Once More Voted The Happiest Country

Aug. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Lonely Planet recently released its travel guide list of the world’s happiest places. Topping the list is the 80 tropical island archipelago of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, while Montreal in Quebec took second place.

Lonely Planet said it was not surprising that Vanuatu appeared as the happiest nation, because the general idea of a happy life projects images of a hammock on a white-sandy beach. Vanuatu is well -known for its blue waters teeming with life, scenic environment and lush vegetation. This and more is revealed in the happy welcoming smiles of the local Ni-Vanuatu people.

Montreal is clean, welcoming and multicultural, said Lonely Planet. It also said the Quebec city is believed to be a happy place because it hosts Just for Laughs during summer, which is one of the world’s largest comedy festivals.

The travel guide said other happy cities were Wuyi Shan in China and Malawi in Africa. Wuyi Shan is described as a place of secret valleys with majestic waterfalls and mysterious caves. Malawi is known for greeting visitors with huge welcoming smiles.

Forbes.com appointed Rio de Janeiro in Brazil as the world’s happiest city in 2009, followed by Sydney, Australia.

The Happy Planet Index named Vanuatu the happiest place on earth, in 2006. The survey done by the Friends of the Earth and the New Economics Foundation, said Vanuatu, with a population of nearly 209,000, emerged on top because its people are happy, live to nearly 70 years of age and have a very light ecological footprint.

Vanuatu was followed by ten Latin American and Caribbean countries, all ranked according to their life-satisfaction, ecological footprint and life expectancy.

The Happy Planet Index was begun in order to prove that people can live happy, long lives without consuming enormous quantities of the planet’s resources. Though living standards in the West may have advanced dramatically over the last 50 years, it does not mean that people are any happier.

When measured against Gross Domestic Product, Vanuatu, classed as a Developing Nation, ranked 207th out of 233 economies.

Many now consider Vanuatu as the best kept secret and ‘must see destination’ of the South Pacific.

For more information about "Once More Voted The Happiest Country', visit website http://www.tropicpost.com/vanuatu-happiest-country-on-ear...

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