The data in the table below has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by 12 October 2001. 179 countries are classified by descending order of the percentage of women in the lower or single House. Comparative data on the world and regional averages as well as data concerning the two regional parliamentary assemblies elected by direct suffrage can be found on separate pages.
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Rank	Country	Lower or single House				Upper House or Senate
		Elections	Seats	Women	% W	Elections	Seats	Women	% W
1	Sweden	09 1998	349	149	42.7	---	---	---	---
2	Denmark	03 1998	179	67	37.4	---	---	---	---
3	Finland	03 1999	200	73	36.5	---	---	---	---
4	Netherlands	05 1998	150	54	36.0	05 1999	75	20	26.7
5	Norway	09 2001	165	59	35.8	---	---	---	---
6	Iceland	05 1999	63	22	34.9	---	---	---	---
7	Germany	09 1998	669	207	30.9	N.A.	69	17	24.6
8	New Zealand	11 1999	120	37	30.8	---	---	---	---
9	Mozambique	12 1999	250	75	30.0	---	---	---	---
10	South Africa	06 1999	399	119	29.8	06 1999	89	17	31.5*
11	Spain	03 2000	350	99	28.3	03 2000	259	63	24.3
12	Cuba	01 1998	601	166	27.6	---	---	---	---
13	Austria	10 1999	183	49	26.8	N.A.	64	13	20.3
14	Grenada	01 1999	15	4	26.7	01 1999	13	1	7.7
15	Argentina	10 1999	257	68	26.5	12 1998	72	2	2.8
16	Bulgaria	06 2001	240	63	26.2	---	---	---	---
17	Turkmenistan	12 1999	50	13	26.0	---	---	---	---
"	Viet Nam	07 1997	450	117	26.0	---	---	---	---
18	Rwanda	11 1994	74	19	25.7	---	---	---	---
19	Namibia	11 1999	72	18	25.0	11 1998	26	2	7.7
20	Australia	10 1998	148	35	23.6	10 1998	76	23	30.3
21	Seychelles	03 1998	34	8	23.5	---	---	---	---
22	Belgium	06 1999	150	35	23.3	06 1999	71	20	28.2
23	Switzerland	10 1999	200	46	23.0	10 1999	46	9	19.6
24	United Rep. of Tanzania	10 2000	274	61	22.3	---	---	---	---
25	Monaco	02 1998	18	4	22.2	---	---	---	---
26	China	1997-98	2984	650	21.8	---	---	---	---
27	Lao People's Democratic Rep.	12 1997	99	21	21.2	---	---	---	---
28	Canada	11 2000	301	62	20.6	N.A.	105	34	32.4
29	Croatia	01 2000	151	31	20.5	04 1997	65	4	6.2
30	Dem. People's Rep. of Korea	07 1998	687	138	20.1	---	---	---	---
31	Costa Rica	02 1998	57	11	19.3	---	---	---	---
32	Dominica	01 2000	32	6	18.8	---	---	---	---
33	Portugal	10 1999	230	43	18.7	---	---	---	---
34	Guyana	12 1997	65	12	18.3	---	---	---	---
35	Peru	04 2001	120	22	17.5	---	---	---	---
36	United Kingdom	06 2001	659	118	17.9	N.A.	666	104	15.6
37	Estonia	03 1999	101	18	17.8	---	---	---	---
38	Suriname	05 2000	51	9	17.6	---	---	---	---
39	Botswana	10 1999	47	8	17.0	---	---	---	---
"	Latvia	10 1998	100	17	17.0	---	---	---	---
40	Luxembourg	06 1999	60	10	16.7	---	---	---	---
"	San Marino	06 2001	60	10	16.7	---	---	---	---
"	Senegal	04 2001	120	20	16.7	---	---	---	---
41	Dominican Republic	05 1998	149	24	16.1	05 1998	30	2	6.7
42	Mexico	07 2000	500	80	16.0	07 2000	128	20	15.6
43	Angola	09 1992	220	34	15.5	---	---	---	---
44	Bahamas	03 1997	40	6	15.0	03 1997	16	5	31.3
"	Czech Republic	06 1998	200	30	15.0	11 2000	81	10	12.3
45	Eritrea	02 1994	150	22	14.7	---	---	---	---
46	Ecuador	05 1998	123	18	14.6	---	---	---	---
47	Burundi	06 1993	118	17	14.4	---	---	---	---
48	Andorra	03 2001	28	4	14.3	---	---	---	---
