>What would be the level of recognition for a contest when most of the planet is excluded to participate in it?
>
>... not to mention any contest name here nor company name
>
>I mean, what about the winners, will they be really recognized as winners?

I would think that in such a contest...
where the subject matter spans all continents yet the contestants are limited to regional areas, the winners would not be recognized by the community as real winners. Rather, I would think these "winners" would be seen by the community as those who were perhaps in the right place at the right time.

It should also be noted that in such a contest as this, the name of the contest would be all important. If the name and promotion for such a contest is described as applying to the world community, then I would think that the majority of the comunity (including myself) would see this contest as a farce.

I also think it would be more appropriate for a contest limited to only certain regions to be broken down into multiple contests, one for each region allowed to participate. Then your winners would be seen as real winners for that region. But I guess that would be to expensive ;)