I'm sure that Russian programmers are the best in the world, are not they? ;))

Answer 1

Maybe... may not be...

Answer 2

Now this is what I think is a kind of misconception, don't get me wrong, it's not like I am criticizing you but is nationality something which can be used to determine someone's ability?

Answer 3

In my experience in competiton on other sites here are the top programmers in the world by country:

1. Russia
2. China
3. India
4. South Korea
5. Japan

It usually varies in each competion but the top 3 are usually dominate at major tournaments like:

Google code jam
Top coder open
Code chef smackdown

to name a few.