Merkel has become known for using the same hand gesture at public appearances and in front of the camera, putting her fingertips together to form what some call the Merkel-rhombus – or in German, the "Merkel-Raute." If she has done so consciously or as a routine gesture out of habit is a question that have contemporary critics and journalists puzzled. Just what is she trying to say with it?

The German chancellor is known for her commanding and engaged appearance, often appearing quite somber, especially in Europe. Though she has been known to crack a smile at the right time, here, at the recent European leaders summit in Bratislava, she was more composed. To her left is Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke and to her right, the Prime Minster of Belgium, Charles Michel.

Merkel has come into the spotlight for her response to last year's influx of refugees.. Questions about her response to the crisis can be answered when elements of her personal life are considered, as Rinke does in his book. She frequently visits schools and refugee shelters and while doing so, takes time out for selfies, as here in 2015 with Syrian asylum applicant Anas Modamani in Berlin.

As chancellor and head of the CDU party, Merkel faces a bit of difficulty in remaining considerate with some of her working partners. She does not respond with the huffiness her SPD party colleague Sigmar Gabriel is known for. Against attacks by the head of CSU Bavaria, the "archetypical Bavarian man," Horst Seehofer, she responds with cool objectivity.

For trained physicist Angela Merkel, the world of the internet and digital media is said to be relatively foreign, although her team does now have an Instagram account, which is fed by her official photographer. Still, that didn't stop her from grabbing the ear of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at a lunch meeting at the UN in 2015.

The daughter of a Protestant minister, Merkel's values are said by Rinke to have been shaped by her Christian upbringing. In 2016, she was given a private audience with Pope Francis I at the Vatican, where the two exchanged words on their favorite books.

Merkel is not known to let it all hang out and, though rare due to her full schedule, celebrations are done in style. In 2013, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Élysee agreement between Germany and France, Merkel invited the entire parliament to toast the two countries' friendly relations over champagne.

The chancellor gets only a few free vacation moments each year and even when on holiday, as here in Poland, she is not free from the prying eyes of the public. Her husband, Joachim Sauer, also pictured here, is rarely in the spotlight.

The 34-year-old Sanna Marin was elected by her party in December 2019 to serve as Finland's prime minister after Antti Rinne resigned over fallout from a postal strike. Once she is sworn in, set for mid-December, she will become one of the world's youngest head's of states. She previously served as her country's transport minister.

Since October 2017, Jacinda Arden has served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand. She took office at the age of 37. She is also only the second woman to give birth while in office. Arden is regarded as one of the world's most powerful women and was praised internationally for her response to the Christchurch terror attacks in 2019.

After Evo Morales resigned as Bolivia's president in November 2019, the 52-year-old Jeanine Anez became the interim leader of the country. Previously a vice president of the Senate, she has said she would like to try to schedule fresh elections as soon as possible. She is politically right-wing.

After serving as Belgium's budget minister, Sohpie Wilmes became the country's prime minister — and its first female one — in late October 2019. The 44-year-old has a tough task before her: scraping together a majority from a highly fragmented national parliament. She belongs to the French-speaking liberal-centrist MR party.

Slovakia elected Zuzana Caputova as its first female president in March 2019. She took office in June, also becoming the youngest-ever president at age 45. Her political views are marked by her strong environmentalism and her determination to weed out corruption in the central European state. Prior to becoming president, she had not held an elected political office.

The 65-year-old was appointed chancellor in 2005 — the country's first female head of government — and is currently serving her fourth term as Germany's leader. The pastor's daughter from communist East Germany and chemistry doctorate was named "Person of the Year 2015" by Time magazine. Her term is scheduled to end in 2021, and she has said she will not pursue the chancellor position again.

The 69-yeaer-old Sahle-Work Zewde was elected unanimously by the members of Ethiopia's parliament to serve as the country's 5th president. She is the first woman to fill the role, though the role is largely ceremonial. However, as of 2019, she is Africa's only serving head of state. A career diplomat, she had previously held various high-level positions in the UN.

Tsai Ing-Wen is the first woman to serve as president of the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan. Her inauguration in May 2016 led Beijing to freeze official relations with the small island, which the mainland claims can never be independent. Tsai has made it clear she will not "bow to pressure" over the issue of sovereignty. She has announced she will run for reelection in 2020.

