Here is a list of TOP 10 happiest countries in the world. The basis of this list is research done by professor Ruut Veenhoven who runs the World Database of Happiness at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

How is happiness measured?

Happiness can be very subjective. Some people are happy when it rains, others are happy when the sun is shining. So how is it measured? Apparently the people at World Database of Happiness take into account a number of different things such as average life expectancy and most importantly the answer to the following multiple choice question “How happy are you?” (Although the actual question has varied a bit throughout the years). Having all the variables they run it through a computer and get a number from 1 to 10. The bigger the number, the happier the country

Happiest countries in the world

10. Luxembourg – 7.6 points

Living in the worlds richest country inevitably puts a smile on your face! This small landlocked European country has an army of 800 people (yes, 800). They don’t have a navy nor an air force but together with Belgium they can afford to own 1 military cargo plane. Beat that US!

According to the Guinness Book of World Records Luxembourg holds the world record as the country that consumes most alcohol in the world per citizen.

9. Guatemala – 7,6 points

This Central American country borders with Mexico in the north and is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This location makes it a very difficult country to stay happy in – Guatemala is frequently ravished by hurricanes and earthquakes that often kill thousands of people. Main exports of Guatemala include coffee, sugar and bananas. The latter is probably why they are so happy – have you ever seen someone that can stay sad while eating a banana? 56% of all Guatemalans live in poverty. If you ask me, they can use the cheap bananas!

8. Canada – 7,6 points

Many people have no idea that Canada’s head of state is actually Queen Elizabeth II – the head of the British Monarchy. This meant that when Britain declared war on Germany in World War I, Canada was automatically at war with the soon to be Nazi country. Unlike the neighboring US, Canada has never cancelled its relations with Cuba and has declined to take part from the Iraq War – instead, it has played a leading role in the United Nations peacekeeping missions and helped to launch a $1.5 billion initiative to help develop vaccines that could save millions of people in poor countries. It seems that happy people make a happy country!

7. Sweden – 7,7 points

This “welfare state” model is an excellent example of effective national taxes.  Among other things the state provides universal tax-funded childcare, parental leave, health care, education (including university), retirement pensions and sick leave. Including value added tax (VAT – kind of like sales tax), it is possible to pay up to 80% of your income as taxes. Contrary to popular belief, Swedes are quite OK with their high taxes – after all it gives them tons of high quality services and they almost never need to take drastic action like taking quick payday
loans just to make ends meet. In fact, most of the services for the public are free, so what’s not to be happy about?

Sweden is also the home of IKEA – the worlds largest furniture store. IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kampard is famous for being the 7th richest person in the world (Net worth $31 billion) and driving a 15 year old Volvo station wagon. It has been claimed that more people read the Ikea catalogue than the Bible – and that one in ten Europeans have been conceived on an Ikea bed.

6. Australia – 7,7 points

The name “Australia” comes from the Latin word “Australis”, meaning “Southern”. Australia is the only country in the world, that consists of an entire continent. Between 1788 and 1868 the British used Australia as a colony to deport their convicted criminals – these people are the predecessors to many of today’s citizens. Australians are famous for playing rugby and calling each-other “mates”.

5. Finland – 7,7 points

This is the country that brought us Nokia – the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile phones. In 2003 Nokia accounted for about a quarter of Finland’s exports and in 2006 it generated more revenue than the entire budget of Finland.  Before starting to make mobile phones Nokia made (yes, it’s true) rubber boots!  Finland was also home to Simo Häyhä – considered to be the most deadly sniper through history with 542 kills. According to World Economic Forum Finland has the most competitive economy in the world. Plenty to be happy about!

4. Iceland – 7,8 points

This geologically active country is rich in volcanoes and geysers (A geyser is a hot spring that erupts water in certain intervals). Thanks to geothermal power Iceland gets its electricity and hot water dirt cheap. There have been occasions where steel has been shipped for processing from Australia or Africa and when finished shipped back to the originating country. Cheap local energy actually makes this cost effective. According to the Human Development Index, Iceland (together with Norway) is the world’s most developed country.

3. Austria – 8,0 points

Austria is the home to the popular energy drink Red Bull. This country is also one of the few in the world, that allows legal voting beginning from age 16. Upon turning 18, all Austrian males have to take part of a 6 month military service. The country has declared itself formally a neutral country or a  “perpetual neutrality” as they say it, but in reality it has taken part of various peacekeeping missions and also took part of the UN sanctions against Iraq. Thanks to the wide use of wind-, solar- and hydropower Austria produces around 80% of its energy from renewable resources. Education is mostly free, with the exception of an average semester fee of 583 dollars (370 eur) in universities. As you probably guessed – student loan debts are not an issue in Austria.

