Colombia, the second happiest country in the world

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 00:00

According to the latest research carried out by Happy Planet Index (HPI) and supported by the BBC and The Guardian, Colombia is the second happiest country in the world.

In the ranking of the happiest nations in the world, Colombia occupies 2nd place; Cuba, 6th; Venezuela, 26th; Mexico, 38th; Argentina, 47th; and Brazil, 63rd.

In contrast to conventional indicators, which normally take into account the material wealth of countries, the Happy Planet Index, developed by the New Economics Foundation (nef), an independent think tank based in London, uses a new approach to study the planet’s welfare. It combines environmental impact and ecology on the human activity and life expectancy that result in happiness. According to this analysis, the happiest countries are not necessarily the wealthiest.

Only the citizens of one country are happier than the Colombians.

In the ranking, the first place goes to the Vanuatu Islands (in the Pacific Ocean) and is followed by Colombia and Costa Rica. The most striking feature of this indicator is the good ranking of Latin American countries.

List of the 10 happiest countries in the world:

1. Vanuatu
   
2. Colombia
   
3. Costa Rica
   
4. Dominica
   
5. Panama
   
6. Cuba
   
7. Honduras
   
8. Guatemala
   
9. El Salvador
   
10. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

More information on the happiness index at BBC News.