The World's Happiest Nations Are . . .
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Just like beauty, happiness is very subjective - What makes one person happy does not necessarily work for another. Yet there are various agencies that attempt to gauge the happiness of entire nations using disparate criteria. The most recent 'World Happiness Report' was released by the United Nations on September 9th and without further ado, here are the results . . .
The good news is that between 2010-2012, the 156 nations surveyed for this report have overall become slightly (by 0.5%) happier then they were when the 2012 report which used data from 2005-2007, was published.
As to who is the happiest of all? That honor goes to the people of Denmark which scored a high 7.7 out of a maximum of 10 in the survey that was taken by 3,000 residents and included questions about income, mental and physical health, social support - i.e. having someone they could rely on, freedom to make their own choices, living under a government that is not corrupt and last but not least, their willingness to help others.
Following closely behind were Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The US unfortunately placed all the way down to 17 and what was even sadder is that the happiness level of its residents declined by 0.283% as did that of the people of Japan, Hungary and Finland.
Given the political unrest in Egypt and the economic woes in Greece, it came as no big surprise that the biggest declines in happiness levels were experienced there. Nor was the fact that the overall joy levels of the countries undergoing the 'Arab Spring' in the Middle East and North Africa, declined by 11.7%. As for the unhappiest countries in the world? Those happened to be poor third world countries like Central African Republic which came in at 154, Benin which came in at 155 and tiny Togo,which placed last!
This is not the only survey that tries to determine how happy the residents of a country are. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also publishes a similar report using slightly different criteria. Their latest report also placed the European countries of Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Denmark high on the list of happiness. The only difference? Their top pick was Australia. Of course the Happy Planet Index produced by U.K..'s New Economics Foundation begs to differ - They rank Costa Rica, Vietnam and Colombia as the top three because their focus is based primarily on environmental impact!
Resources: Telegraph.co.uk,fastcoexist.com
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224 Comments
- CMabout 11 yearsI learned that various agencies are are trying to gauge the hapiness of entire nations using desperate criteria. I also learned taht Demerak is the happiest country with 7.7 out of a maximum of ten. I think this good but doesn't have a lot of important information.
- cpabout 11 yearsi learned that the us isnt very happy much. and that denmark is very happy.
- DS about 11 yearsTwo facts that I learned were that North America and South America are two of the happiest nations there are. My opinion on this topic is that it is important that we all need to be happy in the nations.
- Cameron C.about 11 yearsThis must have been a big project, huge. I was not surpised we did not ranked in the top ten, often we complain or focus on the things that upset us in life. It is sad that many places are unhappy, the Middle east and North Africa had declined by 11.7%, thats alot. I wonder what causes Denmark to be the happiest, other places around the worl should find out so then maybe theyre happiness could increase.
- jordyn Cabout 11 yearsi learned that the honor goes to Denmark that has a 7.7 out of 10 in the survey of 3,000 residents and included questions about income, mental and physical health, social support - i.e. having someone they could rely on, freedom to make their own choices, living under a government that is not corrupt and last but not least, their willingness to help others. I also learned that Given the political unrest in Egypt and the economic woes in Greece, it came as no big surprise that the biggest declines in happiness levels were experienced there. this article has ...
- ELabout 11 yearsThis article is about what makes a person happy. I leared that the most recent "recent world happiness" report was released sep. 9. The US happiness level declined about 0.283%.
- Jessica J.about 11 yearsi learned that Those happened to be poor third world countries like Central African Republic which came in at 154, Benin which came in at 155 and tiny Togo,which placed last! And that iving under a government that is not corrupt and last but not least, their willingness to help others. I found this article very interesting because it has to deal with peoples happiness around the world and that we should help the people that are not happy
- patrick labout 11 yearsthis was not interesting to me.i hate that the united states can't be happy even with all the kids we have in the state.
- DPabout 11 yearsThis article is about the different programs all around the world making nations happy. I learned some of the different organizations from around the world and info about the organization or situation.
- ronniemabout 11 yearsThe most happiest people goes to Denmark which scored a high 7.7 out of a maximum of 10.France is the less happy from part 1 of the chart