Happiest Place in the World
 

Newspaper report dated Jan 13/06:

"Malta is the happiest place on earth, while Zimbabwe and Ukraine seem to be the most unhappy, according to an annual World Database of Happiness compiled by Rotterdam Erasmus University’s Professor Ruut Veenhoven.

Seventy-four per cent of Maltese people said they are happy, with the rate in Denmark, Switzerland and Colombia being 73 per cent.

Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands are quite happy places, as well, and Canada, Finland and Ghana end the world’s top ten, with 63 per cent of their people happy.

Money is not the main reason for happiness, the professor said. For instance, the United States ranks 16th on the world happiness list, after Guatemala and Uruguay. The leading European nations, the United Kingdom and Germany, rank 21st and 22nd.

Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Moldova and Ukraine are at the bottom of the list, with no more than 20 per cent of their citizens happy."

Anyone care to comment? Should I be planning a trip there?

Gee, and all this time I thought the "happiest place" was Disneyland.

ha ha

Did the report state what happiness was based on? I found it interesting that so many of the top ten are cold weather places.

I think most people are happy, but want to feel happier. Sort of a reverse to the old saying "things could alwaysb be worse." Besides, the USA is a pretty good place to be unhappy in, but Paris might be better, or maybe Rome, but then ...... .

We do fun things to keep ourselves warm in Ireland :))

>Seventy-four per cent of Maltese people said they are happy, with the rate in Denmark, Switzerland and Colombia being 73 per cent. <

Maybe they don't understand the situation.

((I))

The newspaper article is as sent to me (by a friend with Maltese family). Maybe a google of the Professor's name or that university might show what the questions to participants were?

http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/ - this leads to the World Database of Happiness

You can be very happy with a limited imagination and experience. But once you've learnt to be discontented, what does it take to become happy ?