2. Switzerland – 8,1 points

This cheese and chocolate producing land is the world’s 10th richest country. Switzerland’s neutrality helped their banks to raise some serious cash – for decades it was possible to open a bank account without having to identify yourself. Upon opening an account, you were given a special number that anyone could use to deposit or withdraw money. This law was later changed since it attracted illegal money. Switzerland is also one of the top garbage recyclers in the world (66% to 96% recyclable materials recycled). They achieve this by keeping recycling free, but asking money for regular garbage – thus giving people a financial incentive to recycle.

1. Denmark – 8,2 points

Just like Sweden, Denmark is a Nordic welfare state with most of its services free to the citizens. Expect to pay 72% of your money to the government on the highest income tax bracket. According to Wikipedia Denmark has the worlds highest taxes! When buying a car in Denmark one has to pay 25% VAT to the import price of the vehicle and then a 180% registration tax on top. That means when a car sells for $20 000, you have to pay an additional $45 000 as taxes for the government (total of $65 000). That’s why people in Denmark ride bikes or use one of the best public transport systems in the world. Denmark also has 2 autonomous provinces – the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The latter is over 50 times larger than Denmark but has about 100 times less people.

Other notable countries

• USA – 7.4 points – 17th place
• Great Britain – 7.1 points – 22nd place
• France – 6.5 points – 39th place
• China – 6.3 points – 44th place
• India – 6.3 points – 45th place
• Japan – 6.3 points – 46th place

I’ve been to 4 out of 10 happiest countries in the world – Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland and Denmark! What’s your score?

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On April 14th 2010 a small volcano erupted in Iceland. The volcanic ashes that burst out from the volcano called Eyjafjallajökull (yeah, we can’t pronounce it either) rose to about 10 km high. That is also the cruising height of most modern aircraft.

What happened next is probably known to everyone living in Europe. Heavy winds blowing from Iceland carried the volcanic ash to Europe. Great Britain and Northern European countries were the first to shut down their airspace. Suddenly without a warning all in-country and international flights were canceled. At first it was only thought to last for a few hours but as time went on, it was clear that the problem was only getting worse.

The volcano responsible for Europe's trouble

During the next day the giant cloud of volcanic ashes spread throughout Europe. All flights in Europe were canceled.

What happens when a plane flies into a cloud of volcanic ash?

The reason all flying was forbidden is that volcanic ash can be extremely dangerous for airplanes. History has experienced about 100 times when a plane has faced volcanic ashes. Luckily none have ended in catastrophe but some have been very close.

A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747 flew into a cloud of volcanic ash in 1989. The plane lost all power and dropped from 25 000 feet to 12 000 (from 7.5 km to 3.6 km) before power to the plane’s engines returned.

In the beginning of 1980s a British Airways Boeing 747 also came into contact with a volcanic cloud. The small but razor sharp particles sandblasted the plane’s windscreen and made it impossible for the pilots to see outside. Luckily the pilot was able to land the plane looking out of a side window.

In another incident in 1982 another British Airways Boeing 747 was on its way from London to New Zealand. After flying through a volcanic ash cloud over Indonesia all 4 of the planes engines stopped working. After cruising the plane as far away from the ash cloud as possible the pilot Eric Moody managed to restart 3 out of 4 plane engines and was able to land safely.

The pilot Eric Moody also went down in history saying these calming words to the passengers during the incident:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

Of course no one freaked out. After all – the plane was gliding without engines for only 14 minutes.

Why Is Volcanic Ash Dangerous to Airplanes?

Before 1982 and the accident mentioned above with Eric Moody’s Boeing 747 no one knew that volcanic ash can be dangerous to a plane.

The volcanic ash is mainly made up of tiny glassy and sandy particles that are as hard as knife blades and as sharp as razors. Each ash particle can be anywhere from as small as 0.001 millimeters (1/25,000 inch) to 2 millimeters (1/12 inch) in size.
Ash can melt in the heat of an aircraft engine and then solidify again, disrupting the mechanics. Check out this illustration for an explanation:

It is also impossible to fly around ash clouds since they won’t show up on weather radars. By the time you see it with your eyes it is already too late to turn around.

Airlines lose billions of Euros daily

All airports in main European countries are closed for air travel.

According to the International Air Transport Association the European airliners are losing more than 200 million euros of profit per day. In addition to that they will need to take care of stranded passengers and still pay back the loans which are used to lease the aircraft.

Auditing company KPMG has calculated that only in Great Britain the airlines lose 300 million dollars daily.

According to airline companies the current volcano crisis has a larger impact on their business than 9/11 had. Some airlines have notified the European Commission that if the situation continues they are facing bankruptcy. Many airliners believe that the ban on air travel is too harsh and are urging authorities to lift it.

Charged particles produce lightning strikes inside ashes erupting from volcano Eyjafjallajökull

As hundreds of thousands of people are stranded and wait for their opportunity to get home the British and French governments are considering using navy ships to get their people back home.

The Joke

Meanwhile there is a new joke about Iceland circling around social media:

“It was the last wish of the dying Icelandic economy that its ashes be scattered across Europe”