United States President Barack Obama emerged on the top replacing Chinese President Hu Jintao in the No. 1 spot of the Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people in 2011, especially after the deaths of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
India's ruling Indian National Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi (11th position) tops the Indian list with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 19th spot.
Here is Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people:
1. Barack Obama
President, United States of America
2. Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister, Russia
3. Hu Jintao
President, People's Republic of China
4. Angela Merkel
Chancellor, Germany
5. Bill Gates
Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
6. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud
King, Saudi Arabia
7. Pope Benedict XVI
Pope, Roman Catholic Church
8. Ben Bernanke
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, United States of America
9. Mark Zuckerberg
Founder, Facebook
10.David Cameron
Prime Minister, United Kingdom
11. Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress
12. Mario Draghi
President, European Central Bank
13. Nicolas Sarkozy
President, France
14. Wen Jiabao
Premier, People's Republic of China
15. Zhou Xiaochuan
Governor, People's Bank of China
16. Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State, United States of America
17. Michael Bloomberg
Mayor, New York City
18. Timothy Geithner
Secretary of the Treasury, United States of America
19. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister, India
20. Warren Buffett
CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