49	Slovakia	09 1998	150	21	14.0	---	---	---	---
"	United States of America	11 2000	435	61	14.0	11 2000	100	13	13
50	Israel	05 1999	120	16	13.3	---	---	---	---
"	Jamaica	12 1997	60	8	13.3	12 1997	21	5	23.8
"	Saint Kitts and Nevis	03 2000	15	2	13.3	---	---	---	---
51	Republic of Moldova	02 2001	101	13	12.9	---	---	---	---
52	Tajikistan	02 2000	63	8	12.7	03 2000	34	4	11.8
53	Mali	07 1997	147	18	12.2	---	---	---	---
"	Slovenia	10 2000	90	11	12.2	---	---	---	---
54	Uruguay	10 1999	99	12	12.1	10 1999	31	3	9.7
55	Congo	01 1998	75	9	12.0	---	---	---	---
"	Ireland	06 1997	166	20	12.0	08 1997	60	11	18.3
56	Colombia	03 1998	161	19	11.8	03 1998	102	13	12.7
57	Bolivia	06 1997	130	15	11.5	06 1997	27	1	3.7
"	Tunisia	10 1999	182	21	11.5	---	---	---	---
58	Cape Verde	01 2001	72	8	11.1	---	---	---	---
"	Saint Lucia	05 1997	18	2	11.1	05 1997	11	2	18.2
"	Trinidad and Tobago	12 2000	36	4	11.1	11 1995	31	10	32.3
59	France	05 1997	577	63	10.9	09 2001	321	35	10.9
60	Chile	12 1997	120	13	10.8	12 1997	48	2	4.2
61	Barbados	01 1999	28	3	10.7	01 1999	21	7	33.3
"	Cyprus	05 2001	56	6	10.7	---	---	---	---
"	Romania	11 2000	345	37	10.7	11 2000	140	8	5.7
62	Lithuania	10 2000	141	15	10.6	---	---	---	---
63	Azerbaijan	11 2000	124	13	10.5	---	---	---	---
"	Mongolia	07 2000	76	8	10.5	---	---	---	---
64	Kazakhstan	10 1999	77	8	10.4	09 1999	39	5	12.8
"	Malaysia	11 1999	193	20	10.4	03 1998	69	18	26.1
"	Syrian Arab Republic	11 1998	250	26	10.4	---	---	---	---
65	Belarus	10 2000	97	10	10.3	12 2000	61	19	31.1
66	Zambia	11 1996	158	16	10.1	---	---	---	---
67	Kyrgyzstan	02 2000	60	6	10.0	02 2000	45	1	2.2
"	Zimbabwe	06 2000	150	15	10.0	---	---	---	---
68	Panama	05 1999	71	7	9.9	---	---	---	---
69	Italy	05 2001	630	62	9.8	05 2001	326	25	7.7
70	Nicaragua	10 1996	93	9	9.7	---	---	---	---
"	Sudan	12 2000	360	35	9.7	---	---	---	---
"	Venezuela	07 2000	165	16	9.7	---	---	---	---
71	El Salvador	03 2000	84	8	9.5	---	---	---	---
72	Honduras	11 1997	128	12	9.4	---	---	---	---
73	Bhutan	N.A.	150	14	9.3	---	---	---	---
"	Malawi	06 1999	193	18	9.3	---	---	---	---
74	Gabon	12 1996	120	11	9.2	01 1997	91	12	13.2
"	Malta	09 1998	65	6	9.2	---	---	---	---
"	Thailand	01 2001	500	46	9.2	03 2000	200	21	10.5
75	Sao Tome and Principe	11 1998	55	5	9.1	---	---	---	---
76	Ghana	12 2000	200	18	9.0	---	---	---	---
77	Guatemala	11 1999	113	10	8.8	---	---	---	---
"	Guinea	06 1995	114	10	8.8	---	---	---	---
"	India	09 1999	543	48	8.8	03 2000	220	?	?
"	Sierra Leone	02 1996	80	7	8.8	---	---	---	---
78	Greece	04 2000	300	26	8.7	---	---	---	---
79	Cote d'Ivoire	12 2000	223	19	8.5	---	---	---	---
80	Hungary	05 1998	386	32	8.3	---	---	---	---
81	Burkina Faso	05 1997	111	9	8.1	12 1995	162	21	13.0
82	Indonesia	06 1999	500	40	8.0	---	---	---	---
"	Madagascar	05 1998	150	12	8.0	---	---	---	---
83	Guinea-Bissau	11 1999	102	8	7.8	---	---	---	---
"	Liberia	07 1997	64	5	7.8	07 1997	26	5	19.2
"	Ukraine	03 1998	450	35	7.8	---	---	---	---
84	Ethiopia	05 2000	547	42	7.7	05 2000	120	10	8.3
85	Iraq	03 2000	250	19	7.6	---	---	---	---
"	Russian Federation	12 1999	449	34	7.6	N.A.	178	1	0.6
86	Cambodia	07 1998	122	9	7.4	03 1999	61	8	13.1
87	Central African Republic	11 1998	109	8	7.3	---	---	---	---
"	Japan	06 2000	480	35	7.3	07 2001	247	?	?
