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10 Photos That Show Why Angela Merkel Is the World’s Most Powerful Woman

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama outside the Elmau castle in Kruen near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on June 8, 2015 during the G7 summit.
June: Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama outside the Elmau castle in Kruen near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on June 8, 2015 during the G7 summit.Michael Kappeler—Reuters
By TIME Staff
From left: French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas link arms during a silent march against terrorism in Paris on Jan. 11, 2015 following the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.
January: From left: French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas link arms during a silent march against terrorism in Paris on Jan. 11, 2015 following the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.ORBAN/REA/Redux
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a news conference after peace talks about east Ukraine at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 10, 2015.
May: Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a news conference after peace talks about east Ukraine at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 10, 2015. Sergei Ilnitsky/Reuters
Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron listen to their nations' national anthems upon Cameron's arrival at the Chancellery on May 29, 2015 in Berlin.
May: Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron listen to their nations' national anthems upon Cameron's arrival at the Chancellery on May 29, 2015 in Berlin. Cameron was in Berlin as part of his tour of European Union member states capitals in order to persuade leaders on the necessity of E.U. reforms. Getty Images
U.S. President Obama, Germany's Chancellor Merkel and France's President Hollande attend a working dinner at a G7 summit at the hotel castle Elmau in Kruen
June: From left: U.S. President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Francois Hollande attend a working dinner at the G7 summit at the castle Elmau in Kruen, Germany on June 7, 2015. Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations met in the Bavarian Alps for a summit overshadowed by Greece's debt crisis and ongoing violence in Ukraine. Michael Kappeler—Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama outside the Elmau castle in Kruen near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on June 8, 2015 during the G7 summit.
June: Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama outside the Elmau castle in Kruen near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on June 8, 2015 during the G7 summit.Michael Kappeler—Reuters
Angela Merkel welcomes Queen Elizabeth II upon her arrival at the Federal Chancellery on the second of the royal couple's four-day visit to Germany on June 24, 2015 in Berlin.
June: Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes Queen Elizabeth II upon her arrival at the Federal Chancellery during the royal couple's four-day visit to Germany on June 24, 2015 in Berlin. The Queen and Prince Philip visited Berlin, Frankfurt and the concentration camp memorial at Bergen-Belsen during their first to Germany since 2004. Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron talk at the beginning of their meeting at the country residence of the prime minister at Chequers in Buckinghamshire, England on Oct. 9, 2015.
October: Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron talk at the beginning of their meeting at the country residence of the prime minister at Chequers in Buckinghamshire, England on Oct. 9, 2015.Bundesregierung/laif/Redux
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting over the Balkan refugee crisis with leaders from central and eastern Europe at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 25, 2015.
October: Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting over the Balkan refugee crisis with leaders from central and eastern Europe at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 25, 2015. Eric Vidal—Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk at the Federal Chancellery on Oct. 21, 2015 in Berlin.
October: Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk at the Federal Chancellery on Oct. 21, 2015 in Berlin.Guido Bergmann—Bundesregierung/Getty Images
China's Premier Li Keqiang and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel inspect honor guards during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2015.
October: China's Premier Li Keqiang and Chancellor Angela Merkel inspect honor guards during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2015.Jason Lee—Reuters

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