Saudi Arabia said that Salima bint Hazab al-Otaibi had become the first woman elected to public office in the conservative Islamic kingdom after winning a seat on the municipal council in Mecca in Saturday's election, Reuters reports.
The election was the first in which women could vote and run as candidates.
It should be noted that in Saudi Arabia women are barred from driving and are legally dependent on a male relative to approve almost all their major life decisions.
Under King Abdullah, who died in January and who announced in 2011 that women would be able to vote in this election, steps were taken for women to have a bigger public role, sending more of them to university and encouraging female employment.