21st-Century World Leaders Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cricket

Imran Khan (born 1954) served as Pakistani prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022. He founded the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996 and won a seat in the National Assembly in the 2002 general election. He served as an opposition member from Mianwali until 2007. PTI became the second-largest party by popular vote in the 2013 general election. In the 2018 general election, PTI became the largest party in the National Assembly, and formed a coalition government with independents. The coalition government selected Khan as their prime minister.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan. Imran Khan made his professional debut at the age of 16. He played for the national team from 1971 to 1992.

Answer: Football (soccer)

George Weah (born 1966) became the first African professional footballer to become the head of state. He won the 2017 Liberian presidential election with nearly 62% of the votes against Joseph Boakai.

In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1989, 1994 and 1995. Weah played as a striker for many clubs namely Monaco (1988-1992), PSG (1992-1995) and AC Milan (1995-2000). He also spent a short stint with Man City in 2000.

Answer: Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe (born 1954) was born in a prominent political family in Tokyo and was the grandson of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (1957-1960). He was the leader of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.

On 8 July 2022, he was assassinated during his speech at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City. He was shot from behind at close range by Tetsuya Yamagumi with a homemade firearm. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Nara Medical University Hospital. The 41-year-old killer was immediately arrested at the scene of the murder. Yamaguchi told the investigators he had a grudge with Abe in relation to the Unification Church which Abe and family had political ties that led to his mother's bankruptcy in 2002.

Answer: Philippines

Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (born 1957) more commonly known as Bongbong Marcos became the 17th President of the Philippines on 30 June 2022. He is the second child and only son of 10th president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and former first lady Imelda Marcos. Ferdinand Marco Sr. was the Filipino president from 1965 to 1986. He was ousted by people power revolution on 25 February 1986 for corruption and abuse of power.

Bongbong Marcos, leader of the Federal Party of the Philippines (PFP) won the 2022 presidential election with nearly 59% of the votes against Leni Robredo who was the 14th Filipino vice-president (2016-2022).

Answer: 16

Angela Merkel (born 1954) was the first female chancellor of Germany. She is one of the longest serving head of states in Germany, in office for 16 years from 22 November 2005 to 8 December 2021. Beginning in 2016, she was often considered as the leader of the free world.

She was succeeded by Olaf Scholz (born 1958) as the German chancellor in December 2021.

Answer: Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao (born 1942) served as the general secretary of the CPC from 2002 to 2012. From 2003 to 2013, he was the president of China and chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC) from 2004 to 2012. He was preceded by Jiang Zemin (1989-2002) and succeeded by Xi Jinping who assumed office on November 2012.

Answer: 40

Macron (born 21 Dec 1977) won the French presidential election on 7 May 2017 with 66% of the vote in the second round. At the age of 39, he became the youngest to be elected as the French president to date.

In the 2022 French presidential election, he won his second term winning nearly 59% of the votes against Marine Le Pen.

Answer: Someone else

Miguel Diaz-Canel (born 1960) was elected as the new Cuban President by a vote of 603-1 to replace Raul Castro (born 1931). Raul stepped down from the presidency on 19 April 2018, but still retained his post as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). He relinquished his post as PCC first on 19 April 2021, handing the ultimate power to Diaz-Canel.

Answer: Finland

Sanna Marin (born 1985) became the Finnish Prime Minister in December 2019. She had been a Member of Parliament since 2015, and Transport Minister from June to December 2019. She replaced Antti Rinne who resigned due to the political turmoil caused by a strike of postal workers.

Answer: Mahathir Mohammad

Dr. Mahathir Mohammad (born 10 July 1925) was his country 4th prime minister from 16 July 1981 to 31 October 2003. During this period, he was the party chief of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). He was disillusioned with his successors he appointed after he stepped down as the PM.

In the 2018 Malaysian general elections, he led his opposition part Pakatan Harapan to victory over UMNO. This was the first in Malaysian, UMNO had lost the general elections. He then served as the 7th prime minister from 10 May 2018 to 24 February 2020.

In the 2022 general elections, the 97-year old formed a new party to stand for election as MP for Langkawi. However, he lost badly and even lost his deposit.