German chancellor Angela Merkel is the world's most powerful woman, or at least this is the title she received from the Forbes magazine, in this year's edition of 'The World's 100 Most Powerful Women'.

As a novelty, Lady Gaga, at just 25, made it into the top this year, ranking 11th. Beyonce Knowles, 29, took the 18th spot in the list of most powerful women. The two were the only women under 30 to make it into the top.

The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton came second, followed by Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil. Then came Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo and Sheryl Sandlberg, the chief executive officer of Facebook. Melinda Gates came 6th. Michele Obama, the American First Lady, came only 8th in the ranking, outracing Christine Lagarde, currently the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Most powerful women are aged above 40. Only three women between 30 and 40 have been included in the top: top model Gisele Bundchen (31), actress Angelina Jolie (36) and Google VP Marissa Mayer (36).

Check out the full list here.

editor@romania-insider.com