Society

Vietnam ranks as world's second happiest nation

Despite residents' constant groaning over traffic jams and overcrowded hospitals and schools, Vietnam is considered the second happiest country in the world, behind Costa Rica, with Colombia third.
Despite residents' constant groaning over traffic jams and overcrowdedhospitals and schools, Vietnam is considered the second happiest countryin the world, behind Costa Rica, with Colombia third.

Theranking, the Happy Planet Index, was compiled and released by the NewEconomics Foundation, a UK independent think tank.

The Happy Planet Index ranks countries based on the health and happinessthey produce per unit of environmental input, using global data on lifeexpectancy, happiness and environmental sustainability.

Accordingly, Costa Rica , Vietnam and Colombia live the longest, happiest, most sustainable lives.

The ranking this year marks a rise for Vietnam compared to previousyears. It ranked 12th and 5th in 2006 and in 2009, respectively.

Besides Vietnam , the rest of the countries in the top 10 are fromSouth America, including Belize , El Salvador , Jamaica , Panama ,Nicaragua , Venezuela , and Guatemala .

The US ranks 105th and the UK ranks 41 on the index.

The lowest-ranked countries are Qatar , Chad and Botswana .

The independent think tank aims to improve quality of life by promotinginnovative solutions to economic, environmental and social issues.-VNA
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