Skift Take
It's refreshing that two countries are arguing over who's happier as opposed to, say, who has the loosest slots or is more welcoming to underage drinking.
Source: McClatchy and Tribune Newspapers
Author: Tim Johnson
An advertisement that greets passengers at the international airport here says, "Welcome to the happiest country of the world." Inflated claim? Maybe, but a study indeed ranks Central America's verdant nation of Costa Rica as the planet's most content.
Its citizens generally live to old age, watched over by a government that spends heavily on schools and health care and strives to build an economy with a small environmental footprint.
Last month, Costa Rica beat out the United States and Western European nations for the second time to top a survey of 151 countries on a measure of progress and well-being, one that ignores the usual economic indicator _ the gross domestic product, or the total amount of goods and services produced in a country. It ranked first in the Happy Planet Index put out by the New Economics Foundation, a British research center that promotes global well-being and sustainable development.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="233"] Coastline of Costa Rica from a small plane. Photo by Miguel Viera.[/caption]
Some Costa Ricans downplayed or mocked the "happiest country" label even as a tourism campaign called the "Gift of Happiness" unfolded to attract new visitors from abroad. President Laura Chinchilla took the description lightly.
"We Costa Ricans have a strong spirit of self-criticism. We know our limitations, we are aware of our problems and, as free people, do
