Longest Serving National Leaders

The Chinese Communist Party's central committee announced on Sunday that it has proposed to remove the constitutional limit of two-terms (10 years) that can be served by the president and vice president. This move could allow incumbent Chinese President Xi Jinping to stay in power after 2022 – and possibly for life. The two-term safeguard had been put in place by former Chinese President Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s, who has been lauded as the mastermind behind China's process of reform and opening-up, after decades of strongman rule under Mao Zedong.

As the below infographic shows, Fidel Castro, who retired from his reign over Cuba in 2011 due to ill health, was the longest serving non-royal national leader so far. The second longest serving leader is Kim Il-sung who ruled over secluded North Korea for more than 48 years. The discussion page on Wikipedia notes that: "It appears that this page has been edited at least once to make Kim Il-Sung a current ruler for North Korea, still accruing time at the top of the list despite having died in 1994 because he is 'Eternal President of the Republic.' That's what you call a personality cult.