The Most Powerful People On Earth -- Forbes

There are 6.8 billion people on the planet. These are the 68 who matter.

We are fascinated by power. We stand in awe of those who apply it adroitly, and in fear of those who abuse it. We lust for power. Everyone would rather be a hammer than a nail.

The people on this list were chosen ­because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will. They are heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs and outlaws. Comparing the relative power of such a diverse group is slippery business. To do it, we defined power in four dimensions. First, we asked if a person has influence over a lot of people? For heads-of-state we looked at population; for religious figures we measured the size of their flocks; for CEOs we counted their employees; and for media figures we considered the size of their audience.

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My Comment: Putting China's leader Hu Jintao as #1 is very revealing, and a symbol of how far China has come in the past two decades.