Christine Lagarde takes over as the head of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, the first woman to run the influential global lender.

Lagarde begins 1st day as IMF chief

Lagarde will serve a five-year term as the global financial institution's managing director and chairman. The post became vacant after the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn following his arrest in New York in May.

The IMF selected Lagarde, last week, by a consensus vote. Ms Lagarde beat Mexico's Agustin Carstens to the job, receiving support from the EU, U.S. as well as some Asian and African nations.

The IMF, made up of 187 member countries, has traditionally been led by a Western European official. Some developing nations have pushed to break that tradition, arguing the IMF should consider candidates from rising economic powers in Asia and South America.

Lagarde, aged 55, had been French President Nicolas Sarkozy's finance minister since June 2007. She also served as the country's foreign trade official.