Heaven and Hell on Earth.

Well, I had been meaning to do this post for a week but, as may be obvious by now, had failed to do so. Regardless, I am here doing it now. Let us forget the past. It seems we may not have to wait for the afterlife to reach our destinations. A study seems to have found a piece of both heaven and hell right here on earth. Researchers at the University of Leicester (based in the U.K.) have developed The World Map of Happiness.

Source: The World Map of Happiness

"Further analysis showed that a nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels (correlation of .62), followed by wealth (.52), and then provision of education (.51)."

This map provides a comparison of countries based on a "scale of happiness," which factors in data from various sources such as from the UNESCO on access to schooling, from the WHO on life expectancy, from the CIA on GDP per capita, and from the data on happiness published by the New Economics Foundation with the analysis of Adrian White, an Analytic Social Psychologist at Leicester. The "scale of happiness" in the map above is reflected by the shades of color ranging from the lightest (yellow) to the darkest (dark red). Darker colors on the map reveal more happiness while lighter shades reveal least happiness.

Hence follow the questions. Which is the happiest country? Which is the saddest country? Where is my country? Well, ladies and gentlemen, the honor of the "happiest" country in the world goes to Denmark (Europe) while the unfortunate title of the "saddest" country in the world belongs to Burundi (Africa). The ranking includes 178 countries.

Here are some other countries: The U.S. is ranked 23 while the Canadians impressed by securing the 10th spot. India is ranked 125 but if they win the next 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, that ranking could change dramatically. U.K. is ranked 41 so that shows no bias was involved. Germany is ranked 35. In South America, Brazil is ranked 81 but they might rank better if they had won the FIFA World Cup. Russia is surprisingly ranked 167 while its neighbor China fares much better at 82. As for the outsiders, the Aussies are just behind the U.S. at 26 and Japan comes in at a lower than expected 90.

Of course, no academic study could ever define or compare happiness. This index is, however, a good tool to measure the effectiveness of various governments and areas of improvements. The scale also reveals some glaring discrepancies in current world politics. For example, some members of the G8 (Great Eight) nations which are suppose to be models and leaders for other nations are ranked rather poorly. Russia is ranked outside the 150th mark while Japan only manages to make it into the top 100. Of course, this scale is no where near perfect but as always, one can attempt to learn from it. A more detailed map and a complete list can be found here.