diff --git a/src/documentation/content/xdocs/status.xml b/src/documentation/content/xdocs/status.xml
index 64508fdb8..df242e644 100644
--- a/src/documentation/content/xdocs/status.xml
+++ b/src/documentation/content/xdocs/status.xml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
     <changes>
         <release version="3.8-beta6" date="2012-??-??">
+           <action dev="poi-developers" type="add">52818 - Added implementation for RANK()</action>
            <action dev="poi-developers" type="fix">52682 - allow setting text with trailing carriage return in HSLF</action>
            <action dev="poi-developers" type="fix">52244 - use correct text attributes when presentation has multiple TxMasterStyleAtoms of the same type</action>
            <action dev="poi-developers" type="add">support setting background color of sheet tab in XSSF</action>
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/eval/FunctionEval.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/eval/FunctionEval.java
index 65ca0f89a..fb4f8d725 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/eval/FunctionEval.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/eval/FunctionEval.java
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ public final class FunctionEval {
 
 		retval[212] = NumericFunction.ROUNDUP;
 		retval[213] = NumericFunction.ROUNDDOWN;
+        retval[216] = new Rank();
         retval[219] = new Address();  //Aniket Banerjee
         retval[220] = new Days360();
 		retval[221] = new Today();
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/Rank.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/Rank.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c6ff86068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/Rank.java
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/*
+ *  ====================================================================
+ *    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *    contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *    this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *    The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *    (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *    the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *    limitations under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ */
+
+package org.apache.poi.ss.formula.functions;
+
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.AreaEval;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.ErrorEval;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.EvaluationException;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.NumberEval;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.OperandResolver;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.RefEval;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.formula.eval.ValueEval;
+
+
+/**
+ * Returns the rank of a number in a list of numbers. The rank of a number is its size relative to other values in a list.
+
+ * Syntax:
+ *    RANK(number,ref,order)
+ *       Number   is the number whose rank you want to find.
+ *       Ref     is an array of, or a reference to, a list of numbers. Nonnumeric values in ref are ignored.
+ *       Order   is a number specifying how to rank number.
+
+ * If order is 0 (zero) or omitted, Microsoft Excel ranks number as if ref were a list sorted in descending order.
+ * If order is any nonzero value, Microsoft Excel ranks number as if ref were a list sorted in ascending order.
+ * 
+ * @author Rubin Wang
+ */
+public class Rank extends Var2or3ArgFunction {
+
+	public ValueEval evaluate(int srcRowIndex, int srcColumnIndex, ValueEval arg0, ValueEval arg1) {
+
+		AreaEval aeRange;
+		double result;
+		try {
+			ValueEval ve = OperandResolver.getSingleValue(arg0, srcRowIndex, srcColumnIndex);
+			result = OperandResolver.coerceValueToDouble(ve);
+			if (Double.isNaN(result) || Double.isInfinite(result)) {
+				throw new EvaluationException(ErrorEval.NUM_ERROR);
+			}
+			aeRange = convertRangeArg(arg1);
+		} catch (EvaluationException e) {
+			return e.getErrorEval();
+		}
+		return eval(srcRowIndex, srcColumnIndex, result, aeRange, true);
+	}
+
+	public ValueEval evaluate(int srcRowIndex, int srcColumnIndex, ValueEval arg0, ValueEval arg1, ValueEval arg2) {
+
+		AreaEval aeRange;
+		double result;
+		boolean order=false;
+		try {
+			ValueEval ve = OperandResolver.getSingleValue(arg0, srcRowIndex, srcColumnIndex);
+			result = OperandResolver.coerceValueToDouble(ve);
+			if (Double.isNaN(result) || Double.isInfinite(result)) {
+				throw new EvaluationException(ErrorEval.NUM_ERROR);
+			}
+			aeRange = convertRangeArg(arg1);
+			
+			ve = OperandResolver.getSingleValue(arg2, srcRowIndex, srcColumnIndex);
+			int order_value = OperandResolver.coerceValueToInt(ve);
+			if(order_value==0){
+				order=true;
+			}else if(order_value==1){
+				order=false;
+			}else throw new EvaluationException(ErrorEval.NUM_ERROR);
+			
