Norway Best Place To Live: UN Report

An annual report by the United Nations has found that Norway has the highest standard of living for its citizens.

The BBC reported that the UN looked at life expectancy, literacy rates, school enrollment and country economies to make their decision. The country that came last was Niger, the landlocked West African nation. As the BBC noted:

Norway's consistently high rating for desirable living standards, is, in large part, the result of the discovery of offshore oil and gas deposits in the late 1960s.

Niger, however, is a drought-prone country which has sometimes struggled to feed its people.

AFP reported that due to improvements in education, income levels and life expectancy, China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country. The Irish Times noted this was one of the few long term trends noticeable in the data.

Afghanistan was a new entry, having previously not been included due to a lack of reliable data, according to the AP. It entered the rankings second to last, just above Niger.

The top ten was as follows:

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan

The United States placed 13th.

For more information on the rankings, visit the UN Human Development Reports.

For information on emigrating to Norway, please visit the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration.

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Comments

[Toddy English]

I've always wanted to visit Norway. I love reading and learning about the culture. But I'm scared I'd be like the only African American person there...lol.
Well, so much for America being the best country in the world.

[thedave108]

Norway #1 - Iceland # 3 - What about Antartica - why didn't that make make the list? And #13 for USA sounds artificially high. I think the fix is in.........

[marignymitch]

I understand Norway's position at the top of the list. The freezer also is my favorite part of the refrigerator.

[SimJack]

The UN harbors terrists an is participatin' in unmericun speech as part of an axes of evil. We need to mount a preemptive strike on the UN before they attack us again by lowering our score an threatnin' our way of life. 'mericans is learnin' an we won't be fools again.

[chedet]

Oh oh those people on fox news that keeps on shouting "US is the best place on earth" is not going to like this! Oh well they probably would say it's a communist, socialist propaganda on a grand scale....

[ljkcan]

Well they already have part of the nation convinced Canada is socialist. Odd a country that provides good social programs for all their citizens can be viewed as "evil".

The other night there was a story on HP about a young man who was a law student and did not have health care. Some of the comments there reflect a society that says' "too bloody bad he deserved it"
I Have trouble with my simple Canadian brain accepting such despicable comments about a person who is ill.

[canuck59]

I love my country! I love my city!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Toronto

[up420oz]

I love my country! I love my city!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Vancouver

[Nominy]

of course America is not on that list, to many ignorant hicks trying to force Jesus on our society and to many know nothing republicans waving their guns and threatening civil war. Better luck next time America, but you'll never win.

[ljkcan]

Two things are working for us this year. Universal health care,
and the regulation of our financial system. The Canada I grew up in is much different today. I love that you can go anywhere in the city of Toronto and discover a little bit of another country. The multicultural aspect of our country is great.

[kissthestick]

i wonder if norway would take my black ass

[jessicadevyn]

My boyfriend is black, and he was born and raised in Sweden. His parents immigrated to Sweden in the early 1970's. There are LOTS of immigrants in Scandinavia.

[piul05]

Lots of black and mixed-heritage people in Sweden - just take Neneh and Eagle-Eyed Cherry and many of their soccer player, for example.

You would fit fine. :-))

[Javida]

Who would want to come to the US?? I am sure these are the reasons the Olympic committee didn't choose Chicago (other than acknowledging Rio is a beautiful city):

1) Historical ties to racism and neverending racism, some of it even levelled at the sitting US President;
2) Demonstrations and death threats throughout the country based on political party affiliation;
3) Murders related to abortion rights;
4) Regular gang murders, most recently of a 16 year old on the streets of Chicago;
5) Regular massacres on college campuses and in public schools;
7) Regular domestic mass murders, most recently in Florida and Illinois;
8) Repeat offenses of drunk driving killings;
9) Mass corruption in US corporations and health insurance industries;
10) High unemployment, bankrupt states, such as California
11) Terror threats, most recently an arrest of an alleged terrorist attempting to bomb
NYC subways.

Come to the United States: We have plenty of mass murders in homes, colleges, schools and gang murders for full public view!! We'll give ya plenty of political infighting and our special serving of good old fashioned racism. Y'all come now, ya hear!

8) Shootings in public places, such as malls and fitness centers;

[worldb]

maybe you're unfamiliar with the "City of God" Rio D... I assure you what happens there is far worse than anything that happens on the streets of Chicago...

[jessicadevyn]

Rio is rife with racism and violence. Chicago is like Disneyland next to Rio.

[Marcel09]

ur right there I've been to Rio & the street kids will wait until your done eating at an outside cafe & as soon as you get up BAM they jump on your plate! it was amazing & sad at the same time. The waiter told us "Make sure you dont leave the table until you're done eating" no rest room or anything. And if you think we have Ghettos here man go there is crazy & I would tell any African American who goes there just wear your passport around your neck because if you go into any "nice" area for tours you'll be stopped by local police & men waiting in front of every cafe or clothing store. You hardly see any dark skinned people in nice areas I was told they scare them off with threats of jail. Even to black people coming from America !

[maxhardon]

All Norwegians have health care. Which makes them not free like us. They are slaves.

[Seldon]

Ha ha. good one. That was sarcasm right?

[Roger]

We're No. 13! Thanks George W! Being number 1 was just so darned hard.

[surferbuoy]

When have we ever been number one in this report?

[GeoLee]

Before Reagan.

[Watain]

Norway and Finland have the best immigration restrictions in the developed world.

[jessicadevyn]

Maybe America should have did that. Then 99% of us wouldn't be here.

[JooJooMan]

Immigration to Norway increasing

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007-05-08/norway/record-immigration-statistics-2006.htm

[JooJooMan]

also check the map to see where Norway is

[Hyvno]

No we dont as a norwegian I'd say denmark does it far better than us when it comes to restricting immigration.

[dac253]

Whale killers.

[Joagurk]

I am norwegian.

I ate a tasty whale steak last month.

Ohh Jesus! I said it. The most un PC thing to say in the whole world.

If we stopped polluting and overfishing the seas, there would be plenty of whales. I have no objections to eating minke whale, as long as there is no threat of extintion and is done in a painless manner.

[donttasemebro]

Norsk, ja. Jeg ogsaa. Hvor i Norge er du fra?

[HelloooCanada]

and the japanese as well.

norwegians are very odd about this practice, as evidenced by joagurk's comment that killing a whale can be "painless".

love norway - hate the whaling.

[Veammn]

I get a kick out of the fact that the final sentence of this article is:

"For information on emigrating to Norway, please visit the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration."

Well played.