[Graphic News] World's longest-serving leaders

Vladimir Putin won Russia’s presidential election on Sunday, giving him a fourth term that will take him to nearly a quarter-century as the head of state or government.

Here are some world leaders who have held power the longest, excluding monarchs enthroned for life.

Topping the list with 49 years in power was Cuba’s revolutionary hero Fidel Castro, who handed power over to his brother Raul in 2008 when he was in his early 80s.

The world’s longest-serving president is currently Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, with 38 years under his belt since he toppled his uncle in 1979.