Norway has received the status of the World's Happiest country on 20
th March 2017.
It moved from 4
th place in the previous UN assessment all the way to the top spot, as per the World Happiness Report 2017.
Top countries besides Norway included Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.
All 4 countries ranked high on happiness in terms of caring, freedom, honesty, generosity, health, income and good governance.
Also in the top 10 were Finland (5), the Netherlands (6), Canada (7), New Zealand (8) and Australia plus Sweden tied for 9th place.
The entire top 10 were affluent, developed nations. Money was not the only ingredient for happiness though.
The wealthier countries also had differences in meta health, physical health and personal relationships.
The largest source of misery is mental illness, as per the report.
While China has made rapid economic strides in recent times, it ranked 79
th in a study of 155 countries.
The World Happiness Report 2017 was released by UN on the International Day of Happiness.
The first report was published in 2012.
Norway: Know More- Capital: Oslo
- Code: +47
- Currency: Norwegian krone
- Official languages: Norwegian, Bokmål, Nynorsk
