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Most Powerful Women In The World, 2016

From politics to business, women are breaking barriers and burying old stereotypes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has topped our list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world 2016, followed by the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Melinda Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, takes the No. 3 slot on the list, in order: Janet Yellen, chair of the US Federal Reserve, and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, among others.

Here below is our list of the most powerful women in the world today – the definitive guide to the extraordinary female icons, ceiling crashers, and game changers.

We’ve got our eye on these Powerful Women. You should, too.

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#MPW #MPW2016

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Most powerful women in the world, 2016

RankNameCountryAbout
1Angela Merkel Germany German Chancellor
2Hillary ClintonUnited StatesFormer Secretary of State
3Melinda GatesUnited StatesCo-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
4Janet YellenUnited StatesChair of the US Federal Reserve
5Christine LagardeFranceHead of the International Monetary Fund
6Theresa MayUnited KingdomPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
7Mary BarraUnited StatesCEO & Chairman, GM
8Sheryl SandbergUnited StatesCOO, Facebook
9Meg WhitmanUnited StatesCEO & President, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
10Susan Wojcicki United StatesCEO, YouTube
11Park Geun-hye South KoreaPresident of South Korea
12Ginni RomettyUnited StatesCEO, Chairman, and President, IBM
13Ana Patricia BotínSpainExecutive chairman of Santander Group
14Angela AhrendtsUnited StatesSVP, Retail and Online Stores at Apple Inc
15Abigail JohnsonUnited StatesCEO and President at Fidelity Investments
16Michelle ObamaUnited StatesFirst Lady of United States
17Indra NooyiUnited StatesCEO and Chairman, PepsiCo
18Michelle BacheletChilePresident of Chile
19Federica MogheriniItalyEU foreign affairs chief
20Tsai Ing-wenTaiwanPresident of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
21Safra CatzUnited StatesCo-CEO at Oracle
22Marillyn HewsonUnited StatesCEO, Chairman, and President at Lockheed Martin
23Helen ClarkNew ZealandAdministrator of the United Nations Development Programme
24Oprah Winfrey United StatesTalk show host
25Arundhati BhattacharyaIndiaManaging director of the State Bank of India
26Ruth PoratUnited StatesCFO, Google and Alphabet
27Anna WintourUnited StatesVogue editor
28Aung San Suu KyiMyanmarForeign Affairs Minister of Myanmar
29Ho ChingSingaporeChief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings
30Adena FriedmanUnited StatesPresident of NASDAQ
31Irene RosenfeldUnited StatesCEO and Chairman at Mondelez International
32Queen Elizabeth IIUnited KingdomQueen of the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth
33Ursula BurnsUnited StatesCEO and Chairman at Xerox
34Lucy PengChinaCEO, Ant Financial Services, Alibaba Group, Co founder of Alibaba Group
35Loretta LynchUnited StatesAttorney General of the United States
36Sri Mulyani IndrawatiIndonesiaIndonesian economist
37Chanda KochharIndia Director-general of the World Health Organization
38Margaret ChanChinaDirector-general of the World Health Organization
39Pollyanna ChuHong KongBillionaire businesswoman
40Drew Gilpin FaustUnited StatesPresident of Harvard University
41Sheikh Hasina WajedBangladeshPrime Minister of Bangladesh
42Amy HoodUnited StatesCFO and EVP at Microsoft
43Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi UAEUAE's Minister of State for Tolerance
44Samantha PowerUnited StatesUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations
45Beth ComstockUnited StatesVice Chair at General Electric
46Bonnie HammerUnited StatesChair, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group at Comcast
47Laurene Powell JobsUnited StatesBusiness woman and known as widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs
48Ertharin CousinUnited StatesExecutive Director of the World Food Programme
49Gina RinehartAustraliaMining magnate & Australia's richest woman
50Dana WaldenUnited StatesChief Executive Officer of Fox Broadcasting Company
51Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović CroatiaPresident of Croatia
52Phebe NovakovicUnited StatesCEO and Chairman at General Dynamics
53Nicola SturgeonScotlandFirst Minister of Scotland
54Elvira Sakhipzadovna NabiullinaRussiaTatar born-Russian economist and head of the Central Bank of Russia
55Marissa MayerUnited StatesYahoo President and CEO
56Rosalind BrewerUnited StatesCEO and President, Sam's Club at Walmart
57Bidya Devi BhandariNepalPresident of Nepal
58Nemat (Minouche) Shafik United KingdomDeputy Governor of the Bank of England
59Güler SabanciTurkeyChairman and managing director of Sabancı Holding
60Susan CameronUnited StatesCEO and President at Reynolds American
61Mary ErdoesUnited StatesCEO, JPM Asset Management at JPMorgan Chase
62Nguyen Thi Phuong ThaoVietnamPresident & CEO of VietJet Air
63Peng LiyuanChinaWife of the President of China Xi Jinping also referred to as the "Chinese First Lady"
64Zhou QunfeiHong KongFounder and CEO of Lens Technology
65Dong MingzhuChinaPresident of Gree Electric
66Lubna S. OlayanSaudi ArabiaSaudi business woman
67Katharine VinerUnited KingdomEditor-in-Chief at The Guardian
68Feng Ying WangChinaCEO of Great Wall Motor Company
69Donna LangleyUnited KingdomChairman of Universal Pictures
70Diane von FurstenbergUnited StatesFashion designer
71Tory BurchUnited StatesFashion designer
72Kiran Mazumdar-ShawIndiaChairman and managing director of Biocon Limited
73Miuccia PradaItalyFashion designer
74Zanny Minton BeddoesUnited KingdomEditor-in-Chief for The Economist
75Arianna HuffingtonUnited StatesCo-founder, Huffington Post
76Dalia GrybauskaitėLithuaniaPresident of Lithuania
77Mary Jo WhiteUnited StatesChair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
78Kaci Kullmann FiveNorwayNorwegian businessperson
79Gwynne ShotwellUnited StatesPresident and Chief operating officer of SpaceX
80Judy FaulknerUnited StatesCEO and founder of Epic Systems
81Fabiola GianottiItalyCERN's Director General
82Folorunsho AlakijaNigeriaNigerian businesswoman
83Solina ChauHong KongBusinesswoman
84Lynn GoodUnited StatesCEO, Chairman, and President at Duke Energy
85Heather BreschUnited StatesCEO at Mylan
86Irina BokovaBulgariaDirector-General of UNESCO
87Eliza Manningham-BullerUnited StatesDirector General of MI5
88Sara BlakelyUnited StatesFounder of Spanx
89Mary MeekerUnited StatesVenture capitalist
90Ellen Johnson-SirleafLiberiaPresident of Liberia
91Shobhana BhartiaIndiaEditorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group
92Shikha SharmaIndiaManaging Director & CEO of Axis Bank
93Debra CafaroUnited StatesChief Executive Officer of Ventas
94Risa Lavizzo-MoureyUnited StatesCEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
95Lee Boo-JinSouth KoreaBusinesswoman and eldest daughter of Samsung Group Chairman
96Raja Easa Al GurgUnited StatesManaging Director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group
97Beth Brooke-MarciniakUnited StatesGlobal Vice Chair of Public Policy for EY
98Greta Van SusterenUnited StatesTelevision news anchor
99Jenny LeeSingaporeManaging Partner, GGV Capital
100Ameenah Gurib-FakimMauritiusPresident, Mauritius