On International Day of Happiness, which nations are happiest?
Courtesy VisitNorway.com
The United Nations created the International Day of Happiness, which is celebrated Wednesday (today), to recognize "the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world..."
It's a different way of evaluating nations apart from their economic wealth. With that in mind, I thought about a report last year from the London-based think tank Legatum Group that ranked 142 countries and came up with a Prosperity Index. It weighed factors like health, education, governance, personal freedom, etc.
The overall happiness rankings came out like this:
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Sweden
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Canada
7. Finland
8. The Netherlands
9. Switzerland
10. Ireland
For more on International Day of Happiness, go here.