Forbes magazine announced its list of the richest people in the world on Thursday and there are more women than ever with 10-figure fortunes.

There are some familiar faces out of the 83 women who made the list, such as Oprah Winfrey (worth US$1.5 billion) and J.K. Rowling (worth US$1 billion); both rags to riches stories.

Winfrey's media empire has expanded to include her own radio show "Oprah & Friends" and the Broadway production of "The Color Purple".

Once a single mother living on welfare, Rowling is now the only novelist among the world's wealthiest people.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, worth US$56 billion, topped the list for the 13th consecutive year.

Gates is followed by Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with US$52 billion and Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim remained number three again this year at US$49 billion. Slim added US$19 billion to his existing fortune, the largest one-year gain in the last decade.

Canadian Dave Thomson, son of Ken Thomson, landed in the top ten with a net worth of US$22 billion.

While ladies are making a stronger appearance on the list, Indians and Russians are also becoming more prominent among the 946 top earners named.

Russia took the third spot in country rankings with 53 billionaires, 19 of those new to the list, behind Germany and the United States.

India had 36 billionaires worth a total US $191 billion and took the number one position for Asian countries.

Even though Americans made up 44 percent of the list, there were only five represented in the top 20.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are now worth US$16.6 billion each. Both are ranked at 26 on the list and have outpaced Gates as the quickest earners.

Forbes reports the number of billionaires is 19 per cent higher than last year when there were 793, and their total net worth grew 35 per cent to US$3.5 trillion. Two thirds of the world's billionaires got richer, while only 17 per cent became poorer.

"It's just been kind of an extraordinary year for markets worldwide,'' Forbes billionaires co-editor Luisa Kroll told the Associated Press.

Beer baronesses make an appearance as some of world's richest women. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken inherited the Heineken fortune, estimated at US $7.2 billion, five years ago after the death of her father.

The granddaughter of the founder of Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona and other lagers is Mexico's richest woman and worth an estimated US $2 billion.

Margaret Whitman got her M.B.A. from Harvard University and established her reputation on the corporate circuit before taking the eBay helm in 1998.

In China, Yan Cheung, chairwoman of Nine Dragons Paper, made history as China's richest person and was one of three self-made women born in the communist country to make an appearance. She, along with a dozen others from China, joined the list for the first time.

The average age of the billionaires was 62, two years younger than last year.

There is still hope for those of you looking to make your mark from meager beginnings -- 60 per cent of the billionaires listed made their money from scratch.

Kroll told the Associated Press the methodology for the billionaire list remained the same as previous years. Forbes confirmed the worth of an individual's holdings in public companies by using the Feb. 9 closing stock price, and estimated the value of private companies by evaluating comparable public firms in the industry and by consulting with experts in the field.

The Top Ten Richest People in the World: (age, net worth in millions and company/source of income in brackets)

• 1. William Gates III, Washington (51, $56, Microsoft)
• 2. Warren Buffett, Nebraska (76, $52, Berkshire Hathaway)
• 3. Carlos Slim Helu, Mexico (67, $49, telecom)
• 4. Ingvar Kamprad and family, Sweden (80, $33, Ikea)
• 5. Lakshmi Mittal, India (56, $32, steel)
• 6. Sheldon Adelson, Nevada (73, $26.5, casinos, hotels)
• 7. Bernard Arnault, France (58, $26, LVMH)
• 8. Amancio Ortega, Spain (71, $24, Zara)
• 9. Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong (78, $23, diversified)
• 10. David Thomson and family, Canada (49, $22, inheritance)