Hamish Johnston presents data showing how long different nations have had to wait before winning a Nobel Prize in Physics

Waiting game Germany was the first nation to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, with Belgium the most recent. Click the image to expand. (Courtesy: Alison Tovey/IOPP)

How long did it take for your country to claim a physics Nobel laureate? Or perhaps you live in one of the 170 or so countries that has yet to produce a Nobel prize winner?

The aim of our latest infographic (see figure) is to answer that question by exploring the geographical evolution of laureates. Creating it, however, quickly became an exercise in the history of the past two centuries.

Map-changing wars in Europe, the demise of colonialism, and immigration made it surprising difficult to ascribe some laureates to specific countries and led to at least one debate amongst Physics World colleagues.…