Kyiv, October 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Finland has been declared the world’s most prospering nation according to the 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index produced by experts from Britain’s Legatum Center and published on October 27.
A total of 104 countries were ranked by 79 factors, particularly material wealth, quality of life, personal freedom, safety and security, etc.
The top ten countries also include Switzerland (2nd), Sweden (3rd), Denmark (4th), Norway (5th), Australia (6th), Canada (7th), the Netherlands (8th), the United States (9th), and New Zealand (10th). Britain is 12th, Germany 14th, and Japan 16th. Ukraine shares 61st and 62nd places with Indonesia. Russia and Turkey share 69th and 70th places, while Belarus is 85th.
The world’s unhappiest countries are Central African Republic, Yemen, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.
“The Index finds that the most prosperous nations in the world are not necessarily those that have only a high GDP, but are those that also have happy, healthy, and free citizens,” reads the survey.
