Ranking countries by intelligence can be like comparing apples and oranges. However, there are methods by which you can assess the level of intelligence in the country. In this article, you will learn about the ten smartest nations, rated by IQ, but, taking into account other important factors.
Research methods
One of the most popular ways to measure intelligence is the IQ test. Each test is made up of many thematic issues with increasing complexity. Among them are tasks for logical and spatial thinking, an assessment of the ability to independently compare and summarize facts, etc. There have been endless studies on whether a standardized test can accurately reflect the level of education and abilities of a person in areas such as memory, creativity or work. Also, if an IQ test is developed in, say, a European country, won't it automatically be designed for members of the local nations and will it disadvantage people from other continents?
There are other ways to evaluate the smartest nation in the world. For example, you can look at student grades in areas such as science and math, and take a survey. They are carried out directly during the period of children's education at school, which makes it possible to assess their current level of intelligence. Unlike other methods, the survey gives an idea of how students learn, which is in a good way look at how the country's education system works as a whole.
Another way to assess the intelligence of a nation is to study the contribution of the country in the fields of mathematics and science. Statistical data such as the number scientific works and discoveries per capita show high level the intelligence of the country's scientists, but perhaps not of the entire population. This is where the complexity of assessing the intelligence of the whole nation lies.
Some people also look at the level of education in a country by looking at how many people have a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. However, this approach is inherently biased towards countries with cheap or free higher education systems, and is more a matter of access to education than actual intelligence. For example, according to statistics, Russia is in second place in the world in terms of the number of people with higher education, but according to other studies and polls, Russians are not in the top 10 smartest nations.
10. Sweden
The average IQ is around 100. Sweden has a good education system - most of the costs of its payment are covered by the government. Thanks to this, it is available to anyone who has good mental capacity. In Sweden, over seventy-five percent of workers use computers in their workplaces. This is a good statistic. They also have a fairly large percentage of people with higher education.
9. Austria
The next three countries on this list have an average IQ that rounds up to the same whole number, so they will be listed in alphabetical order. Oddly enough, these three countries border on each other. This may mean that they have similar cultural characteristics, which make it so that their IQ test scores are very similar. It is possible that due to proximity, these three countries have similar education systems.
Austria is considered a country with one of the best education systems in the world. For every thousand people in the country, about 7 women and 9 men have a Ph.D. It is for these factors that Austria is in the top of the smartest. The average IQ in Austria is 102.
8. Germany
There has always been a high percentage of great thinkers among the Germans. When one talks about the fields of philosophy, science or art, many influential German minds come to mind. This is probably due to the fact that German citizens who have higher education in the field of natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, often go to study for another specialty. In fact, they are in third place in terms of the number of graduates with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) levels, despite the fact that their population is not as large compared to many other countries. Germany has a high GDP and some of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world. Thanks to this, the Germans take pride of place in the ranking of the smartest nations in the world. The statistics show that the average IQ in Germany is 102.
7. Italy
When we think of Italy, we always think of the Roman Empire or the Renaissance. Some of the greatest sculptors, painters, writers and poets were from this southern European country. To date, Italians are showing good progress in mathematics, physics and other fields. The average IQ in Italy is around 102.
6. Netherlands
The Netherlands has a very good education system. The country with the best education system in the world and the best school exam grades is Finland. However, looking at average IQ in all countries of the world, Finland takes only 29th place. This perhaps illustrates the difficulty of ranking a country's intelligence in terms of IQ. On the other hand, education may be more focused on memorization and general knowledge, which are not as useful for an IQ test. The average IQ in Holland is 103.
5. Singapore
Singapore opens the top five smart countries Interestingly, they are all located in Asia. It is a small island-city-state in the southern part of Malaysia. Singapore is a place of cutting edge technology as well as business and finance. Young people in Singapore are always at the forefront when it comes to results in mathematics and science. Ultra-high GDP and ease of trade provide a lot of money to fund education and social projects. The average IQ in Singapore is 103.
4. Taiwan
The state of Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Taiwan is world renowned for its advances in technology as well as its dedication to the system public education. Many people in the state are bilingual. Since one of Taiwan's largest trading partners is the United States, many young people speak English fluently in order to have more opportunities for career development. The average IQ in Taiwan is 104.
3. Japan
Japan is a very advanced country when we are talking about the quality of education. She is known for having a complex philosophy of educating children, with students spending hundreds of hours preparing for difficult exams. When it comes to scientific research, Japan is increasingly becoming one of the leading countries in the world. included in the list of leading educational institutions in the world and is considered best university in Asia. With a literacy rate of ninety-nine percent, Japan is one of the smartest nations in the world. The average IQ in Japan is 105.
