Vouchercloud presented it's Smartest Countries ranking. Their conclusions are based on three factors: the number of Nobel laureates, the average IQ of the population, and school performance. As the authors of the rating explain, these data give an idea of ​​the intellectual past, present and future of the country.

The overall winner is Japan. Consistently totalling high scores across all three categories, Japan’s Nobel Prize prowess matches its IQ score and pupil points, too. This makes sense in a country with a strong tradition of innovation and a huge emphasis on education — the land of the bullet train and the square watermelon comes out on top.

Rounding out the top 3 is consistently high-performing Switzerland in 2nd and China in 3rd. China, whilst lagging behind in the Nobel rankings, more than makes up for it with the 2nd highest national IQ and the 7th highest performing school kids.

Russia is placed sixth in the ranking.