List of state leaders in 1781

This is a list of heads of state, government leaders, and other rulers in the year 1781.

Africa

• Ashanti Confederacy – Osei Kwame Panyin, Asantehene (1777–1803)
• Kingdom of Dahomey – Kpengla (1774–1789)
• Ethiopian Empire – Tekle Giyorgis I (first reign, 1779–1784)
• Imamate of Futa Toro – Abdul Kaader, Almami of Futa Toro (1776–1807)
• Kingdom of Koya – Nembanga (1775–1793)
• Zulu –
  1. Jama kaNdaba, King of the Zulu (1763–1781)
  2. Senzangakona kaJama, King of the Zulu (1781–1816)

Americas

• United States –
  • President of the Second Continental Congress of the United States:
    • Samuel Huntington, 28 September 1779 to 28 February 1781
  • Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled:
    1. Samuel Huntington, 1 March 1781 to 6 July 1781
    2. Thomas McKean, 10 July 1781 to 5 November 1781
    3. John Hanson, 5 November 1781 to 4 November 1782
• Vermont Republic – Thomas Chittenden, Governor of Vermont (13 March 1778 – 13 October 1789)

Asia

• Durrani Empire – Timur Shah (1772–1793)
• Sultanate of Brunei – Omar Ali Saifuddin I (1762–1795)
• China (Qing dynasty) – Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796)
• Empire of Japan
  • Monarch – Kōkaku (1780–1817)
  • Tokugawa shogunate – Tokugawa Ieharu (1760–1786)
  • Ryukyu Kingdom – Shō Boku (1752–1795)
• Joseon (Korea) – Jeongjo (1776–1800)

Europe

• Principality of Abkhazia – Kelesh Begi (1747–1806)
• Andorra – Co-Princes:
  • Joan de García y Montenegro, Bishop of Urgell (1780–1783)
  • Louis XVI of France (1774–1792)
• Kingdom of Denmark–Norway
  • Monarch – Christian VII (1766–1808)
  • Minister of State – Ove Høegh-Guldberg (1772–1784)
• Kingdom of France – Louis XVI (1774–1792)
• Kingdom of Great Britain –
  • Monarch – George III (1760–1820)
  • Prime Minister – Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1770–1782)
• Holy Roman Empire – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790)
  • Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst – Friedrich August (1747–1793)
  • Principality of Auersperg – Heinrich Joseph Johann (1713–1783)
  • Margraviate of Baden-Durlach – Karl IV Friedrich (1738–1771, ruled all of Baden 1771–1811)
  • Electorate of Brandenburg – Friedrich II of Prussia (1740–1786)
  • Electorate of Hanover – Georg III (1760–1814/1820)
  • County of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen – Philipp Heinrich (1743–1764, prince 1764–1781)
  • County of Lippe-Biesterfeld – Friedrich Carl August (1736–1781)
  • County of Lippe-Weissenfeld – Ferdinand Johann (1736–1781)
  • Electorate of the Palatinate – Karl IV Philipp Theodor (1742–1799)
  • Palatinate-Sulzbach – Karl Theodor, Count Palatine and Duke of Palatinate-Sulzbach (1733–1799)
  • County of Reuss-Lobenstein – Heinrich II (1739–1782)
  • County of Reuss-Schleiz – Heinrich XII (1744–1784)
  • Electorate of Saxony – Friedrich August III (1763–1806/1827)
  • Weingarten Abbey – Domenicus II Schnitzer, Prince-Abbot of Weingarten (1746–1784)
  • Westerburg-Leiningen-Neu-Leiningen (Nassau Line) – Georg Karl I August Ludwig (1726–1787)
  • County of Wied – Johann Friedrich Alexander (1737–1784)
  • Duchy of Württemberg – Karl Eugen (1737–1793)
• Kingdom of Ireland – George III (1760–1820)
• Ottoman (Turkish) Empire
  • Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – Abd-ul-Hamid I (1774–1789)
  • Grand Vizier
    1. Silahdar Seyyid Mehmed Pasha (1779–1781)
    2. Izzet Mehmed Pasha (1781–1782)
• Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764–1795)
• Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves – Maria I Francisca (1777–1816)
• Kingdom of Prussia – Frederick II (1740–1786)
• Russian Empire – Catherine II, Tsaritsa of Russia (1762–1796)
• Kingdom of Spain – Charles III (1759–1788)
• Kingdom of Sweden – Absolutism
  • Monarch – Gustav III (1771–1792)
• Grand Duchy of Tuscany – Peter Leopold I (1765–1790)
• United Provinces –
  • Estates of Friesland, Groningen, Guelders, Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (1581–1795)
  • Stadtholder – William V, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, Guelders, Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (1751–1795)
    • Holland – Grand Pensionary Pieter van Bleiswijk of Holland (1772–1787)
• Republic of Venice – Paolo Renier, Doge of Venice (1779–1789)

Middle East and North Africa

• Abu Dhabi – Dhiyab bin Isa, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi (1761–1793)
• Quba Khanate – Fatali Khan (1758–1789)
• Sultanate of Morocco – Mohammed III (1757–1790)