1853 state leaders - Events of 1854 - 1855 state leaders - State leaders by year

Africa

• Ashanti Confederacy - Kwaku Dua I Panyin, Asantehene (1834-1867)
• Buganda - Suna II, King of Buganda (1836-1856)
• Bunyoro - Kyebambe IV, Omukama of Bunyoro (1852-1869)
• Burundi - Mwezi IV Gisabo, King of Burundi (1852-1908)
• Dahomey - Ghezo, King of Dahomey (1818-1856)
• Liberia - Joseph Jenkins Roberts, President of Liberia (1848-1856)
• Rwanda - Kigeli IV, King of Rwanda (1853-1895)
• Sokoto Caliphate
  • Caliph - Ali bin Bello I, Sokoto Caliph (1842-1859)
  • Grand Vizier - Abd al-Qadir, Sokoto Grand Vizier (1842-1859)
• Zulu - Mpande kaSenzangakhona, King of the Zulu (1840-1872)

Asia

• Afghanistan - Dost Mohammad Khan, King of Afghanistan (1843-1863)
• China
  • Qing Dynasty - Xianfeng, Emperor of China (1850-1861)
  • Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping - Hong Xiuquan, King of Heaven (1851-1864)
• Japan
  • Monarch - Kōmei, Emperor of Japan (1846-1867)
  • Shogun (Tokugawa) - Tokugawa Iesada, Shogun of Japan (1853-1858)
  • Ryūkyū Kingdom - Shō Tai, King of Ryūkyū (1848-11 March 1879)
• Korea (Joseon Dynasty) - Cheoljong, King of Joseon (1849-1864)

Europe

• Abkhazia - Mikheil, Prince of Abkhazia (1822-1864)
• Belgium
  • Monarch - Léopold I, King of the Belgians (1831-1865)
  • Cabinet Chief - Henri de Brouckère, Cabinet Chief of Belgium (1852-1855)
• Denmark
  • Monarch - Frederick VII, King of Denmark (1848-1863)
  • Prime Minister -
    1. Anders Sandoe Ørsted, Prime Minister of Denmark (1853-1854)
    2. Peder Georg Bang, Prime Minister of Denmark (1854-1856)
• France - Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1852-1870)
• German Confederation - Franz Joseph of Austria, President of the German Confederation (1850-1866)
  • Austria - Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria (1848-1916)
  • Luxembourg
    • Monarch - William III, King of the Netherlands (1849-1890)
    • Prime Minister - Mathias Simons, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1853-1860)
  • Prussia -
    • Monarch - Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia (1840-1861)
    • Prime Minister - Otto von Manteuffel, Minister-President of Prussia (1850-1858)
  • Bavaria - Maximilian II, King of Bavaria (1848-1864)
  • Saxony -
    1. Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony (1836-1854)
    2. Johann, King of Saxony (1854-1873)
  • Hanover - George, King of Hanover (1851-1866)
  • Württemberg - William, King of Württemberg (1816-1864)
• Hungary - Franz Joseph I of Austria, King of Hungary (1848-1916)
• Netherlands
  • Monarch - William III, King of the Netherlands (1849-1890)
  • Prime Minister - Floris Adriaan van Hall, Chairman of the Dutch council of ministers (1853-1856, 1860-1861)
• Portugal - Pedro V, King of Portugal (1853-1861)
• Russia - Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia (1825-1855)
• Spain - Isabella II, Queen of Spain (September 29, 1833-1868)
• Sweden - United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway - Oscar I, King of Sweden (1844-1859)
• Two Sicilies - Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies (1830-1859)
• United Kingdom
  • Monarch - Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901)
  • Prime Minister - George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1852-1855)

Middle East and North Africa

• Egypt -
  1. Abbas I, Governor of Egypt (1849-1854)
  2. Said, Governor of Egypt (1854-1863)
• Kuwait - Sheikh Jabir ibn Abdullah Al Sabah, Ruler of Kuwait (1814-1859)
• Morocco - Abderrahmane, Sultan of Morocco (1822-1859)
• Oman - Sa'id II ibn Sultan, Sultan of Oman (1804-1856)
• Ottoman Empire
  • Monarch - Abd-ul-Mejid, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1839-1861)
  • Grand Vizier -
    1. Mustafa Naili Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier (1853-1854)
    2. Kibrisli Mehmed Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier (1854)
    3. Mustafa Resid Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier (1854-1855)

North America

• Province of Canada:
  1. Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor of the Province of Canada (1854–1861)
  2. James Bruce, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Governor of the Province of Canada (1847–1854)
• Costa Rica - Juan Rafael Mora Porras, President of Costa Rica (1849–1859)
• Mexico: Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico (1853–1855)
• United States: Franklin Pierce, President of the United States (1853–1857)

Oceania

• Hawaii -
  1. Kamehameha III, King of Hawaii (1823-1854)
  2. Kamehameha IV, King of Hawaii (1854-1863)
• Tonga - Tāufaʻāhau, Tu'i Kanokupolu (1845-1893)

South America

• Brazil - Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil (1831-1889)
• Uruguay -
  1. Provisional government (1853-1854)
  2. Venancio Flores, President of Uruguay (1854-1855)