Happiness is not in money

Money is not the main thing: The 10 happiest nations live in poverty

Bigmir OnlineThe happiest people do not live in Qatar, the richest country in the world, and not in Japan, where life expectancy is considered the highest, and not even in Canada, which tops the ranking of countries with the highest percentage of people with higher education.

According to a survey of more than 150 thousand people around the world, the most optimistic are residents of seven Latin American countries, in which the poverty level is simply off the scale, writes The Daily Mail (Latin America is the world's happiest region ... with Panama and Paraguay boasting the planet's most cheerful people – VM).

Thus, Guatemala, ranked 7th in the ranking, stands next to Iraq in terms of life expectancy, education level and per capita income, according to a recent UN report. However, the number of optimists in this country, which has survived decades of civil war and suffers from a high crime rate, is almost twice as high as in the same Iraq.

"In Guatemala, all people are very friendly and smiling. Despite all the difficulties, we are happy because we are surrounded by beautiful nature," says Luz Castillo, 30, a surfing instructor.

In general, Gallup Inc. interviewed about 1,000 people in each of the 148 countries studied. All respondents were interviewed on five points: whether they rest enough, whether they are treated with respect, how often they smile and laugh, whether they do something interesting in life and whether they enjoy it.

In Panama and Paraguay, 85% of respondents answered yes to all five questions, which put these countries at the top of the rating.

Surprisingly, in such a rich and developed country as Singapore, "yes" sounded much less often. And Germany and France were in 47th place in terms of optimism – next to African countries.

TOP 10 countries with the most optimistic population:

1. Panama, 85%
2. Paraguay, 85%
3. El Salvador, 84%
4. Venezuela, 84%
5. Trinidad and Tobago, 83%
6. Thailand, 83%
7. Guatemala, 82%
8. Philippines, 82%
9. Ecuador, 81%
10. Costa Rica, 81%

The main pessimists live in such countries:

1. Madagascar, 54%
2. Lithuania, 54%
3. Belarus, 53%
4. Serbia, 52%
5. Yemen, 52%
6. Georgia, 52%
7. Iraq, 50%
8. Armenia, 49%
9. Singapore, 46%

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.12.2012