Germany's Angela Merkel Tops List of Most Powerful Women

They run countries and multinational companies, oversee nonprofits fighting hunger, poverty and disease, and bust the stereotype that internet companies are powered by young guys just out of grad school.

They are Forbes magazine's 2011 picks for the world's 100 most powerful women, announced today.

At the head of this year's list is 57-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who previously held the top spot from 2006 to 2009. The magazine says Merkel's status as leader of one of Europe's powerhouse economies and the unofficial head of the European Union has put her front and center of the debt crisis facing the continent.

Like Merkel, all but a handful of the world's most influential women are in their 40s, 50s and 60s. More than a few are into well-publicized second acts, including internet news mogul Arianna Huffington (No. 31), comedienne turned talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (No. 55), and Drew Gilpin Faust (No. 83), a Civil War expert and history professor before taking over as president of Harvard University in 2007.

This year, world leaders have displaced the superstar celebrities and entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey (No. 14) that previously topped the Forbes compilation. With countries around the world facing debt crises, unemployment and other threats to global stability, "it stands to reason that we're no longer talking about figureheads and entertainment icons as much as we're talking about people with real political power and economic clout," says Davia Temin, an expert on women and leadership who runs Temin and Company, a New York marketing firm.

One of the more promising aspects of the 2011 list, according to Temin, is the presence of so many women power brokers at internet and social networking companies. Their ranks include Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg (No. 5); Google senior vice president of advertising Susan Wojcicki (No. 16); and Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz (No. 37). "This is the best sign of all, that women are rising to power in organizations where historically they've had the hardest time," Temin says. "Is it representative of women's progress in social media types of companies? I'm not completely sure of that. But if they can be role models for girls and women as to what they can accomplish, that's really important."

The list also includes women leading Asian countries or companies, including Sonia Gandhi, president of India's Congress Party (No. 7), and smartphone maker HTC co-founder and chair Cher Wang (No. 20). "That again reflects the power centers" are shifting to that part of the world, Temin says.

Here are the top 20 on Forbes' 2011 list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women:

1. Angela Merkel, 57, chancellor of Germany

2. Hillary Clinton, 63, U.S. secretary of state

3. Dilma Rousseff, 63, president of Brazil

4. Indra Nooyi, 55, chief executive, PepsiCo

5. Sheryl Sandberg, 41, chief operating officer, Facebook

6. Melinda Gates, 47, co-founder and co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

7. Sonia Gandhi, 64, president of India's Congress Party

8. Michelle Obama, 47, first lady of the United States

9. Christine Lagarde, 55, managing director, International Monetary Fund

10. Irene Rosenfeld, 58, chief executive, Kraft Foods

11. Lady Gaga, 25, entertainer

12. Jill Abramson, 57, executive editor, The New York Times

13. Kathleen Sebelius, 63, U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services

14. Oprah Winfrey, 57, media personality

15. Janet Napolitano, 53, U.S. secretary of Homeland Security

16. Susan Wojcicki, 43, senior vice president of advertising, Google

17. Cristina Fernandez, 58, president of Argentina

18. Beyoncé Knowles, 29, entertainer and designer

19. Georgina Rinehart, 57, Australian mining tycoon

20. Cher Wang, 52, co-founder and chairwoman, HTC, VIA Technologies, Taiwan

Browse the rest of the list here.

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