Europe is a dusty old sack of assorted nation states, and if you delve into the bottom left corner, reach around the awkward bulk of Spain, there amongst the geopolitical lint of an entire continent, you will find Portugal. Europe’s oldest nation state.

Not only did Portugal once possess a vast empire, but it was around for much longer than most of the other empires that originated like fungi in Europe’s damp cupboards and subsumed much of the world. Today’s featured leader, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho grew up in Angola back when that was just another outpost of their realm. But such is the fate of former empire builders, Passos Coelho came to power cap in hand, seeking bail-outs from the IMF and the European Union, in order to avert financial meltdown.

Surely if he rummages through the strings of smut at the bottom of that aforementioned sack he’ll find some old coins that slipped from his prestigious ancestors’ pantaloons. In the mean time, he puts aside such base concerns as he enters the fiscally ambivalent society of World Leaders in Their Underpants.

Here’s Passos Coelho’s first wife in the band Doce, performing Portugal’s 1982 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, Bem Bom. They came 13th.

The Republic of Cameroon, as it is known today, emerged out of the merger of former French and British colonies in 1962. In the half century that has since passed, it has had only two heads of state, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and since 1982 Paul Biya, seen here in his underpants. Now entering his fourth decade in power, Biya is credited with having introduced multi-party democracy a decade into his rule. However, he has won every election since, and as is so often the case, he amended the constitution in order to be able to run again in 2011.

As a consequence of his long rule, and the alleged vote-rigging that has helped him maintain a tight grip on power, he is viewed by many as a dictator. Rather than allow any opposition to peeve him, Biya prefers to work from the relative peace and quiet of a Swiss hotel room. In 2010, when Bertrand Teyou had the temerity to write a biography of Biya’s second and current wife, the president had the author imprisoned.

Biya now takes some time away from his Swiss retreat, and, indeed, from his trousers, in order to join the swelling throng of World Leaders in Their Underpants. Among the divested multitude, Biya is one of the longest serving heads of state.