List of countries that are considered the greatest

Patriotic citizens of many nations believe that their country is the world's greatest, a belief repeated by politicians in many different nations. This is possible mostly due to the diversity of measures that can be used to judge greatness, a term which is inherently vague. Below is a list of countries which have some concrete claim to being the world's greatest.

Size

  • Largest land area: Russia
  • Largest population: China

Quality of life

  • This year's top of the UN's Human Development Index: Norway
  • Most years atop the HDI: Canada

Economy

  • Highest GDP: United States
  • Highest GDP per capita: Luxemburg
  • Fastest growing economy: last year Turkmenistan over the last several years China

Military

  • Largest military: China
  • Largest military per capita: North Korea
  • Most expensive military: United States
  • Most expensive military per capita: Israel

As judged by other countries

  • Most tourists: France
  • Favourite country as voted by the readers of Lonely Planet guides: Thailand

Athletic achievement

  • Total Olympic medals: United States
  • Olympic medals per capita: most recently Australia, previously usually Cuba
  • Football World Cups: Brazil

Culture

  • Most Nobel Prizes in Literature: France
  • Most Prix Médicis: tie between Italy and the United States
  • Most Cannes Palme d'Ors: United States
  • Most Cannes Palme d'Ors per capita: Denmark
  • Most books published per capita: Iceland
  • Most films released annually: India

Science

  • Most patents: Japan
  • Most Nobel Prizes: United States
  • Most Nobel Prizes per capita: Iceland
  • Most technologically advanced according to the UN's Technological Achievement Index: Finland

History

  • Longest history as a state: China
  • Most land area ever controlled: Mongolia
  • Greatest population ever controlled: United Kingdom

See also

  • List of countries that can be considered the worst
  • Greatness