Here are the 10 happiest countries, according to the study, with an uplifting fact about each.
The world's happiest country has more forest per square mile than any nation in Europe, and the 11th most in the world. An estimated 73 per cent of it is covered in oak, fir and birch (though that's nothing compared to Suriname, top of the list, which is 95 per cent forest).
In 2017, on the centenary of its independence, Finland was ranked, by assorted international indices, the most stable, the safest and the best-governed country in the world.
It was also the third wealthiest, the third least corrupt, the second most socially progressive and the third most socially just.
Faroe Islands, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark. "The Faroese have 37 words for fog, from mjorkabelti (long, thin bank of it) and toppamjorki (mist on mountain tops) to kavamjorki (snow fog)." explains Gavin Bell, writing for Telegraph Travel. The self-governing Faroe Islands may be little-known to many, but this breathtakingly beautiful territory in the North Atlantic Ocean may soon be on your bucket list.
The 18 volcanic Faroes, politically part of Denmark, are tucked between Iceland and Norway, separated by sounds and fjords. All of the islands are inhabited except one, Lítla Dímun. While the population of the 18-island archipelago is just 50,000, these people represent an incredible 80 different nationalities.
The Faroe Islands receive about 300 days of rain annually.
Turf roofs protect homes from this onslaught, and provide good insulation. While sod was the roofing material of choice for centuries, today's new buildings are typically constructed with modern building materials. But turf is having a revival among romantics and those who favor green building.
In 2019, there were 19,988 men over 18 living in the Faroe Islands, but just 18,502 women. The gap is due to many women going abroad for education and not returning home afterward.
To compensate, Faroese men began seeking love elsewhere, namely by going online. Many women from Thailand and the Philippines were receptive to a long-distance romance and a possible new life in the Faroes, despite the drastically different climate and culture. Today, more than 300 females from Thailand and the Philippines now live in the Faroes, comprising the islands' largest ethnic minority.
Switzerland is a mountainous Central European country, home to numerous lakes, villages and the high peaks of the Alps. Its cities contain medieval quarters, with landmarks like capital Bern’s Zytglogge clock tower and Lucerne’s wooden chapel bridge.
Switzerland has produced 28 Nobel laureates out of a population of around eight million. That's more per capita than any country except Saint Lucia. Albert Einstein, though born in Germany, studied in Zurich and also developed the theory of relativity while living in Bern. And they also seem to understand what's going on inside the Large Hadron Collider.
4. Iceland: There is not a single mosquito
No one likes mosquitos, and Iceland is one of only two places on the planet where the pesky blighters have never set up shop, the other being Antarctica. FYI, if you're pro-mosquito but anti-malaria then New Caledonia, the Seychelles and French Polynesia are for you. There, the insects exist but cannot carry the virus as it requires the blood of land-based mammals, which are absent.
Norway is a Scandinavian country encompassing mountains, glaciers and deep coastal fjords. Oslo, the capital, is a city of green spaces and museums. Preserved 9th-century Viking ships are displayed at Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum. Bergen, with colorful wooden houses, is the starting point for cruises to the dramatic Sognefjord. Norway is also known for fishing, hiking and skiing, notably at Lillehammer’s Olympic resort.
Indeed. A king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo (named Nils Olav) was adopted by the regiment in 1972 and assigned the rank of lance-corporal. He was promoted to corporal in 1982, and then sergeant in 1987. Sadly he died soon after, but was replaced by another king penguin (Nils Olav II, naturally). Today, after many more promotions, it's Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III who holds the reins of power. Which means extra mackerel come feeding time.
The Netherlands, a country in northwestern Europe, is known for a flat landscape of canals, tulip fields, windmills and cycling routes. Amsterdam, the capital, is home to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the house where Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid during WWII. Canalside mansions and a trove of works from artists including Rembrandt and Vermeer remain from the city's 17th-century "Golden Age."
The grass which carpeted the polders turned out to make perfect food for cattle. The Friesian breed, in particular, became a Dutch icon. Much milk was drunk, and some was turned into cheeses, which were often named after the towns where they were traded, such as Gouda and Edam.
As dairy output grew, its consumption also had a curious side effect: it made the Netherlands a nation of giants. Studies show that in the mid-1800s, the average Dutchman was about 5ft 4in tall; shorter than most Europeans and Americans. Over the next 150 years, however, as dairy consumption rose, the Dutch soared past everyone else. Today, the average Dutchman is over 6ft tall and the average Dutch woman only 5in shorter, making them the tallest people in the world."
Sweden is a Scandinavian nation with thousands of coastal islands and inland lakes, along with vast boreal forests and glaciated mountains. Its principal cities, eastern capital Stockholm and southwestern Gothenburg and Malmö, are all coastal. Stockholm is built on 14 islands. It has more than 50 bridges, as well as the medieval old town, Gamla Stan, royal palaces and museums such as open-air Skansen.
The border between Finland and Sweden is also a time-zone marker. Finland is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, Sweden just one hour. This means that if you hop the frontier from east to west, you "regain" a full 60 minutes of your life – good fun on December 31, when you can ring in the new year twice. One possible location for such back-to-the-future machinations is Karesuvanto, a village in Finnish Lapland which perches on the bank of the River Munio, directly across from its Swedish counterpart Karesuando. Walk over the bridge between the two and, hey presto, you're Marty McFly.
New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country has two main landmasses—the North Island, and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres.
New Zealand can lay claim to being the last major landmass settled by humans. It wasn't until around 1300 that the first Polynesians set foot on the islands and developed the unique Māori culture. By comparison, the earliest evidence of humans in Australia is at least 65,000 years old.
How did it go unnoticed for so long? The exact route of the first migration to Australia is widely debated, but it seems likely that the continent was reached by island-hopping on rafts across a strait that was far shallower than the Timor Sea, for example, is today. The 1,000-mile stretch across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand was another matter. That the seafaring Polynesians discovered Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Easter Island and the Cook Islands, among others, before finding vast New Zealand, may well be down to unfavourable prevailing winds and ocean currents.
In a twist of irony, the first European to see New Zealand, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, was unable to locate Australia on his 1642 voyage.
Officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine federated states, one of which is Vienna, Austria's capital and its largest city.
Vienna is the greatest city on Earth to call home, according to consultants Mercer (for the record, the Economist reckons it's Melbourne and PwC says London). Why? It scored highly for "political, social and economic climate, medical care, education, and infrastructural conditions such as public transportation, power and water supply."
Are you still awake? Of greater interest to travellers is "recreational offers", which also got top marks. There are grand palaces and galleries (the Kunsthistorisches Museum, with seminal work by Rubens, Titian, Velasquez and Vermeer, is a must), it is the birthplace of cafe society (nowhere has the art of relaxing over coffee and cake been elevated to such height), and is an unrivalled classical music capital (what else would you expect of the city that gave the world Mozart and Beethoven?).
Luxembourg is a small European country, surrounded by Belgium, France and Germany. It’s mostly rural, with dense Ardennes forest and nature parks in the north, rocky gorges of the Mullerthal region in the east and the Moselle river valley in the southeast. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is famed for its fortified medieval old town perched on sheer cliffs.
It might be on lockdown right now, but once things are up and running again residents and tourists alike will be able to enjoy the world's only free nationwide public transport system. Fares for trams, trains and buses were abolished on February 29. The one exception is first-class train travel.
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