Oh Happy Day

New Zealand is the 18th happiest nation in the world, according to the first ever “world map of happiness.” Produced by Adrian White of Leicester University’s School of Psychology, the map uses data from the CIA, New Economics Foundation, WHO, Veenhoven Database, Latinbarometer, Afrobarometer, UNHDR and UNESCO. “The concept of happiness, or satisfaction with life, is currently a major area of research in Economics and Psychology, most closely associated with new developments in positive psychology,” says White. The map names Denmark, Switzerland and Austria as the world’s happiest nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Burundi as the least happy.