Here’s a curious geographical phenomenon that emerged from a Google Insights search at 5 a.m. EDT Thursday morning — the day Microsoft (MSFT) was scheduled to launch the successor to Windows XP and Vista.

In the bar graph that displayed which regions were conducting the most searches per capita on the term “Windows 7,” the top 10 were as follows:

1. Cuba
2. Russian Federation
3. Sri Lanka
4. Czech Republic
5. Estonia
6. Belarus
7. Armenia
8. Hong Kong
9. Cambodia
10. Norway

At first I thought this was an early-morning effect, and that interest in Europe and the U.S. would grow as the day progressed. But I was wrong; that list reflects searches over the past 12 months.

Any theories about what’s going on?

Below the fold: The Google Insights fever chart that got me started on this, comparing Windows 7 with Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]