23. UNITED KINGDOM — In the last week, Britain has got its second female prime minister, former Home Secretary Theresa May, who took over from David Cameron. May follows in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher as a female Conservative Prime Minister. Other powerful women in British politics include Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, recently appointed Home Secretary Amber Rudd, and Justice Secretary Liz Truss.
22. ARGENTINA — Argentina has a long history of powerful female leaders, including the notorious Eva Peron. The country ranks 25th for the number of women in parliament, and 14th for the number of years with a female head of state.
21. MOZAMBIQUE — Mozambique ranks 15th in terms of female MPs. 40% of politicians sitting in the country's Assembly of the Republic are women. It also had a female head of state, prime minister Luisa Diogo, for six years between 2004 and 2010.
20. COSTA RICA — Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla left office in 2014, the country's only female head of state in the past 50 years. Her four years in office, along with 41% of ministers in the country being female, help make Costa Rica the 20th most politically powerful country when it comes to women.
19. FRANCE — Strong female politicians like Marine Le Pen help to make French women some of the most politically powerful on earth. Half of all ministerial positions in the country are held by women, an honour only held by three other countries surveyed.
18. SWITZERLAND — Two members of Switzerland's governing Federal Council — Vice President Doris Leuthard and head of Justice Simonetta Sommaruga — are female. Until recently, former president Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf was one of the country's most senior politicians.
17. PHILIPPINES — Only four countries have had female leaders for longer than the Philippines in the last 50 years. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as president of the country for nine years between 2001 and 2010. The country has been under female rule for 16 years since 1965.
16. SLOVENIA — Alenka Bratusek was Prime Minister of Slovenia until 2014 and the country currently has 44% female ministers, putting it in the top 10 for that category.
15. NEW ZEALAND — 11 of the past 50 years in New Zealand have passed under female leadership, nine of those under Helen Clark from 1999-2008. The island nation ranks 20th overall for the number of female ministers. 33% are women.
14. SOUTH AFRICA — South Africa did not excel in any particular category, although 42% of its members of parliament are female, one of the highest figures. It has not had a female head of state in the past 50 years.
13. NETHERLANDS — 47% of Dutch ministers are female, more than all but six other countries.
12. CUBA — Cuba's parliament, the National Assembly of People's Power, has the third highest proportion of women in all the countries surveyed by the WEF. 49% of Communist party members sitting in the house are female.
11. GERMANY — Angela Merkel has led Germany since 2005, pushing Germany to 12th position in terms of female leadership. Merkel is almost universally regarded as the most powerful woman in Europe.
10. BOLIVIA — Bolivia is one of only two countries surveyed to have more women in parliament than men. 53% of MPs in the country's Plurinational Legislative Assembly are female.
9. INDIA — India has had a female leader for 21 of the past 50 years, the second highest proportion of all country's surveyed. Indira Gandhi, the country's first female ruler, lasted for 15 years.
8. BANGLADESH — No country surveyed by the WEF has had a female leader for more than half of the last 50 years, but Bangladesh comes closest. Two female prime ministers, Sheik Hasina and Khaleda Zia, have led the country for a combined 22 years.
7. RWANDA — Rwanda's high ranking for the level of political power held by women is largely thanks to having the highest ratio of male-to-female MPs. 64% of the country's parliamentary members are women.
6. IRELAND — In the past 50 years, Ireland has had two female heads of state, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese. The women ruled for a combined 21 years, the third longest stretch of female leadership on this list.
5. SWEDEN — Swedish women are some of the most politically powerful on earth. The country has more female government ministers than male, with 52% of the top political jobs held by ladies. Only 4 countries surveyed had more women in parliament than men.
4. NICARAGUA — 47% of senior government officials in Nicaragua, the Central American republic, are female. This, combined with the fact that 41% of all parliamentary members are women, helps make the country one of the world's best for female political power.
3. NORWAY — Norway's current prime minister, Erna Solberg, has been in charge since 2013. Gro Harlem Brundtland led the country for ten years across two separate terms prior to that. The country also has 47% female ministers, the fifth highest of any country.
2. FINLAND — Only one country surveyed by the WEF gives women more political power, and no country has a higher proportion of female government ministers than Finland. 63% of high ranking politicians are women, a female-to-male ratio of 1.67
1. ICELAND — 44% of Iceland's government ministers are female, and women have led the country for 20 of the last 50 years. These two figures combine to help make Icelandic women the most politically powerful on earth, according to the WEF.
