Across continents, a handful of leaders have defied time, steering their nations through many decades, not always ushering in change.
From founding fathers to Europe’s most unyielding rulers, these figures have not just held office, they have established a cult of leadership and will leave legacies, mostly mixed, that few can rival.
One of them was Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader who was killed two adays ago in a joint Israeli-American bombing attack.
Which world leaders have been in power for the longest time?
1. Paul Biya, President, Cameroon: 51 Years
He served as the prime minister of Cameroon from June 30, 1975 to November 6, 1982, before becoming president on November 6, 1982, a position he still holds today.
He is 93 and is seldom seen in public. With over 50 years in power, he is recognised as one of the longest-serving leaders in the world but is also regarded as one of the world's worst tyrants as per commentator and modern historian David Wallenchinsky.
Of central African Beti extraction, Catholic-born Biya trained as a lawyer but gained access to more and more power under Cameroon's first president Ahmadou Ahidjo.
2. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President, Equatorial Guinea: 47 Years
Known to be an autocratic leader, with a poor record in human rights, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo became chairman of the Supreme Military Council on August 15, 1979, and held the role until October 1982. He then assumed the presidency in October 1982, a position he continues to hold today being 47 years in power. '
He once was the director of the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo.
3. Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader, Iran: 45 Years
From June 4, 1989, till he was killed February 28, Khamenei was Iran's Supreme Leader.
He and Ruhollah Khomeini, who he succeeded, created and continued Iran's revolutionary doctrine, which is rooted in velayat-e faqih or state guardianship by Islamic jurists.
Before that this Iraq-born, spartan-living Shia cleric, the father of six, with both Azerbaijani Turk and Yazd Persian roots, was the president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Ali Khamenei has been in power for over 45 years across both roles.
4. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President, Republic Of Congo: 42 Years
A veteran Congolese leader and ex-military commander -- known for his high living and ownership of diamond mines, as per Pandora Papers -- has held the presidency of the Republic of the Congo twice: from 1979 to 1992 and again from 1997 to the present, marking over 42 years at the helm.
5. Yoweri Museveni, Presdient, Uganda: 40 Years
He took control of Uganda in 1986 as president and is now serving his seventh term, with more than 40 years of leading the nation.
Now 81, born the son of a cattle herder, he is a member of the Church of Uganda and was part of two successive attempts to oust Idi Amin, with the second one being successful.
When Amin was dying Museveni refused to allow him to return to Uganda and Amin was buried in Jeddah where he had been exiled to.
6. Emomali Rahmon, President, Tajikistan: 34 Years
He has led Tajikistan since 1992 and has held the presidency from 1994, marking over 34 years in power.
Born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov, of central Asian peasant stock, he de-Russianised his name to Rahmon in 2007. An autocratic leader, elections are said to be not free and fair and political opponents are rendered voiceless.
7. Isaias Afwerki, President, Eritrea: 33 Years
Since 1993, Isaias Afwerki, called Isu, has been Eritrea’s only president, ruling the nation for 33 uninterrupted years.
Amnesty International says there are 10,000 political prisoners in Eritrea.
The son of a state tobacco official and a member of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, while growing up he had plans to become an engineer but dropped out. In the early 1990s he was hospitalised with severe cerebral malaria and almost did not become Eritrea's president.
8. Alexander Lukashenko, President, Belarus: 32 Years
He has run Belarus since 1994, making him Europe’s longest-serving ruler and the only president the country has ever had during its independence.
He is also referred to as Europe's last dictator.
Of Ukrainian heritage, he grew up fatherless, of unknown paternity. His mother was a factory worker and a milkmaid. An avid sportsman and player of the bayan (a kind of accordion), he studied at an agricultural college but joined the Soviet army,
9. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President, Djibouti: 27 Years
Guelleh, nicknamed IOG, has been in the seat of power since 1999, serving 27 years, and his tenure has positioned the nation as a vital strategic and military hub in the Horn of Africa, hosting bases for multiple foreign nations, including the US and China.
Called a dictator, the excesses of his regime apparently do not bear scrutiny as per human rights organisations. He began his career as a member of the information service when Djibouti was a French territory. Later he became the head of the country's first secret service.
10. Vladimir Putin, President, Russia: 27 Years
In power since 1999, in various roles, Putin has been president from 2000–2008 and 2012–present, with a prime ministerial term in between, shaping Russia for over 27 years. An ex-KGB, he was once posted to Dresden, East Germany, pretending to be a translator.
The grandson of Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin's personal chef, his father served in the Soviet army in the submarine fleet. His materal grandmother was killed by invading Germans in World War II.
A practioner of judo and mixed martial arts, he also immersed himseflf in the writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin. His personal wealth is said to run to billions of dollars.
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