2. South Korea
South Korea is the most "innovative" of all countries in the world. South Korean students perform some of the best on tests. The state spends colossal sums of money on research and development. Among the population, a high percentage of people hold a STEM degree, with over 30 percent of the adult population holding a degree in one of these cutting-edge fields. South Korea is considered to have the fastest and most reliable internet in the world. However, their education system has one significant disadvantage. As a result of complex tests, long schoolwork and high competition, the country has a high suicide rate among schoolchildren and students. Average IQ in South Korea is 106.
1. Hong Kong
Which nation is the smartest in the world? It turns out that the Chinese are in the lead! Purely technically, Hong Kong is not a country - it is a "special administrative region" in China. However, Hong Kong cannot be ignored as it is home to millions of people with the highest IQs. Hong Kong students win prizes at the world olympiads in mathematics and natural sciences. Here best system education after Finland. Many students in Hong Kong take additional courses outside educational institution to improve your education and future prospects. This kind of thirst for knowledge is rather surprising, however, it is clear that the hard mental work of the people of Hong Kong has paid off in full. Their average IQ is 107.
The debate about who is the smartest people in the world continues, but now they have come out on new level. Subjective assessments are giving way to research, and the criteria for comparison are becoming more impartial.
Russians
There are still not so many indicators that claim to be objective in calculating the level of intelligence of peoples. This is, firstly, the average level of IQ, secondly, the number of scientific discoveries made by representatives of the people in the course of history, and thirdly, the number of winners of scientific prizes, primarily the Nobel Prize.
In terms of IQ, Russians do not occupy the first place in the world today, occupying only 34th place in the ranking. This is primarily due to the fact that testing is still not a recognized and relevant type of research in our country. There is a historical explanation for this: in 1936, the USSR issued a decree "On pedological perversions in the system of the People's Commissariat of Education", which banned any tests. The ban was only lifted in the 1970s.
In count Nobel laureates Russia is also not ahead of the rest (23 laureates against 356 for the United States). But the Russians have made a huge contribution to the intellectual treasury of mankind, thanks to the discoveries and inventions of their scientists. So, Russian engineers Yablochkov and Lodygin invented the world's first electric light bulb, Alexander Popov invented the radio, Vladimir Zworykin is considered the "father of television", Alexander Mozhaisky created the first aircraft, Igor Sikorsky created the first helicopter, the world's first bomber, Alexander Poniatov designed the world's first video recorder, Prokudin-Gorsky made the world's first color photographs, Andrey Sakharov created the first hydrogen bomb, Gleb Kotelnikov - the first backpack parachute, Vladimir Fedorov developed the world's first machine gun, Nikolai Lobachevsky made a revolution in mathematics ...
This list could be continued for a long time. If we recall such luminaries of science as Dmitry Mendeleev, Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Pavlov, Ivan Sechenov, then doubts that the Russians are one of smartest peoples in the world disappear by themselves. And this is without taking into account the contribution to world culture our classic writers.
Peoples of Southeast Asia and the Japanese
The countries of Southeast Asia are consistently among the leaders in terms of intelligence. Professors Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (University of Ulster), authors of the study "Intelligence quotient and the wealth of nations" and "Intelligence quotient and global inequality" believe that this is due to high competition among students, with strict Asian discipline. Scientists have also found a diet rich in vegetables and seafood to be beneficial for the development of intelligence.
Ranked first in terms of intelligence Asian countries occupies China, and especially its Hong Kong region, where there are special conditions for the growth of indicators in natural and exact sciences. So, special popularity in Hong Kong in recent times acquire schools in which, in their free time, students are encouraged to engage in ... study. This desire for knowledge is bearing fruit. In the ranking of education, Hong Kong was second only to Finland. The average IQ in Hong Kong is 107, the first in the world.
In second place after the Hong Kongers in terms of IQ are Koreans. The Korean education system is considered one of the best and most efficient in the world, students in Korea are willing to spend 14 hours a day on education. However, she also has a significant disadvantage: during the examination period in this country there is a wave of suicides.
Speaking of smart Asian peoples, one cannot fail to mention the Japanese, who are recognized leaders in the field high technology. The scientific leap started in Japan after the war, today the University of Tokyo is one of the best in Asia and is ranked 25 best universities world, the literacy rate among the Japanese is 99%, the IQ level is 105.
English
Pyotr Kapitsa said that the level of intelligence of a nation can be assessed by scientific discoveries made by its representatives. Having counted the achievements of the peoples, the scientist came to the conclusion that the British are the smartest nation at the moment. The British have indeed made and continue to make a huge contribution to world science. The names of such scientists as Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Rutherford, Turing, Fleming, Hawking are known all over the world. Great among the English and the number of laureates Nobel Prize, British scientists have received the award almost every year since its inception. 121 English scientists received the Nobel Prize.
