Highest IQ by Country — Records Across History

The single highest-IQ individual ever documented in each of the world's top countries. From Newton (England) to Tao (Australia).

1. Marnen Laibow-Koser

   United States · 1970–present
   268
2. Ainan Celeste Cawley

   SG · 1999–present
   250
3. Terence Chi-Shen Tao

   Australia · 1975–present
   220
4. Kim Ung-yong

   KR · 1962–present
   210
5. Aristotle

   Greece · 0384–present
   200
6. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

   Germany · 1749–1832
   200
7. Leonardo Da Vinci

   Italy · 1452–1519
   200
8. Nadia Camukova

   Russia · 1976–present
   200
9. Walter O'Brien (Obrien)

   Ireland · 1975–present
   197
10. Pierre-Simon Laplace

    France · 1749–1827
    195
11. Ludwig Boltzmann

    Austria · 1844–1906
    195
12. Nikola Tesla

    HR · 1856–1943
    195
13. Ramón Campayo

    Spain · 1964–present
    194
14. William Shakespeare

    United Kingdom · 1564–1616
    190
15. Francis Bacon

    England · 1561–1626
    190
16. Christiaan Huygens

    Netherlands · 1629–1695
    190
17. Leonhard Euler

    Switzerland · 1707–1783
    190
18. Garry Kasparov

    AZ · 1963–present
    190
19. John von Neumann

    Hungary · 1903–1957
    190
20. Philip Emeagwali

    NG · 1954–present
    190
21. Wilhelm Ostwald

    LV · 1853–1932
    190
22. James Clerk Maxwell

    Scotland · 1831–1879
    185
23. Ctesibius

    EG · 0285–0222
    185
24. Satyendra Nath Bose

    India · 1894–1974
    185
25. Leon Winiarski

    Poland · 1865–1915
    185
26. Alexander the Great

    MK · 0356–0323
    180
27. Augustine of Hippo

    DZ · 0354–0430
    180
28. Avicenna

    UZ · 0980–1037
    180
29. Barthold Georg Niebuhr

    Denmark · 1776–1831
    180
30. Carl Linnaeus

    Sweden · 1707–1778
    180

How we ranked this list

We rank one representative per country: the highest-IQ individual associated with that country in our biographical dataset of 1,109 documented geniuses.