+		} catch (EvaluationException e) {
+			return e.getErrorEval();
+		}
+		return eval(srcRowIndex, srcColumnIndex, result, aeRange, order);
+	}
+
+	private static ValueEval eval(int srcRowIndex, int srcColumnIndex, double arg0, AreaEval aeRange, boolean descending_order) {
+		
+		int rank = 1;
+		int height=aeRange.getHeight();
+		int width= aeRange.getWidth();
+		for (int r=0; r<height; r++) {
+			for (int c=0; c<width; c++) {
+				
+				Double value = getValue(aeRange, r, c);
+				if(value==null)continue;
+				if(descending_order && value>arg0 || !descending_order && value<arg0){
+					rank++;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return new NumberEval(rank);
+	}
+	
+	private static Double getValue(AreaEval aeRange, int relRowIndex, int relColIndex) {
+
+		ValueEval addend = aeRange.getRelativeValue(relRowIndex, relColIndex);
+		if (addend instanceof NumberEval) {
+			return ((NumberEval)addend).getNumberValue();
+		}
+		// everything else (including string and boolean values) counts as zero
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	private static AreaEval convertRangeArg(ValueEval eval) throws EvaluationException {
+		if (eval instanceof AreaEval) {
+			return (AreaEval) eval;
+		}
+		if (eval instanceof RefEval) {
+			return ((RefEval)eval).offset(0, 0, 0, 0);
+		}
+		throw new EvaluationException(ErrorEval.VALUE_INVALID);
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/TestRank.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/TestRank.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b62dffa09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/formula/functions/TestRank.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ *  ====================================================================
+ *    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *    contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *    this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *    The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *    (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *    the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *    limitations under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ */
+
+package org.apache.poi.ss.formula.functions;
+
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.HSSFTestDataSamples;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFCell;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFFormulaEvaluator;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFSheet;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.util.CellReference;
+
+/**
+ * Test cases for RANK()
+ */
+public final class TestRank extends TestCase {
+
+    public void testFromFile() {
+
+        HSSFWorkbook wb = HSSFTestDataSamples.openSampleWorkbook("rank.xls");
+        HSSFFormulaEvaluator fe = new HSSFFormulaEvaluator(wb);
+
+        HSSFSheet example1 = wb.getSheet("Example 1");
+        HSSFCell ex1cell1 = example1.getRow(7).getCell(0);
+        assertEquals(3.0, fe.evaluate(ex1cell1).getNumberValue());
+        HSSFCell ex1cell2 = example1.getRow(8).getCell(0);
+        assertEquals(5.0, fe.evaluate(ex1cell2).getNumberValue());
+
+        HSSFSheet example2 = wb.getSheet("Example 2");
+        for(int rownum = 1; rownum<= 10; rownum ++){
+            HSSFCell cell = example2.getRow(rownum).getCell(2);
+            double cachedResult = cell.getNumericCellValue(); //cached formula result
+            assertEquals(cachedResult, fe.evaluate(cell).getNumberValue());
+        }
+
+        HSSFSheet example3 = wb.getSheet("Example 3");
+        for(int rownum = 1; rownum<= 10; rownum ++){
+            HSSFCell cellD = example3.getRow(rownum).getCell(3);
+            double cachedResultD = cellD.getNumericCellValue(); //cached formula result
+            assertEquals(new CellReference(cellD).formatAsString(), cachedResultD, fe.evaluate(cellD).getNumberValue());
+
+            HSSFCell cellE = example3.getRow(rownum).getCell(4);
+            double cachedResultE = cellE.getNumericCellValue(); //cached formula result
+            assertEquals(new CellReference(cellE).formatAsString(), cachedResultE, fe.evaluate(cellE).getNumberValue());
+
+            HSSFCell cellF = example3.getRow(rownum).getCell(5);
+            double cachedResultF = cellF.getNumericCellValue(); //cached formula result
+            assertEquals(new CellReference(cellF).formatAsString(), cachedResultF, fe.evaluate(cellF).getNumberValue());
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test-data/spreadsheet/FormulaEvalTestData.xls b/test-data/spreadsheet/FormulaEvalTestData.xls
index 4aa144093..b8139601e 100644
Binary files a/test-data/spreadsheet/FormulaEvalTestData.xls and b/test-data/spreadsheet/FormulaEvalTestData.xls differ
diff --git a/test-data/spreadsheet/rank.xls b/test-data/spreadsheet/rank.xls
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4d2521af4
Binary files /dev/null and b/test-data/spreadsheet/rank.xls differ