Ladies (and gentlemen), if you find yourself unsure about your next holiday destination, perhaps one of these 15 countries with the most handsome men in the world maybe a good idea. I know my wife now wants to visit few of them.
In general, she doesn’t really take much interest in my articles, except the occasional smirk or sneer if I was covering topic similar to Countries with The Most Beautiful Women in Africa. But this, this was an exception. She even helped me research it.
Unlike female beauty, which was always held in high esteem, male beauty has been met with extreme treatments, depending on the age or location. It was either completely scorn or treated as a sign of favor of the gods, and everything in between. Some society treats handsome men quite harshly, while others adore them.
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The example that comes to mind is Sparta. Perhaps the most warlike society in history, Sparta has been considered by many a paragon of male virtue, courage, and bravery on the battlefield. Yet, Spartans considered beauty, both male and female, as a proof of Olympian gods affection for the individual in question. Handsome men and women were praised and treated with respect, while less fortunate people, who didn’t win the genetic lottery, had to prove their worth before being treated equally. The only exception were battle scars, which were always met with respect, regardless of how disfigured they made a man. Then again, they threw babies off of a cliff, so there’s that as well.
In some other societies, handsome men were treated with scorn and regarded feminine, and as such, unfit for public office or employment. Fortunately, for the most part, those times are behind us and today we treat beautiful men the same we have always treated beautiful women.
There are even beauty pageants for men, which brings us to the methodology we used in order to rank countries with the most handsome men in the world. In an attempt to completely eliminate bias and national pride that often clouds these kinds of lists, we have decided to leave the decision to experts. There are several international beauty pageants for men in the world and we used them as a source of our data. First, we took a look at the oldest such competition, Manhunt International, which was first held in 1993. The second one was Mister International, founded in 2005. Then we went to Mister World, held every two years starting in 1998 and finally, the youngest one, Mister Global, which started in 2014. To further differentiate between the countries, we added Mister Global’s awards Mr. Congeniality, Mr. Photogenic, Mr. Internet Popularity, Best Physique, Best Model, Mr. Charming Smile, and People’s Choice, which we valued at half a point, compared to the full point we awarded to countries for each title their men won at these four competitions. Both my editor and my wife approved this methodology, so I’m pretty sure it is a sound one. Here are the results.
15. South Korea
We kick off with South Korea, whose men haven’t won any titles (yet) but do have an array of awards at Mister Global beauty pageant. Hardly a year passes without some South Korean climbing the stands. 2014 it was Lee Jun-ho for Best Physique, in 2015 Yun The-ho for Best Model and in 2017 award for Mr. Congeniality went to Sujae Yoo.
14. France
The first European country on our list has one title, won by Fabrice Wattez at Manhunt International 2002 and in 2015 Mister Global Bryan Weber won Mr. Congeniality. 14th place isn’t such a great result for France, but at least they made the cut, unlike Germans and British men. We are sure they will be able to find some comfort in that.
13. Turkey
Male beauty has always been praised in the Orient, perhaps the most by the Ottomans, who valued beautiful people regardless of their gender. Manhunt International winner in 2005 Tolgahan Sayışman, and 2016 Mister Global Best Physique Umut Mirza would certainly be praised by the Istanbul crowd regardless of the age they were born.
12. Czech Republic
The home of Eva Herzigova, Karolina Kurkova, and a myriad of other beautiful female models can also take pride in the beauty of its men. In 2015 Mister Global, Mr. Photogenic award went to Jakub Smirak, while in 2016 Tomáš Martinka won the same competition and became Mr. Global himself.
11. Myanmar
Representing Southeast Asia, men from Myanmar has so far won the crown at Mister Global 2014 (won by Myat Thuya Lwin), and Mr. Internet Popularity award next year by Paing Soe Tun.