In terms of the development of science, Great Britain occupies the first places even today, the citation index of British scientists is the first among the peoples of the Old World.
However, it must be said that since the late 1980s, the system of English education and science, having moved away from regulation and strict control by the government, began to lose ground. Education ceased to be elitist, and money began to be distributed for such research, for which they would not have given even a pound before. Hence today we have such a meme as "British scientists". Thanks to good funding, British scientists are doing a lot of research, the need for which for the development of science is doubtful.
Jews
The contribution of Jews to world science and culture is difficult to overestimate. Despite the fact that Jews make up only 0.2% of the world's population, according to 2011 data, out of 833 Nobel Prize winners, 186 Jews. Thus, there are 13.2 Nobel laureates per million Jews.
The most universal indicator that can be used to determine the genius of a particular nation can be called the number of Nobel Prizes received by representatives of countries, according to the Vesti-Finance portal. Total number Nobel laureates is 876.
Arthur Schopenhauer wrote that talent achieves a goal that no one can achieve; genius - one that no one can see. The number of Nobel laureates makes it possible to imagine quite accurately how this or that country is represented in the intellectual arena of the world.
Italy: 20 Nobel laureates
Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and perhaps the most man of genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci, lived too long to win a Nobel Prize. But the Italians still managed to make a breakthrough in some areas.
Austria: 21 Nobel laureates
Although Austria is only ninth in our ranking, it is the seventh country in the world in terms of the number of award winners per capita.
Canada: 22 Nobel laureates
Canada can be thanked for medical hero Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin in 1921 and remains the youngest recipient of a medical award. Most of all Nobel Prize winners from Canada received it for achievements in the field of chemistry.
Russia: 23 Nobel laureates
Even without Pushkin and Dostoyevsky to win Nobel Prizes, Russia boasts some of the greatest literary achievements in human history. In addition, Russia has achieved breakthrough results in quantum electronics, electromagnetic radiation, semiconductors, superfluids and other things that few ordinary people can understand.
Switzerland: 25 Nobel laureates
In Switzerland, the number of Nobel laureates per capita is five times that of Canada and 15 times that of Russia. Among all the winners of the award, Albert Einstein stands out, who, although he was born in Germany, most most important research done in Switzerland.
Sweden: 29 Nobel laureates
Sweden - home country Alfred Nobel, and the headquarters of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is also located here, so it is not surprising that this country is in the top five.
France: 59 Nobel laureates
Traditionally, France is one of the leaders of fresh ideas in art, philosophy and literature.
Germany: 104 Nobel laureates
Scientists from Germany receive Nobel Prizes in various fields. So, for example, in 1918 Max Planck received it for his quantum theory, and Werner Heisenberg for the creation of quantum mechanics.
UK: 121 Nobel laureates
British scientists have received the Nobel Prize almost every year since the award's inception.
USA: 356 Nobel laureates
More than a third of scientists who have ever received Nobel Prizes have come from the United States. And this country left far behind all other countries of comparable size, including the entire European Union, in terms of the number of laureates per capita.
The debate about who is the smartest people in the world continues, but now they have reached a new level. Subjective assessments are giving way to research, and comparison criteria are becoming more and more unbiased.
Russians
There are still not so many indicators that claim to be objective in calculating the level of intelligence of peoples. This is, firstly, the average level of IQ, secondly, the number of scientific discoveries made by representatives of the people in the course of history, and thirdly, the number of winners of scientific prizes, primarily the Nobel Prize.
In terms of IQ, Russians are by far not the first in the world today, occupying only 34th place in the ranking. This is partly due to the fact that testing is still not a recognized and relevant type of research in our country. There is a historical explanation for this: in 1936, the USSR issued a decree "On pedological perversions in the system of the People's Commissariat of Education", which banned any tests. The ban was only lifted in the 1970s.
In terms of the number of Nobel laureates, Russia is also not ahead of the rest (23 laureates against 356 in the United States). But the Russians have made a huge contribution to the intellectual treasury of mankind, thanks to the discoveries and inventions of their scientists. So, Russian engineers Yablochkov and Lodygin invented the world's first electric light bulb, Alexander Popov invented the radio, Vladimir Zworykin is considered the "father of television", Alexander Mozhaisky created the first aircraft, Igor Sikorsky created the first helicopter, the world's first bomber, Alexander Poniatov designed the world's first video recorder, Prokudin-Gorsky made the world's first color photographs, Andrey Sakharov created the first hydrogen bomb, Gleb Kotelnikov - the first backpack parachute, Vladimir Fedorov developed the world's first machine gun, Nikolai Lobachevsky made a revolution in mathematics ...
