Here are the world’s oldest heads of state
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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The world’s oldest president has just won re-election at the age of 92. Paul Biya is the second president Cameroon has seen since independence in 1960, and the only ruler most people in the central African nation have ever known.
He’s not alone. There are heads of state around the world well into their 80s, while the oldest U.S. president ever sworn in, Donald Trump, is 79.
Here’s a look at them.
92: Paul Biya, Cameroon
Biya came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president. He has ruled since then, later benefiting from a constitutional amendment that abolished term limits. His latest election win followed protests by opposition supporters in a country where over 70% of the population is under 35.
89: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia
The world’s oldest living monarch has led Saudi Arabia since 2015, where he holds absolute power. His son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is widely considered to be de facto ruler because of the king’s poor health.
88: King Harald V, Norway
Norway is a constitutional monarchy, which means the king’s role is largely representative. The king is the formal head of state, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and a symbol of national unity. King Harald V has ruled the Scandinavian nation since 1991.
86 years: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iran
Khameini has been supreme leader for 36 years and is the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East. An important figure in Iran’s 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution, he is the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the 20th and 21st centuries. He was president of Iran between 1981 and 1989.
86 years: President Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, Togo
He was sworn into the largely ceremonial role in May. The West African country’s actual leader, Faure Gnassingbé, had been president since 2005 following his father’s death but resigned and was appointed as president of the Council of Ministers. The new and powerful role has no official term limits.