Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands world's happiest countries

Well I just came back home from Denmark yesterday and it's a wonderful country, and everyone seemed extremely happy (particularly the kids, although that may have had something to do with the fact that it was school holidays - that's what I assume, as there were about 1,000 kids playing and partying in a park). Although if I had to pay the equivalent of £10 for pint for the rest of my life, the smile might wane a little. ;)
 
How good for them... meanwhile, I feel guilty for ignoring the homeless trying to sell their street papers after the third time on one tube ride.
 
All but New Zealand 'cold' countries though
So the relation between happiness and the low temperatures is a subject to discover  :P
 
The Netherlands cold? :huh:  You live right next to them.

Hmh, this is rather surprising because I've found Finns in general to be rather negative people who rather look at the bad sides than the good.  But like it said in the article, I guess economic conditions tie well into happiness.
 
I guess you mean Paris...  :)

Below Holland is Belgium, and fairly below is Paris..... To me Paris is not a cold city, in fact I like the climate of Paris a lot.

In 2006 I went last time in Amsterdam,and it was about that period; while in Paris I was in t-shirt
in Amsterdam -despite the sun-  I had to buy some extra clothes to get along
 
I guess it's relative; what I meant that it's a smaller distance from you to the Netherlands than from me, but then again I don't know where in France you live. I don't see anything south of Scandinavia in Europe as a "cold" country though. :)
 
It's not that bad here. I actually miss the rain sometimes.

Last month, the Netherlands had the one but warmest April month (average of 12,2 degrees) since 1706, when we started measuring the temperature. The warmest April was in 2007 (average of 13,1 degrees), but that was an extreme month with even (at least) one day over 30 degrees, 7 days above 25 degrees and 14 days above 20 degrees.

So it's getting gradually warmer here!  :)

April 2009 was dry and very sunny. Many places with less than 15 mm rain, normally more than 44 mm.
225 hours of sun, normally 162 hours.

I am guessing this is better than France.  :D

A lot of unhappy people in France -->
BORDEAUX, France, May 13 (Reuters) - Hail storms earlier this week destroyed vines in the Bordeaux area and put the commercial survival of some wine growers at risk, officials said on Wednesday.

The damage, affecting thousands of hectares, will hurt the harvests of 2009 and 2010 and could also lead to insurance claims. There will almost certainly be fewer bottles, which might help lift recently depressed prices. ...continued
 
Invader said:
I don't see anything south of Scandinavia in Europe as a "cold" country though. :)
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I know what you mean. Here in Tucson the summer highs are between 40 and 50 degrees and when I go down to Mexico City their summer highs are between 22-25 degrees. I'm walking around in a sweater while my dad is in a t-shirt and shorts haha
 
I dunno about this thing, I mean, I was under the impression that Finland had some of the highest suicide rates and greatest instances of alcoholism (although that might tie into being happy).
 
Same here. I guess all other conditions are very good. Which still makes me wonder why there have been so many suicides.
 
Forostar said:
Same here. I guess all other conditions are very good. Which still makes me wonder why there have been so many suicides.
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The isolation? From what little I know about finland is that it has few cities, not of great size and like most of the land that high up on the globe it is a frigid, harsh land. Studies show that suicide rates are highest in vast, sparsely populated, isolated, rural areas rather than crowded urban centers. Apparently nothingness and boredom drive people insane.
 
Onhell said:
The isolation? From what little I know about finland is that it has few cities, not of great size and like most of the land that high up on the globe it is a frigid, harsh land. Studies show that suicide rates are highest in vast, sparsely populated, isolated, rural areas rather than crowded urban centers. Apparently nothingness and boredom drive people insane.
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Just to make it clear: The majority of Finns don't live in vast, sparsely populated rural areas.  I know of no great difference in suicide rates between urban and rural areas.  I'd say it's a number of other factors, including alcoholism, darkness (winters are very dark especially in the northern parts), and a general Finnish mentality to cope with your problems yourself instead of rely on others. 

I'm normally a bit disinclined to accept statistics at face valiue.  By statistics, Finland has about as high percentage of gun ownerships as the US, but in reality, those guns are spread out to far fewer people (mostly hunters, eg. my grandfather has at least seven guns).  It makes me wonder the premises behind those statistics.
 
The majority of Finns don't live in vast, sparsely populated rural areas.
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*sigh* they can be URBAN too... as long as it is sparsely populated. Look. There are 5 million people in all of finland. There are that many people in Phoenix Arizona. Helsinki, the most populated city has half a million folks, a lot no doubt, but Tucson... dinky, little hell-hole, Tucson, where bars close at fucking 2 in the morning and everything else dies after 6pm, Tucson, has a million people.

So quite honestly, they are rather small cities, however much urbanization has occurred. Many more factors go into it of course, but that is one of the main ones.

Essentially, according to Durkheim, people in cities kill themselves if there is too much social integration (overwhelmed), and in rural areas if there isn't enough (isolation). So the key to not killing yourself is having healthy social ties however much or little that translates to for you.

Durkheim's "Suicide" is a good read for that. It also goes through suicide rates by religion having Jews, Catholics and Protestants from least to most as far as suicide rates go. He found it was the social cohesion that prevented them from going that route. Protestants put a lot of stock on the individual which is why they commit more suicides, they feel on their own.

The countries mentioned seem to have the most happy people because of economic and social safety nets implemented by the government. Whether they have the religious safety net on top of that its hard to say. 
 
Onhell said:
The countries mentioned seem to have the most happy people because of economic and social safety nets implemented by the government.
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That and little unemployment and poverty. A social safety net in itself won't do the trick. Germany has it, and it works. However, there are millions of people living on welfare because they are jobless, and are therefore descending into poverty.

Let's say it how it is: The countries we have here are relatively small by population but are highly technisised and have stable economies that can ensure that these people can maintain a high living standard. They are working societies with a balanced job market, meaning that those who don't care can become street cleaners and those who want to can become university professors. The people were all raised as democrats and therefore don't threaten the system, meaning the governments can afford to be more liberal with their laws. The people trust the system and don't fear for their future.
 
Forostar said:
Same here. I guess all other conditions are very good. Which still makes me wonder why there have been so many suicides.
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It's logical ; when you have less problems to solve, automatically you have more time to think, and be unhappy.
I guess the percentage of suicides in Nigeria or Sudan is very low.
 
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