This list could be continued for a long time. If we recall such luminaries of science as Dmitry Mendeleev, Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Pavlov, Ivan Sechenov, then doubts that the Russians are one of the smartest peoples in the world disappear by themselves. And this is without taking into account the contribution to the world culture of our classic writers.
Peoples of Southeast Asia and the Japanese
The countries of Southeast Asia are consistently among the leaders in terms of intelligence. Professors Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (University of Ulster), authors of the study "Intelligence quotient and the wealth of nations" and "Intelligence quotient and global inequality" believe that this is due to high competition among students, with strict Asian discipline. Scientists have also found a diet rich in vegetables and seafood to be beneficial for the development of intelligence.
The first place in terms of intelligence among Asian countries is occupied by China, and especially its Hong Kong region, where there are special conditions for the growth of indicators in the natural and exact sciences. So, in Hong Kong, schools have recently become especially popular, in which students are encouraged to engage in ... study in their free time. This desire for knowledge is bearing fruit. In the ranking of education, Hong Kong was second only to Finland. The average IQ in Hong Kong is 107, the first in the world.
In second place after the Hong Kongers in terms of IQ are Koreans. The Korean education system is considered one of the best and most efficient in the world, students in Korea are willing to spend 14 hours a day on education. However, she also has a significant disadvantage: during the examination period in this country there is a wave of suicides.
Speaking of smart Asian peoples, one cannot fail to mention the Japanese, who are recognized leaders in the high-tech sector. The scientific leap began in Japan after the war, today the University of Tokyo is one of the best in Asia and is included in the ranking of the 25 best universities in the world, the literacy rate among the Japanese is 99%, the IQ level is 105.
English
Pyotr Kapitsa said that the level of intelligence of a nation can be assessed by the scientific discoveries made by its representatives. Having counted the achievements of the peoples, the scientist came to the conclusion that the British are the smartest nation at the moment. The British have indeed made and continue to make a huge contribution to world science. The names of such scientists as Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Rutherford, Turing, Fleming, Hawking are known all over the world. Large among the British and the number of Nobel Prize winners, British scientists have received the award almost every year since its inception. 121 English scientists received the Nobel Prize.
In terms of the development of science, Great Britain occupies the first places even today, the citation index of British scientists is the first among the peoples of the Old World.
However, it must be said that since the late 1980s, the system of English education and science, having moved away from regulation and strict control by the government, began to lose ground. Education ceased to be elitist, and money began to be distributed for such research, for which they would not have given even a pound before. Hence today we have such a meme as "British scientists". Thanks to good funding, British scientists are doing a lot of research, the need for which for the development of science is doubtful.
Jews
The contribution of Jews to world science and culture is difficult to overestimate. Despite the fact that Jews make up only 0.2% of the world's population, according to 2011 data, out of 833 Nobel Prize winners, 186 Jews. Thus, there are 13.2 Nobel laureates per million Jews. The following Swiss and Swedes have this figure of 3.34 and 3.19, respectively. Jews became laureates 32 times in chemistry, 30 times in economics, 13 times in literature, 47 times in physics, 55 times in medicine, and received the Nobel Peace Prize 9 times. Of the 300 and a half American Nobel Prize winners, almost forty percent - 36.8 - are Jews.
Germans
Germany has been the center of European scientific thought since the Middle Ages. The first universities and scientific centers were opened here, people from all over Europe came to Germany for education. Johannes Gutenberg, Rudolf Diesel, Johannes Keppler, Max Planck, Gottfried Leibniz, Conrad Roentgen, Karl Benz are known to everyone. German philosophers Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer became the classics of philosophy. In terms of the number of Nobel Prize winners, Germany ranks third, behind only the US and the UK.
The debate about who is the smartest people in the world continues, but now they have reached a new level. Subjective assessments are giving way to research, and the criteria for comparison are becoming more impartial. But p There are still not so many indicators that claim to be objective in calculating the level of intelligence of peoples.
Russians
In calculating the level of intelligence of peoples, firstly, the average level of IQ is taken into account, secondly, the number of scientific discoveries made by representatives of the people in the course of history, and thirdly, the number of winners of scientific prizes, primarily the Nobel Prize.
In terms of IQ, Russians are by far not the first in the world today, occupying only 34th place in the ranking. This is partly due to the fact that testing is still not a recognized and relevant type of research in our country. There is a historical explanation for this: in 1936, the USSR issued a decree "On pedological perversions in the system of the People's Commissariat of Education", which banned any tests. The ban was only lifted in the 1970s.
