Begum Khaleda Zia was born to Iskandar Majumder, a businessman, and Taiyaba Majumder at Dinajpur district in north-western Bangladesh in 1945.

In 1960, she got married to Ziaur Rahman. Her husband, one of the prominent heroes of the country's Liberation War, later became the President of the Republic and formed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Until the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman in an abortive military coup in Chittagong on 30 May 1981, Khaleda Zia had taken little interest in either politics or public life.

She became the country's first woman Prime Minister on 27 February 1991 and formed the government. 
She became Prime Minister for the second consecutive term after the BNP had a landslide victory in 15 February 1996 general election to the sixth Jatiya Sangsad. The election was, however, boycotted by all other major parties.
The alliance, made at 6 January 1999 with the Jatiya Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islami Oikya Jote, participated in the 1 October general election and won the polls with a two-third majority and Khaleda Zia was once again sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.