10. South Africa
South Africa is the country with the most beautiful women in Africa, but men from the Rainbow Nation hold their ground as well, a fact proved by Albe Geldenhuys, who won the Manhunt International in 1995 and Gerrie Havenga, a current holder of Best Physique award of Mister Global 2017 competition.
9. Sweden
Next in line on our list of countries with the most handsome men in the world is Sweden that has been renowned for the beauty of its women, but apparently, men aren’t shabby looking either. In 1998, Peter Eriksen won the Manhunt International, but there was a long drought of beauty awards for Swedish men after that, which ended in 2016 when Patrik Sjöö repeated Eriksen’s success.
8. Spain
Another European representative, men from Spain are a bit late to the game since their first title came at Mister World 2007, which was won by Juan García Postigo. Their other awards came at Mister Global beauty pageant, with Chema Malavia winning Mr. Photogenic award in 2016 and Daniel Sanpedro winning Best Model in 2017.
7. China
The most populous country on Earth is bound to have some hunks of men by the power of statistic alone. In 2007 Jeffrey Zheng Yu Guang became the winner of Manhunt International, a success repeated in 2011 by Chen Jiang Feng. Adding to China’s position among the countries with the most handsome men in the world is Shi Yu Quan, who was awarded Mr. Photogenic title at Mister Global 2017.
6. India
At 6th place on the list of countries with the most handsome men in the world we have India that has the same number of points as China but was awarded extra credit for more diverse titles. Indian men have won two crowns at two different beauty contests, Rajeev Singh at Manhunt International in 2001 and Rohit Khandelwal, who became Mister World in 2016. In the same year, the award for Best Model at Mister Global went to Prateek Baid.
5. Philippines
The Philippines has got to fifth place due to titles won at Manhunt International in 2012 by June Macasaet and in 2014 Mister International by Neil Perez. Also, men from the Philippines regularly appear on Mister Global contests and so far, they have won two awards, Mr. Internet Popularity in 2016 by Mark Louie Bornilla and Mr. Charming Smile in 2017 by Alfred Ventura. Hopefully, they will add the actual Mister Global crown to their country’s name.
4. Venezuela
One of the rare South American countries on our list, Venezuela regularly appears in articles when the topic is the female beauty. Ranked fourth in the world, Venezuelan men have so far won Manhunt International in 1999 by Ernesto Calzadilla, Mister International in 2013 by José Anmer Paredes, and Mister World in 1998 by Sandro Finoglio. The only thing they lack is Mister Global title to become the first country in the world whose men have seized all four major crowns in male beauty contests.
3. Lebanon
Another representative from the Orient, Lebanon has been long considered to be one of the countries with the most handsome men in the world . The only Arab country on our list, Lebanon men have so far won three crowns at Mister International beauty contest. The very first Mister International in 2006 was won by Wissam Hanna 2016, His success was repeated in 2012 by Ali Hammoud, and finally, the namesake of Aleksander the Great, Paul Iskandar became Mister International in 2016. Soon we will see if Lebanon can defend the crown.
2. Vietnam
Men from Vietnam have long been secluded from beauty contests, but when they finally started appearing in them, the success was immediate. So far, they have won the crown of Mister International in 2008 by Ngô Tiến Đoàn and title of Mister Global in 2015 by Nguyễn Văn Sơn. Also on Mister Global, Nguyen Huu Vi was awarded Mr. Photogenic award in 2014 and Nguyen Van Son Mr. Internet Popularity award in 2015. By this rate, Vietnam won’t be at the second place much longer.
1. Brazil
The first crown for Brazil was won at Mister World 2003 by Gustavo Gianetti. Then, at Mister International 2007 Alan Bianco Martini was awarded the title, followed by Cesar Curti in 2011. Finally, Mister Global 2017 was won by Pedro Henrique Gicca. Four titles for Brazil are just enough to place it at the top of the list of countries with the most handsome men in the world. Girls from all over the world are eagerly expecting to see who Brasil sends next year to the world’s most prestigious male beauty contests.