Norway, too, is governed by a woman. Erna Solberg took office in 2013. The 58-year-old is the wealthy northern country's second female prime minister, after Gro Harlem Brundtland, who held the position in the 80s and 90s. Her tough asylum policies earned her the nickname "Iron Erna." She also heads up Norway's Conservative Party.

The 52-year-old, Namibia's fourth prime minister, has been in office since 2015. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila went into exile in Sierra Leone as a young teenager. She pursued higher education in the US, graduating with a degree in economics before returning home in 1994, where she began working in politics. She is the first woman to head Namibia's government and a strong proponent of women's rights.

Sheikh Hasina is the 10th and longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh. Before her current term, which began in 2009, she also held the office from 1996-2001. Forbes business magazine listed the 72-year-old on its list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The 51-year-old held several government positions and represented Croatia as ambassador to the United States before she was elected in 2015 as the country's first woman president, and its youngest. Grabar-Kitarovic's position from 2011 to 2014 as assistant secretary general for public diplomacy at NATO makes her the highest-ranking female ever within NATO's administrative team.

Originally an oil-cloth factory, Marimekko turned to garment design in the mid-1950s after founder Armi Ratia asked artist friends to add graphic prints to the textiles. The rest, as they say, is history, as Marimekko has gone on to define Finnish fashion. On a simply-cut dress, the wild graphics pushed boundaries - and changed the way that women, including Jackie Kennedy, dressed.

Artist Touko Laaksonen became a gay cultural icon for his homoerotic drawings of fetishistic art. Best known as Tom of Finland, the artist's sketches have adorned everything from bedding to clothing by a company of the same name. A documentary released in 2017 looks at his life and the controversies his work have caused, especially in the US, where attempts were made in the 1960s to censor it.

Tove Jansson was part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland so many mistake her trademark works as originating from the country's western neighbor. While Jansson wrote inspiring fiction, she is best known for the Moomins, a children's series she wrote and illustrated. Moomin Valley, where the stories take place, is reminiscent of Finland, with its lakes, forests and long, dark winters.

The sauna as we know it originated in Finland — the word as well as the concept. Although many European countries have adopted the smokehouse-style tradition after being introduced to it during World War II, in Finland they say more decisions are made in the sauna than in meetings. Just don't forget your vasta — the bundle of fresh birch twigs to hit yourself with is said to be good for your skin.

At the 2017 Berlinale, director Aki Olavi Kaurismäki announced that his Silver Bear-winning film on the struggles of a Syrian refugee to integrate in Finland, "The Other Side of Hope" (photo), would be his last. The director, who'd won the Cannes Grand Prix in 2002 for "The Man without a Past" is one of the best known Finnish film directors. He's also responsible for the Leningrad Cowboys.

What started as a joke by director Aki Olavi Kaurismäki grew into a 13-member comedy rock band that still plays live 30 years after its debut. Sporting troubadours and tuxedos, the Leningrad Cowboys have starred in a number of Kaurismäki movies. Though their unique look may be more memorable than their music, they still fill concert halls as they poke fun at world politics with remade covers.

Perhaps the most memorable band to come out of Finland in recent years is Lordi, who won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with "Hard Rock Hallelujah." While their win may have taken some by surprise - ESC is more sugar-pop than death rock - Finland has had a long tradition of producing influential hard rock acts. In the 1980s, the glam rock band Hanoi Rocks is said to have inspired Guns N' Roses.

One of the world's most technologically-advanced countries, Finland was the first to create its own set of emojis. The symbols, found online at ThisisFinland.fi, reflect natural phenomenon like the white nights and snow in summer as well as popular free time activities, like the midsummer bonfire and sauna. We couldn't expect less of a country which made broadband access a legal right.

The second best country in the world for mothers according to Save The Children, Finland also has an unusual tradition: the baby box. Since 1949, new parents have been given a box with baby essentials, including diapers, snowsuit, a baby thermometer and condoms. Once the welcome gifts are unpacked, the box can serve as a bed for the infant, wrapped in the receiving blanket already tucked inside.

Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland, covers nearly 30 percent of the country's landmass, yet it only houses three percent of the population. Long, snowy winters are one of the reasons; while in the south of the country, the sun rises for six hours a day in December, in the north, darkness prevails. The night sky allows for a polar glow, the beautiful natural light show, Aurora Borealis.