# Worlds Happiest countries



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

> A study pulled together from sources and surveys found that good health care and education are as important as wealth to modern happiness
> 
> Feeling sad? Researchers at Britain's University of Leicester reckon you might just be in the wrong country. According to Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist at Leicester who developed the first "World Map of Happiness," Denmark is the happiest nation in the world.



The story:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2006/gb20061011_072596.htm

The Top 12
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/happiest_countries/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

Complete list:
http://www.le.ac.uk/users/aw57/world/sample.html


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

WHAT the USA is not in the top 10  

World's Happiest Countries 

No. 1: Denmark 
No. 2: Switzerland 
No. 3: Austria 
No. 4: Iceland 
No. 5: Bahamas 
No. 6: Finland 
No. 7: Sweden 
No. 8: Bhutan 
No. 9: Brunei 
No. 10: Canada 
No. 11: Ireland 
No. 12: Luxembourg

Cool thanks

What surprises me is that I have thought about moving to Numbers 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10. Just thought, never did anything about it

And numbers 9 and 11 surprise me, don't know why they just do. 

Number 8, not to long ago, never had any problems between Adults and teenagers until they got televisions and at that time it was a big issue that the teenagers wanted to dress differently and were beginning to talk back to adults.


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

Xue Sheng said:


> Number 8, not to long ago, never had any problems between Adults and teenagers until they got televisions and at that time it was a big issue that the teenagers wanted to dress differently and were beginning to talk back to adults.



8 is a rather interesting country.  They are making the move to democracy, be order of the King, but the people want to stay as a monarchy. 

And the TV issue definitely throws a interesting case into the case against TV: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975769,00.html

Anyways, USA isn't too much farther down, there are a lot of ties in there so the 1 through 12 is a little off.

1-2 tied
3-4 tied
5-7 tied
8-12 tied

Where there was a tie they went alphabetical.  USA is two groups down. 15 above it and 9 others tied with it.  Of course staring with a "U" it's near the bottom of those 10


----------



## terryl965 (Jan 15, 2008)

That does it Canada here I come.


----------



## Lisa (Jan 15, 2008)

terryl965 said:


> That does it Canada here I come.



Yay!  We're number 10.

It's only cause we are too frozen to ***** much!


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

Lisa said:


> Yay! We're number 10.
> 
> It's only cause we are too frozen to ***** much!


 

Then explain No. 4: Iceland :uhyeah:


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

Andrew Green said:


> 8 is a rather interesting country. They are making the move to democracy, be order of the King, but the people want to stay as a monarchy.
> 
> And the TV issue definitely throws a interesting case into the case against TV: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975769,00.html
> 
> ...


 
Bhutan is a very interesting place and no matter what they (Bhutanese) say (they are WAY to nice about this) I still blame TV :uhyeah:

After reading you post I thought hey if we go with America instead of USA we might be number 1&#8230; but then I remembered Afghanistan, Africa, Albania and Algeria... but at least now I think we come in 5th


----------



## terryl965 (Jan 15, 2008)

Lisa said:


> Yay! We're number 10.
> 
> It's only cause we are too frozen to ***** much!


 
LOL


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

Xue Sheng said:


> Then explain No. 4: Iceland :uhyeah:



 Winnipeg gets colder then Iceland.  Our record low in Winnipeg is 5 degrees below Icelands (-45 C to -39.7 C)  Although we do get a fair bit warmer in the summer

Head further up into some of the Northern communities, and the lows get even lower. -52 in Whitehorse (pop ~20,000) for example


They also are ranked as the most developed country in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_...ries_.28HDI_range_from_0.968_down_to_0.843.29

Oh, and tall blondes might have something to do with it.

Or it could just be less time spent watching American sitcoms...


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Well everybody knows that Alma, Michigan is the happiest place on earth.  

At least if you love snow and are a positive person! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 (if not then we do not want you 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




)

It is like DisneyWorld here everyday of the year!


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> It is like DisneyWorld here everyday of the year!



Filled with giant talking animals and overly bright and colorful?

War on Drugs must not be going well there


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

Andrew Green said:


> Winnipeg gets colder then Iceland. Our record low in Winnipeg is 5 degrees below Icelands (-45 C to -39.7 C)


 
Actually I did not know that.



Andrew Green said:


> Oh, and tall blondes might have something to do with it.
> 
> Or it could just be less time spent watching American sitcoms...


 
NOW where getting somewhere.


----------



## Steel Tiger (Jan 15, 2008)

Xue Sheng said:


> After reading you post I thought hey if we go with America instead of USA we might be number 1 but then I remembered Afghanistan, Africa, Albania and Algeria... but at least now I think we come in 5th


 
If you look at all the nations with the same score then the US is sixth (along with nine others) and Australia (the one I'm interested in) is seventh (along with six others).  The list is a bit missleading with its alphabetical layout.

Even so, the nations at the top and bottom are pretty much the ones I'd expect.  Even Brunei is not so much of a surprise.  It has very strong Muslim ideals without being a fundamentalist state, and its only little which helps.  Many of the top ten nations are rather small.


