World's Most Poweful People

Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People

Starting in 2009, Forbes magazine compiles an annual list of the world's most powerful people. The list has one slot for every 100 million people on Earth, meaning in 2009 there were 67 people on the list, in 2010 there were 68, in 2011 there were 70, and in 2012 there were 71. Slots are allocated based on the amount of human and financial resources as well as their influence on world events.

#Individual Office / Position

1 Steady       Russia Vladimir Putin President of Russia

2 Steady       United States Barack Obama President of the United States

3 Steady      China Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Communist Party of China President of                           the People's Republic of China

4 Steady     Vatican City / Argentina Francis Pope of the Roman Catholic Church

5 Steady      Germany Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany

6 Increase      United States Janet Yellen Chair of the Federal Reserve

7 Decrease      United States Bill Gates Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Founder                           and Former Chairman of Microsoft

8 Increase       European Union Italy Mario Draghi President of the European Central Bank

9 Increase  United States Sergey Brin United States Larry Page Co-Founders of Google          10 Increase  United Kingdom David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom