Norway Best Place to Live; United States 13th
Tuesday, October 06, 2009

There’s more to good living than just money, according to the United Nations Development Programme. The authors of Human Development Reports seek each year to show which countries are better, or worse, at providing a state of well-being for their citizens. The international body does this by weighing a mix of indicators, from life expectancy to literacy levels to standards of living. (It does not, however, take into account other factors that might be deemed important, such as gender or income inequality or human rights records.)
The 2009 Human Development Index has Norway at the top of the list, followed by Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland, and Japan. The United States placed 13th out of a total of 182 countries.
Afghanistan, into which the U.S. is investing billions of dollars to create a modern, democratic society, is ranked second to last (181st). In last place is Niger. Iraq isn’t even on the list, although most of the Iraqi data is available.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Human Development Report 2009 - HDI rankings (United Nations)
Human Development Report 2009: United States (United Nations)
- Top Stories
- Unusual News
- Where is the Money Going?
- Controversies
- U.S. and the World
- Appointments and Resignations
- Latest News
- Musk and Trump Fire Members of Congress
- Trump Calls for Violent Street Demonstrations Against Himself
- Trump Changes Name of Republican Party
- The 2024 Election By the Numbers
- Bashar al-Assad—The Fall of a Rabid AntiSemite
Comments