10 Countries With the Most Geniuses Per Capita

Genius is a rare thing, and some countries seem to have it more than others.

According to data obtained from Mensa, Finland has the most geniuses per capita, followed by Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Mensa was founded in 1946 to create a “society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ,” according to its website. Today, it is comprised of people whose IQ is in the top 2 percent of the population.

People must test in to be accepted, and the testing fee varies by country. For example, Finland’s fee to take a supervised test into Mensa is 40 euros (about $45), the fee to get the test evaluated is another 40 euros, and the annual membership fee is 40 euros. By contrast, Ireland’s fee to test is 30 euros if supervised, 14 euros if not, 12 euros for the test evaluation fee and 60 euros for the the annual membership fee.

[READ: These Are the Best Countries for Education.]

Additionally, only 51 countries of a possible 196 (or 195 depending on if Taiwan is included) participate in Mensa, meaning countries that may have intelligent citizens will not be counted in the organization’s statistics.

These are the world’s 10 smartest countries, according to Mensa data:

Country Name Best Countries Overall Rank
1. Finland N/A
2. Sweden 5
3. United Kingdom 3
4. Netherlands 9
5. Denmark 10
6. Ireland 18
7. Norway N/A
8. Luxembourg 14
9. Czech Republic 38
10. Croatia N/A

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Sweden Is the Most ‘Good’ Country in the World, According to New Index

10 Countries With the Most Geniuses Per Capita originally appeared on usnews.com

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