A corporation is an institution that is granted a charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity having its own privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Corporations exist as a product of corporate law, and their rules balance the interests of the management who operate the corporation, creditors, shareholders, and employees who contribute their labor. In modern times, corporations have become an increasingly dominant part of economic life. An important feature of corporation is limited liability. If a corporation fails, shareholders normally only stand to lose their investment, and employees will lose their jobs, but neither will be further liable for debts that remain owing to the corporation's creditors. Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like actual people. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, and they may be responsible for human rights violations and have done over the years. Just as they are "born" into existence through its members obtaining a certificate of incorporation, they can "die" when they are "dissolved" either by statutory operation, order of court, or voluntary action on the part of shareholders. Insolvency may result in a form of corporate 'death', when creditors force the liquidation and dissolution of the corporation under court order, but it most often results in a restructuring of corporate holdings. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offences, such as fraud and manslaughter. The word "corporation" derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a "body of people." Entities which carried on business and were the subjects of legal rights were found in ancient Rome, and the Maurya Empire in ancient India. In medieval Europe, churches became incorporated, as did local governments, such as the Pope and the City of London Corporation. The point was that the incorporation would survive longer than the lives of any particular member, existing in perpetuity. The alleged oldest commercial corporation in the world, the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347. Many European nations chartered corporations to lead colonial ventures, such as the Dutch East India Company or the Hudson's Bay Company, and these corporations came to play a large part in the history of corporate colonialism.
Although corporate law varies in different jurisdictions, there are four core characteristics of the business corporation:
Legal personality
Limited liability
Transferable shares
Centralized management under a board structure
Top 10 companies as of Sept 2010 - fortune 500 - (which is not the true top 10, far from it)
Wal-Mart Stores
Royal Dutch Shell
Exxon Mobil
BP
Toyota Motor
Japan Post Holdings
Sinopec
State Grid
AXA
China National Petroleum
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