US President is "the most powerful person in the world in 2011"

Forbes magazine has just announced its annual ranking of the world's most powerful people in 2011. Accordingly, US President Barack Obama tops the list while Chinese President Hu Jintao - the most powerful person in 2010 - is in third place.

Not only is he the head of the most powerful nation, Mr. Obama is also a symbol of a free world.

According to Forbes, although President Obama's reputation has dropped significantly, he is still the head of a country with a dynamic economy and the most powerful military in the world. Although not officially, he is also a symbol of a free country.

Meanwhile, President Hu Jintao began handing over power when he stepped down as general secretary of the Communist Party of China. His successor, General Secretary Xi Jinping, ranked 69th among the world's 100 most powerful people in 2011.

Behind Mr. Obama is Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is preparing to run for president in 2012.

Mr Putin's German counterpart, Angela Merkel, is the fourth and only female among the 10 most powerful people in the world.

Microsoft Chairman, America's richest man Bill Gates ranked 5th.
Among the most powerful people in the world, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest - 27 years old. Compared to last year, Zuckerberg's power has increased significantly (31 places), going from 40th to 9th place in the ranking.

Forbes bases its list on four factors. The first is the number of people a particular figure influences. For Pope Benedict XVI, for example, it is the number of Catholics in the world. Then the magazine considers each candidate’s financial resources, including personal income, corporate profits if the figure is a CEO, or gross domestic product (GDP) if the figure is a head of state. The third is their visibility (active in one or more fields) and finally, the level of dynamism of the figures holding power.

Unlike other rankings, the magazine’s editors said, the 100 Most Powerful People list is “volatile” and changes every year. Big names who were in the top 10 last year have dropped out of the list: TV queen Oprah Winfrey, former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan, and two other late figures: Apple founder Steve Jobs (died October 5, 2011) and Osama bin Laden (died May 2, 2011).

10 most powerful people in the world:
1. US President Barack Obama
2. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
3. Chinese President Hu Jintao
4. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
5. Bill Gates
6. King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud
7. Pope Benedict XVI
8. Ben Bernanke
9. Mark Zuckerberg
10. British Prime Minister David Cameron

According to Tuoi Tre