As Taiwan elects its first ever female president, here's a breakdown of the gender power split across the globe

Tsai Ing-wen has been elected Taiwan's first ever female president.

In her victory speech Tsai, 59, an academic, said she would lead a new era for Taiwan as she and her party, the Democratic Progressive Party, seek full independence from China.

Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to take back the state by force if necessary.

Her election marks an important point in history not only for relations between China and Taiwan but for progressive democracy, as Tsai is the first ever woman to be elected to the presidency and is arguably now the most important woman in the Chinese speaking world.

In 2013, the UK ranked 35th in the world for gender equality in the Gender Inequality Index by the UN Development Programme.

One facet of this index is the number of women that countries have in parliamentary positions, for which the UK ranked slightly worse.

The UK ranked 60th in 2013 on this measure.

Finally, we'll leave you with this:

(Note: Some countries may not be displayed on the map due to mapping software limitations).