Vanuatu is world‘s happiest country

英语自学网

　　LONDON - The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago（群岛）of Vanuatu（瓦努阿图）is the happiest country on Earth, according to a study published measuring people's wellbeing（幸福感）and their impact on the environment.
       
        　　Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica and Panama complete the top five in the Happy Planet Index, compiled by the British think-tank（智囊团）New Economics Foundation .
       
        　　The index combines life satisfaction, life expectancy and environmental footprint -- the amount of land required to sustain（支持）the population and absorb（吸收）its energy consumption（消耗）.
       
        　　Zimbabwe came bottom of the 178 countries ranked, below second-worst performer Swaziland, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine.
       
        　　The Group of Eight industrial powers meet in Saint Petersburg this weekend but have not much to smile about, according to the index.
       
        　　Italy came out best in 66th place, ahead of Germany , Japan , Britain , Canada , France , the United States and Russia, in lowly 172nd place.
       
        　　Andrew Simms, NEF's policy director, said the index "addresses the relative success or failure of countries in giving their citizens a good life while respecting the environmental resource limits on which all our lives depend."
       
        　　Selected others: 17. Philippines; 23. Indonesia; 31. China; 32. Thailand; 44. Malaysia; 62. India; 64. Iceland; 70. Netherlands; 87. Spain; 88. Hong Kong; 89. Saudi Arabia; 99. Denmark; 112. Pakistan; 115. Norway; 119. Sweden; 123. Finland; 139. Australia; 154. UAE; 156. South Africa; 159. Kuwait; 166. Qatar.
       
        　　Note:
       
        　　最近一项调查表明，太平洋岛国瓦努阿图是全世界最幸福的国家。前5名还包括哥伦比亚、哥斯达黎加、多米尼加和巴拿马。而八大工业国家的成绩显然不妙，德国位居81位，日本95，而美国仅在第150位。中国位居第32位。此项调查主要包括人们对生活的满意度、平均寿命和环境质量。