NICOLA Sturgeon has been named as one of the world's most powerful women by respected US business publication Forbes.
The SNP leader was ranked at number 50 on a list of the most 100 influential females on the planet, the first time she has been included in the annual rankings.
It follows the SNP's comprehensive victory in May's Holyrood election, which saw the First Minister handed a personal mandate by voters to lead the Scottish Government. Of UK-based women to make the list, only The Queen is seen as more powerful, with the monarch coming in at 29th.
A spokeswoman for Forbes said: "There has been an influx of women elected to office in the past year, and the number of women leaders in the world has more than doubled since 2005. As a result, nearly a third of the women on this year’s list lead a nation or play a pivotal role in calling the shots in their country.
"The 2016 ranking includes several recently elected female leaders, evidence of the growing number of women who are winning national elections in countries around the world, including Taiwan, Nepal, Croatia, and Scotland."
The most powerful woman in the world, according to the publication, is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Hillary Clinton, the favourite to become the next American President, is second in the list, which is assessed by taking into account money including national GDP, media presence, "influence exerted
across multiple spheres" and "success at implementing change within one’s organization, company or country."
Ms Sturgeon is among 20 new entries to the list. However, despite the impressive ranking, Forbes appeared not to have an image of the First Minister, displaying only a generic shadow outline in place of a headshot on its website. Although a short biography correctly stated that she is 45, married and lives in Glasgow, a summary page also states that she is First Minister of the United States.
Other famous faces on the list include Michelle Obama, the First Lady, who is ranked 13th most powerful while TV presenter and media mogul Oprah Winfrey is 21st.
Aside from Ms Sturgeon and The Queen, the other UK-based entrants are Nemat Shafik, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, Katharine Viner and Zanny Minton Beddoes, editors of The Guardian and The Economist respectively, and Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director general of MI5 and now Chair of the Wellcome Trust.
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