Time names the protester as its 2011 person of the year

Time magazine has announced its person of the year for 2011 as the "protester"

As the weekly magazine says

No one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square in a town barely on a map, he would spark protests that would bring down dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and rattle regimes in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain

adding that

Protests have now occurred in countries whose populations total at least 3 billion people, and the word protest has appeared in newspapers and online exponentially more this past year than at any other time in history.

Its runner up was Admiral William McRaven, who was commander of the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

It is not the first time in recent history that the magazine has chosen a group.In 2006 itchose "You" as the Person of the Year to reflect the growing power of social media.