88	Georgia	10 1999	235	17	7.2	---	---	---	---
"	Uzbekistan	12 1999	250	18	7.2	---	---	---	---
"	Yugoslavia	09 2000	138	10	7.2	09 2000	40	1	2.5
89	Bosnia and Herzegovina	11 2000	42	3	7.1	11 2000	15	0	0.0
90	Belize	08 1998	29	2	6.9	06 1993	8	3	37.5
91	The f.Y.R. of Macedonia	10 1998	120	8	6.7	---	---	---	---
92	Singapore	01 1997	93	6	6.5	---	---	---	---
93	Samoa	03 2001	49	3	6.1	---	---	---	---
94	Benin	03 1999	83	5	6.0	---	---	---	---
"	Maldives	11 1999	50	3	6.0	---	---	---	---
95	Nepal	05 1999	205	12	5.9	06 2001	60	?	?
"	Republic of Korea	04 2000	273	16	5.9	---	---	---	---
96	Brazil	10 1998	513	29	5.7	10 1998	81	6	7.4
"	Mauritius	09 2000	70	4	5.7	---	---	---	---
97	Cameroon	05 1997	180	10	5.6	---	---	---	---
98	Antigua and Barbuda	03 1999	19	1	5.3	03 1999	17	2	11.8
99	Equatorial Guinea	03 1999	80	4	5.0	---	---	---	---
100	Togo	03 1999	81	4	4.9	---	---	---	---
101	Kiribati	09 1998	42	2	4.8	---	---	---	---
102	Turkey	04 1999	550	23	4.2	---	---	---	---
103	Sri Lanka	10 2000	225	9	4.0	---	---	---	---
104	Lesotho	05 1998	79	3	3.8	05 1998	33	9	27.3
"	Mauritania	10 1996	79	3	3.8	04 2000	56	1	1.8
105	Kenya	12 1997	224	8	3.6	---	---	---	---
106	Algeria	06 1997	380	13	3.4	12 1997	144	8	5.6
"	Iran (Islamic Rep. of)	02 2000	290	10	3.4	---	---	---	---
"	Nigeria	02 1999	351	12	3.4	02 1999	108	3	2.8
107	Armenia	05 1999	131	4	3.1	---	---	---	---
"	Swaziland	10 1998	65	2	3.1	10 1998	30	4	13.3
108	Marshall Islands	11 1999	33	1	3.0	---	---	---	---
109	Paraguay	05 1998	80	2	2.5	05 1998	45	8	17.8
110	Chad	01 1997	125	3	2.4	---	---	---	---
"	Egypt	11 2000	454	11	2.4	---	---	---	---
111	Lebanon	08 2000	128	3	2.3	---	---	---	---
112	Gambia	01 1997	49	1	2.0	---	---	---	---
"	Solomon Islands	08 1997	49	1	2.0	---	---	---	---
113	Papua New Guinea	06 1997	109	2	1.8	---	---	---	---
114	Jordan	11 1997	80	1	1.3	11 1997	40	3	7.5
115	Niger	11 1999	83	1	1.2	---	---	---	---
116	Yemen	04 1997	299	2	0.7	---	---	---	---
117	Morocco	11 1997	325	2	0.6	12 1997	270	2	0.7
118	Djibouti	12 1997	65	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	Kuwait	07 1999	65	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	Micronesia (Fed. States of)	03 1999	14	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	Nauru	04 2000	18	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	Palau	11 2000	16	0	0.0	11 2000	9	0	0.0
"	Tonga	03 1999	30	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	Tuvalu	03 1998	15	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
"	United Arab Emirates	12 1997	40	0	0	---	---	---	---
"	Vanuatu	03 1998	52	0	0.0	---	---	---	---
?	Albania	06 2001	155	?	?	---	---	---	---
?	Bangladesh	10 2001	330	?	?	---	---	---	---
?	Fiji Islands	08 2001	71	?	?	08 2001	32	?	?
?	Haiti	05 2000	82	?	?	05 2000	19	?	?
?	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	03 1997	760	?	?	---	---	---	---
?	Liechtenstein	02 2001	25	?	?	---	---	---	---
?	Philippines	05 2001	222	?	?	05 2001	23	?	?
?	Poland	09 2001	460	?	?	09 2001	100	?	?
?	Saint Vincent & the Grenadines	03 2001	21	?	?	---	---	---	---
?	Uganda	06 2001	281	?	?	---	---	---	---

* South Africa: the figures on the distribution of seats do not include the 36 special rotating delegates appointed on an ad hoc basis, and the percentages given are therefore calculated on the basis of the 54 permanent seats