Costa Rica Finds
Secrets to Happiness
Every time disaster strikes the world
community, such as the earthquake in Haiti
or the global economic crisis, a great many
people become envious of Costa Rica, which
has a reputation as one of the happiest
countries in the world.
The sources of happiness in the Central
American country, the BBC reported recently,
are the facts that its army was abolished
back in 1949, 90 percent of its energy comes
from renewable sources, and its citizens
have a high life expectancy of 78.5 years.
Costa Rica has a population of just 4.2
million on 51,000 sq. km of land, about half
the size of Korea, and its per capita GDP of
US$10,000 stands at around 80th in the
world. However life expectancy and life
satisfaction levels in the country are among
the highest in the world, flouting the
perception that happiness correlates with
income.
The Happy Planet Index, compiled and
released by the New Economics Foundation
last year, put Costa Rica at the top among
143 countries, and the World Database of
Happiness gave it 8.5 points out of 10, over
runner-up Denmark which scored 8.3 points.
The nation's commitment to the environment
is also among the reasons it tops the
happiness charts. In a Jan. 7 article titled
"The Happiest People," New York Times
columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote, "Costa
Rica has done an unusually good job
preserving nature, and it's surely easier to
be happy while basking in sunshine and
greenery than while shivering up north and
suffering 'nature deficit disorder.'" Costa
Rica introduced a carbon tax in 1997, and it
ranked third in the world in the 2010
Environmental Performance Index published
last month by Yale and Columbia
universities.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