----------



## JBrainard (Jan 15, 2008)

Scandinavia here I come...:viking2:


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Andrew Green said:


> Filled with giant talking animals and overly bright and colorful?
> 
> War on Drugs must not be going well there


 
No just cool people!


----------



## Lisa (Jan 15, 2008)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Well everybody knows that Alma, Michigan is the happiest place on earth.
> 
> At least if you love snow and are a positive person!
> 
> ...





Brian R. VanCise said:


> No just cool people!



cool people...hahaha...snow...cool people...hahaha :lfao:

your a sick man brian, snow sucks.


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Lisa said:


> cool people...hahaha...snow...cool people...hahaha :lfao:
> 
> your a sick man brian, snow sucks.


 
You see I see snow as that elixir of life just another variation of the bountiful water that our planet and people need and enjoy. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Nothing quite like a good grappling session in the snow, water, etc.


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

Lisa said:


> cool people...hahaha...snow...cool people...hahaha :lfao:
> 
> your a sick man brian, snow sucks.


 
HEY!!! I rather like snow... lots and lots of snow 



Brian R. VanCise said:


> Nothing quite like a good grappling session in the snow, water, etc.


 
Nothing like putting on the boots and trudging out to beat a tree :EG:


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Xue Sheng said:


> HEY!!! I rather like snow... lots and lots of snow
> 
> 
> 
> Nothing like putting on the boots and trudging out to beat a tree :EG:


 
Absolutely!


----------



## still learning (Jan 15, 2008)

Hello, Just curious? ...does Denmark? ...allow illegal drugs?

My vote is "Fishing"

Aloha


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

still learning said:


> Hello, Just curious? ...does Denmark? ...allow illegal drugs?
> 
> My vote is "Fishing"
> 
> Aloha




Allowing illegal drugs seems like a bit of a trick question.

If they are allowed, then are they not legal?


----------



## exile (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm a little baffled by this list... not because it doesn't make sense, but because statistically, the Scandinavian countries have had notoriously high suicide rates compared with other European nations. The article here sheds some light on this:

*Season*

_Most suicides occur in the spring. The month of May has been noted for its high rate of suicide.

The speculation is that during the winter and early spring when people are depressed, they often are surrounded by others who are feeling downhearted because of the weather. However, with the arrival of the spring season and the month of May, people who are depressed because of the weather are cheered and people who are depressed for other reasons remain depressed. As others cheer up, those who remain miserable must confront their own unhappiness.

Lack of daylight correlates with depression and suicide. *The regions with long, dark winters have high suicide rates, such as Scandinavia and parts of Alaska, such as Nome.* Certainly, persons with seasonal affective disorders (SAD) who live in these regions experience depression in the absence of sunlight and, hence, have a higher susceptibility to depression._​
'Melancholy Dane' and 'brooding Swede' are almost prototypical clichés. So I'm wondering how to reconcile these seemingly incompatible characterizations of the Scandinavians: gloomies with strongly suicidal tendencies and amongst the happiest people on earth...


----------



## Kreth (Jan 15, 2008)

As for Canada being higher than the US, I attribute that to those bastards dumping Alanis Morrissette, Celine Dion, and Bryan Adams on us... :uhyeah:


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Kreth said:


> As for Canada being higher than the US, I attribute that to those bastards dumping Alanis Morrissette, Celine Dion, and Bryan Adams on us... :uhyeah:


 
I agree and do not forget Bryan Adams.

You know Kreth I find it hard to believe that Canada can be rated higher than New York, New Jersey or Michigan.  Truly these are the happiest places on earth! :rofl:


----------



## Andrew Green (Jan 15, 2008)

Yeah, but think of what a sad state your music collections would be in if it weren't for Canadian and British bands


----------



## exile (Jan 15, 2008)

Kreth said:


> As for Canada being higher than the US, I attribute that to those bastards dumping Alanis Morrissette, Celine Dion, and Bryan Adams on us... :uhyeah:



Reminds me of a joke my Polish brother-in-law told me:

Q: What happened when Poland exiled all their former secret police to Russia?
A: The average IQ of _both_ countries increased dramatically...


----------



## TheOriginalName (Jan 15, 2008)

In my travels i've always found that the people who are happiest are those who have the more "simple" life. They take more joy out of the simple things - like being able to have a day of rest.


----------



## Kreth (Jan 15, 2008)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> I agree and do not forget Bryan Adams.


Um, he was the last one on my list...



> You know Kreth I find it hard to believe that Canada can be rated higher than New York, New Jersey or Michigan.  Truly these are the happiest places on earth! :rofl:


How dare you compare those two lesser states with the Center of the Known Universe. But I know NY would be much happier if we were allowed to shoot NJ hunters and drivers at the border.


----------



## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 15, 2008)

Kreth said:


> Um, he was the last one on my list...
> 
> 
> How dare you compare those two lesser states with the Center of the Known Universe. But I know NY would be much happier if we were allowed to shoot NJ hunters and drivers at the border.


 
Hey Kreth I know that Alma, Michigan is the center of the known universe and also the happiest place on earth but New York City is a close second.


----------



## Xue Sheng (Jan 15, 2008)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Hey Kreth I know that Alma, Michigan is the center of the known universe and also the happiest place on earth but New York City is a close second.


 
No actually Kreth is right


----------

