World's most powerful countries revealed
Study evaluated 80 countries on criteria including citizenship, quality of life and cultural history

PHOTO: REUTERS
Another major marker was 'power', which measured how economically and politically influential a country is.
The world's most popular countries
More than 21,000 business leaders, general citizens and informed elites were surveyed to discover how nations are perceived on a global scale.
The organisation has made clear that the "most powerful countries may not necessarily be the most well-liked, but they are the nations that consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape economic forecasts."
The US was perceived as the most powerful, followed closely by Russia and China. Other countries included Pakistan, Turkey, and Israel.
These are the top 23 'most powerful' countries in the world:
23. Qatar
PHOTO: AFP22. Spain
PHOTO: REUTERS21. Netherlands
PHOTO: REUTERS20. Pakistan
19. Sweden
PHOTO: Tyler Durden used under Creative Commons18. Italy
PHOTO: Kosala Bandara used under Creative Commons17. Australia
PHOTO: Pedro Szekely used under Creative Commons16. India
PHOTO: REUTERS15. Switzerland
PHOTO: thisisbossi used under Creative Commons14. Iran
PHOTO: REUTERS13. Turkey
PHOTO: AFP12. Canada
PHOTO: REUTERS11. South Korea
PHOTO: REUTERS10. United Arab Emirates
PHOTO: AFP9. Saudi Arabia
PHOTO: AFP8. Israel
PHOTO: REUTERS7. Japan
PHOTO: REUTERS6. France
PHOTO: REUTERS5. Germany
PHOTO: REUTERS4. United Kingdom
PHOTO: REUTERS3. China
PHOTO: REUTERS2. Russia
PHOTO: REUTERS1. United States of America
PHOTO: REUTERS


















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