Given that the Nobel Prize, which recognises contributions in the fields of chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, physics and peace, was established by a Swede (step forward Alfred Nobel), and is voted for by institutions in Sweden and Norway, it will come as no surprise to learn that the two Scandinavian nations have supplied more laureates per capita than almost every other country or territory.

Sweden has produced 31 such worthies, most recently Tomas Lindahl, in 2015, for chemistry (though, it should be noted, he is a naturalised Brit). With a population of just under 10 million, that works out at one for every 315,465 residents.

Norway is a little way behind with a total of 13 - that's one per 400,843 residents, while Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and the UK also make the top six.

But ahead of them all are three unlikely minnows.

Luxembourg, which has produced a pair of Nobel prize winners (Jules A. Hoffmann and Gabriel Lippmann, of course); Saint Lucia, which also has two (Derek Walcott and W. Arthur Lewis); and the Faroe Islands – an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark that gave us Niels Ryberg Finsen, winner in the field of medicine in 1903.