Norway is the best place to Live. UNDP report

Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released. The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom. The bottom three ranked countries in this year’s HDI, in order, are: Niger, Afghanistan (included for the first time since 1996) and Sierra Leone.


The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries. This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.


The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.