Top 10 Most Powerful People of The World

There are nearly 7.1 billion people on the planet. Here we mention 10 of those who matter the most. They’re all featured on Forbes’ ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People – an annual look at the heads of state, financiers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs who truly run the world.

1. Barack Obama

President, United States of America.  Age: 51.

Barack Obama  _ President, United States of America

The decisive winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential election on all counts: Obama took the popular vote, the electoral college and seven out of seven toss-up states. Now he gets four more years to push his agenda past weakened congressional Republicans. Still, he faces major challenges, including an unresolved budget crisis, stubbornly high unemployment and renewed unrest in the Middle East. But Obama remains the commander in chief of the world’s greatest military and head of the sole economic and cultural superpower–literally the leader of the free world.

2. Angela Merkel
Chancellor, Germany. Age: 58.

Angela Merkel, Chancellor Germany

The world’s most powerful woman is the backbone of the 27-member European Union and carries the fate of the euro on her shoulders. Merkel’s hard-line austerity prescription for easing the European debt crisis has been challenged by both hard-hit southern countries and the more affluent north, but it, and she, are still standing. Merkel has served as ­chancellor since 2005, but one of her biggest challenges still lies ahead: bolstering her government’s sagging popularity before the 2013 German general election.

3. Vladimir Putin
President, Russia.  Age: 60.

Vladimir Putin, President Russia

Reelected for a third 6-year term as president in March after a few years swapping posts with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Putin officially regains the power that no one believes he truly gave up. This October the ex-KGB strongman–who controls a nuclear-tipped army, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves–turned 60. That’s Russia’s retirement age, but who’s got the nerve to tell him to quit?

See Also: 10 Most Influential People of 21st Century.

4. Bill Gates
Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Age: 57.

Bill Gates, Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The world’s second-richest man is worth $65 billion? and that’s after giving away more than $28 billion. Gates’ post-Microsoft mission includes eliminating many infectious and deadly diseases: By his own estimates, that could translate into 8 million lives saved by 2020. But the quintessential activist billionaire doesn’t stop there: Gates continues to persuade his peers to sign the “Giving Pledge,” promising to give away half their wealth or more.

5. Pope Benedict XVI
Pop, Roman Catholic Church.   Age: 85.

Pope Benedict XVI, Pop, Roman Catholic Church

How’s this for a job description? According to the doctrine of Papal Supremacy, the Pope enjoys “supreme, full, immediate, and universal power” over the souls of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world. They turn to the Vicar of Christ for the final word on life’s most personal decisions, including birth control, abortion, marriage and euthanasia. Of course, the pope faces dissent anyway–recently from “radical feminist” American nuns. As the leader of Vatican City, he’s also a head of state.