France's Christine Lagarde, 55, has been named the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The announcement of her appointment came soon after she received the backing of the US and Russia.
Ms Lagarde, the French minister of finance since June 2007, was up against Mexico's Agustin Carstens. An IMF statement said that both candidates "were well qualified".
The post became vacant following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
"The results are in: I am honoured and delighted that the board has entrusted me with the position of MD of the IMF!" Ms Lagarde said via Twitter minutes after the announcement.
In a statement, the IMF said: "The executive board of the International Monetary Fund today selected Christine Lagarde to serve as IMF managing director and madame chairman of the executive board for a five-year term starting on July 5, 2011."
Ms Lagarde, it said, was "the first woman named to the top IMF post since the institution's inception in 1944".
The 24-member board called both Ms Lagarde and Mr Carstens, Mexico's central bank governor, "well-qualified candidates" and that it decided on Ms Lagarde "by consensus".
Mr Strauss-Kahn resigned abruptly on 18 May after being arrested in New York for an alleged sexual assault.
'Indispensable institution'
Ms Lagarde toured the world drumming up support for her candidacy.
There were initially reports that many IMF members wanted the next managing director to come from an emerging market economy.
The IMF's David Hawley announces Christine Lagarde's appointment
But in the end Ms Lagarde won over some powerful allies among developing nations, including Brazil and China.
The US, which along with Russia came out in favour of Ms Lagarde just hours before the appointment was announced, said her experience would be invaluable.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement: "Minister Lagarde's exceptional talent and broad experience will provide invaluable leadership for this indispensable institution at a critical time for the global economy."
Her immediate task will be to deal with the efforts of the IMF and European Union to resolve the Greek debt crisis and prevent contagion to other eurozone economies.
Before becoming France's finance minister, she was minister for foreign trade for two years.
Prior to moving into politics, Ms Lagarde was an anti-trust and employment lawyer in the US.
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