German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held on to the top spot of the Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Women for the sixth consecutive time, Deutsche Welle reported. 

The annual list, released on Monday, features 100 women from 29 different countries. Among them are influential females from across the fields of politics, business, technology and philanthropy, including 12 world leaders, 32 CEOs, and 11 billionaires - nine of whom founded their own billion-dollar companies.

The list, which was first released in 2004, is compiled by American business magazine Forbes and ranks the women by "money, media momentum, spheres of influence and impact."

It was a record year for China, which saw nine women make the top 100.

Source ; MENA