Most Powerful People in History

Most powerful people in history- What do the president of the United States, the Dalai Lama, a billionaire drug dealer and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have in common? For one thing, each is included in this year's ranking by Forbes magazine of the 70 most powerful people in the world.The annual ranking takes into account four factors. First, the number of people a person has power over. For a religious leader, like Pope Benedict XVI (No. 7 this year), that would be the number of adherents, or Catholics, in the world. For a chief executive, like Jeffery Immelt (No.28) of General Electric (GE), it's the number of employees in the company. Second is the amount of financial resources controlled by an individual, whether a nation's economic output, a company's revenue or an individual's net worth.
Third is the breadth of the individual's influence. Michael Bloomberg (mayor of New York, founder of a diversified media company and prominent philanthropist) ranks as the world's 17th most powerful person because of his prominence in more than one public sphere.
Finally, how actively does the individual wield his or her power? This standard eliminates semi-retired industrialists, inactive heirs to great fortunes and former heads of state.
In all, 70 people made the final list, one for every 100 million people on the planet. Click through the slide show for snapshots of this year's top 10. And go to Forbes.com for the full gallery of the world's most powerful people.

David Cameron

Rank: 10

Age: 45

Title: Prime minister of the United Kingdom

Residence: London
David cameron explores creackdown social media

Mark Zuckerberg

Rank: 9

Age: 27

Title: Founder of Facebook

Residence: Palo Alto, Calif.
Mark zuckerberg and future of facebook

Ben Bernanke

Rank: 8

Age: 57

Title: Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Residence: Washington, D.C.
Federal reserve economy

Pope Benedict XVI

Rank: 7

Age: 84

Title: Pope of the Roman Catholic Church

Residence: Vatican City
Pope names three new saints

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud

Rank: 6

Age: 87

Title: King of Saudi Arabia

Residence: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi arabia running out of oil

Bill Gates

Rank: 5

Age: 56

Title: Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Residence: Medina, Wash.
Gates buffett giving pledge

Angela Merkel

Rank: 4

Age: 57

Title: Chancellor of Germany

Residence: Berlin
World's most powerful women

Hu Jintao

Rank: 3

Age: 68

Title: President of the People's Republic of China

Residence: Beijing
China communist or capitalist

Vladimir Putin

Rank: 2

Age: 59

Title: Prime minister of Russia

Residence: Moscow
Putin kgb

Barack Obama

Rank: 1

Age: 50

Title: President of the United States

Residence: Washington, D.C.
Obama re-elction odds

Go to Forbes.com for the full list of the world's most powerful.