Top 10 most powerful women in the world

Have you ever considered who the most influential and powerful females in the world may be?

For this list we're looking at the most influential women across the board, covering areas such as business, politics, philanthropy.

Entertainers have not been included in the list and all the women included in the list must be alive and active with their power.

10. Ginni Rometty
She started out at IBM in 1981 as a systems engineer but 30 years later IBM announced her as their first ever female president. As chairwoman, president and CEO of IBM she is in charge of one of America's most important companies. Rometty has made Fortune magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business list and she even topped the list in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Her net worth is somewhere in the area of $45 million.

9. Isabel dos Santos
According to Forbes the Angolan isn't only the richest woman in her country but also the richest woman in Africa. But her wealth isn't the only thing that makes Isabel dos Santos so influential. She is the eldest daughter of Angolan president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, and she started her first business when she was just 24-years-old. Since then she has increased her business and investment interests around the world and is now thought to be worth more than $3 million.

8. Park Geun-hey
She is currently the first ever female to be elected to the role of president of South Korea and its first head of state. Park Geun-hey has helped the country work towards massive gains both financially and socially. She worked her way to the top, serving as chairwoman of the Grand National Party and as a member of the Korean National Assembly.

7. Sonia Gandhi
Gandhi is the current president of the Indian National Congress Party and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance - in this she holds one of the most powerful political positions in the world. She has strategically worked to build a progressive nation. Many have praised Gandhi's leadership as she continues to help India overcome gender and ethnic prejudices.

6. Marillyn Hewson
In 2013 her net worth was $25 million dollars which quickly turned into $34 million. How? She became CEO of Lockhead Martin, one of the biggest defence contractors in the USA, where she churned out record profits. Since then she has kept the company progressive and under her leadership Lockhead Martin has branched out into areas of defence such as cyber security and alternative energy.

5. Hillary Clinton
Clinton has had an illustrious career in US politics starting when she became First Lady under her husband Bill Clinton's US presidency. Her real success however, came later, when she served as a senator representing the state of New York from 2001 to 2009. From there she served as the United States Secretary of State. Clinton is now in the running to become a presidential candidate which could lead to her becoming the first female president of the United States.

4. Christine Lagarde
Many of the women on this list exert power of their own individual countries, Lagarde is a little different however, she's in charge of 189 countries. In 2011 she was appointed as the first ever female managing director of the International Monetary Fund. When she took the helm the world was still trying to recover from the effect of the financial crisis.

3. Janet Yellen
Yellen is the chair of the board of governors of the world's most powerful bank - the Federal Reserve. As the first female chairperson, Yellen is in charge of what is arguably the most important economy in the world. Coming off the recession she has consistently worked to reduce the Fed's monthly asset purchases of $5 billion.

2. Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates is not on this list for being a politician or businesswoman, rather for her work in philanthropy. As co-founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation she is arguably one of the world's most influential philanthropists and ambassador for global development. Since establishing the foundation in 2000 the Gates' have donated over $30 billion. Recently she has worked towards achieving equality and justice for women.

1. Angela Merkel
The top spot goes to one of the most important political leaders in Europe. Currently in her third term as German chancellor, Merkel pushed Germany through the global economic crisis caused by the recession and secured one of the best economies in the world. She's also led the charge to support immigrants fleeing violent nations, moving her commitment from just Germany to the entire world.