In terms of the number of Nobel laureates, Russia is also not ahead of the rest (23 laureates against 356 in the United States). But the Russians have made a huge contribution to the intellectual treasury of mankind, thanks to the discoveries and inventions of their scientists. So, Russian engineers Yablochkov and Lodygin invented the world's first electric light bulb, Alexander Popov invented the radio, Vladimir Zworykin is considered the "father of television", Alexander Mozhaisky created the first aircraft, Igor Sikorsky created the first helicopter, the world's first bomber, Alexander Poniatov designed the world's first video recorder, Prokudin-Gorsky made the world's first color photographs, Andrey Sakharov created the first hydrogen bomb, Gleb Kotelnikov - the first backpack parachute, Vladimir Fedorov developed the world's first machine gun, Nikolai Lobachevsky made a revolution in mathematics ...
This list could be continued for a long time. If we recall such luminaries of science as Dmitry Mendeleev, Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Pavlov, Ivan Sechenov, then doubts that the Russians are one of the smartest peoples in the world disappear by themselves. And this is without taking into account the contribution to the world culture of our classic writers.
Peoples of Southeast Asia and the Japanese
The countries of Southeast Asia are consistently among the leaders in terms of intelligence. Professors Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (University of Ulster), authors of the study "Intelligence quotient and the wealth of nations" and "Intelligence quotient and global inequality" believe that this is due to high competition among students, with strict Asian discipline. Scientists have also found a diet rich in vegetables and seafood to be beneficial for the development of intelligence.
The first place in terms of intelligence among Asian countries is occupied by China, and especially its Hong Kong region, where there are special conditions for the growth of indicators in the natural and exact sciences. So, in Hong Kong, schools have recently become especially popular, in which students are encouraged to engage in ... study in their free time. This desire for knowledge is bearing fruit. In the ranking of education, Hong Kong was second only to Finland. The average IQ in Hong Kong is 107, the first in the world.
In second place after the Hong Kongers in terms of IQ are Koreans. The Korean education system is considered one of the best and most efficient in the world, students in Korea are willing to spend 14 hours a day on education. However, she also has a significant disadvantage: during the examination period in this country there is a wave of suicides.
Speaking of smart Asian peoples, one cannot fail to mention the Japanese, who are recognized leaders in the high-tech sector. The scientific leap began in Japan after the war, today the University of Tokyo is one of the best in Asia and is included in the ranking of the 25 best universities in the world, the literacy rate among the Japanese is 99%, the IQ level is 105.
English
Pyotr Kapitsa said that the level of intelligence of a nation can be assessed by the scientific discoveries made by its representatives. Having counted the achievements of the peoples, the scientist came to the conclusion that the British are the smartest nation at the moment. The British have indeed made and continue to make a huge contribution to world science. The names of such scientists as Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Rutherford, Turing, Fleming, Hawking are known all over the world. Large among the British and the number of Nobel Prize winners, British scientists have received the award almost every year since its inception. 121 English scientists received the Nobel Prize.
In terms of the development of science, Great Britain occupies the first places even today, the citation index of British scientists is the first among the peoples of the Old World.
However, it must be said that since the late 1980s, the system of English education and science, having moved away from regulation and strict control by the government, began to lose ground. Education ceased to be elitist, and money began to be distributed for such research, for which they would not have given even a pound before. Hence today we have such a meme as "British scientists". Thanks to good funding, British scientists are doing a lot of research, the need for which for the development of science is doubtful.
Jews
The contribution of Jews to world science and culture is difficult to overestimate. Despite the fact that Jews make up only 0.2% of the world's population, according to 2011 data, out of 833 Nobel Prize winners, 186 Jews. Thus, there are 13.2 Nobel laureates per million Jews. The following Swiss and Swedes have this figure of 3.34 and 3.19, respectively. Jews became laureates 32 times in chemistry, 30 times in economics, 13 times in literature, 47 times in physics, 55 times in medicine, and received the Nobel Peace Prize 9 times. Of the 300 and a half American Nobel Prize winners, almost forty percent - 36.8 - are Jews.
Germans
Germany has been the center of European scientific thought since the Middle Ages. The first universities and scientific centers were opened here, people from all over Europe came to Germany for education. Johannes Gutenberg, Rudolf Diesel, Johannes Keppler, Max Planck, Gottfried Leibniz, Conrad Roentgen, Karl Benz are known to everyone. German philosophers Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer became classics of philosophy. In terms of the number of Nobel Prize winners, Germany ranks third, behind only the US and the UK.
