president after a swift nomination.

1. Grand Duke Zoran Zaev
   Grand Duke Henri
2. Grand Duke Timothy
   Allen Chastanet

Since 2000, Henri has presided as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, a small European grand duchy. Henri married Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, who was born in Cuba. The couple has five children.

1. Gjorge Ivanov
   Mamuka Bakhtadze
2. Arif Alvi
   Peter O'Neill

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadz has been tasked with reforming his country economically and politically. Before the prime minister post, Bakhtadz served as the nation's Foreign Finance Minister.

1. Emmanuel Macron
   Ralph Gonsalves
2. Hassan Ali Khayre
   Pedro Sanchez

French President Emmanuel Macron is an official head of state of small and independent Andorra. Macron shares co-prince responsibilities with Catholic Bishop Joan Enric Vives Sicilia.

1. Viorica Dancila
   Queen Elizabeth
2. Christian Ntsay
   Marie-Louise Colerio Preca

During her term as minister for the Family and Social Solidarity, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca secured the presidency. Coleiro Preca started her term as president in April 2014. She also served in Malta's parliament from 1998 to 2014.

1. Hans-Adam II
   Xavier Bettel
2. Adrian Hasler
   Askar Mamin

Prince Hans-Adam II inherited his reign as Prince of Liechtenstein, which is a small European territory with a population of 35,000. The country has one of the highest income per capita. The prince holds substantial political power, unlike the monarchs of many other European states.

1. Joseph Muscat
   Ilir Meta
2. Emmanuel Macron
   Abiy Ahmed

Ilir Meta was elected as Albania's seventh president on April 28, 2017. Before his appointment as president, Meta was speaker of parliament, and he led the Socialist Movement for Integration, a junior ruling party.

1. Prince Albert II
   Francisco Guterres
2. Roosevelt Skerrit
   Ashraf Ghani

Before Prince Albert's ascension to the Monaco throne, Prince Rainier III ruled the small country until his death in 2005. Rainier was married to Albert's mother, American film actress Grace Kelly.