Pope Francis emerged as the most talked about person on Facebook for 2013 in a report released by the company itself. The leader of the Roman Catholic church beat other popular personalities like Miley Cyrus and the royal baby, including events like the elections, floods, typhoons and even the Harlem Shake.

In its year-end report, Facebook revealed users talked more about Pope Francis than any other personality or event. Facebook's list of most discussed topics in the world was taken from user data for the past year. In 2012, the most talked about topic was the U.S. presidential elections.

In the United States, Facebook users talked more about the government shutdown, the Super Bowl and the Boston Marathon among other topics.

Nelson Mandela, the former South African president and anti-apartheid leader who died on Dec. 5, was also a popular topic among Facebook users. Facebook reported that around 55 million people had made 115 million interactions in relation to the death of Nelson Mandela. Mr Mandela, who was 95 when he died, worked hard to bring democracy to South Africa amidst corruption, crime and racism.

Aside from the annual trends, Facebook also revealed it 727 million people use the social network based on data from Sept. 2013. Most or 80 per cent of the average daily users are outside the U.S. and Canada. As of Sept. 30, Facebook said it had a monthly average of 874 million people using the social network on their mobile devices.

Facebook's Top 10 most talked about topics in the world

1. Pope Francis
2. Election
3. Royal Baby
4. Typhoon
5. Margaret Thatcher
6. Harlem Shake
7. Miley Cyrus
8. Boston Marathon
9. Tour de France
10. Nelson Mandela

The charismatic Pope Francis was elected to the papacy in March 2013 and has since extended an olive branch to atheists and the LGBT community. Not wasting any time, Pope Francis started a crackdown on corruption in the Vatican and has called on greater transparency.

The pope is reportedly setting up a committee in the Vatican to fight sexual abuse of children by members of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis made international headlines when a photograph showing him embracing a disfigured man went viral. The viral photo showed a compassionate pope who has made humility the foundation of his leadership of the Church.

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