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Canada #1 in Quality of Life and #1 in Best Countries Overall
Canada takes up about 40 percent of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 37.6 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants. with GDP of $1.74 trillion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $50,661 and POPULATION of 37.6 million.
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The Kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century and includes two North Atlantic island nations, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Along with Sweden and Norway, it forms Scandinavia, a cultural region in Northern Europe. GDP of $348 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $59,897 and POPULATION of 5.81 million
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Sweden #3 in Quality of Life and #9 in Best Countries Overall
The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation. GDP of $534 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $55,338 and POPULATION of 10.3 million
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Norway #4 in Quality of Life and #13 in Best Countries Overall
The Kingdom of Norway is the westernmost country in the Scandinavian peninsula, made up mostly of mountainous terrain. Nearly all of its population lives in the south, surrounding the capital, Oslo. Norway’s coastline is made up of thousands of miles of fjords, bays and island shores. The Norwegians developed a maritime culture, and were active throughout the Viking era, establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland. GDP of $406 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $68,345 and POPULATION of 5.35 million.
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Switzerland #5 in Quality of Life and #4 in Best Countries Overall
Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Federation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It’s one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality. GDP of $732 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $73,144 and POPULATION of 8.58 million.
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Australia #6 in Quality of Life and #5 in Best Countries Overall
The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century. GDP of $1.39 trillion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $52,031 and POPULATION of 25.4 million.
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Netherlands #7 in Quality of Life and #10 in Best Countries Overall
Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers – the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde – run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports. GDP of $910 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $59,675 and POPULATION of 17.3 million.
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Finland #8 in Quality of Life and #18 in Best Countries Overall
Geography defines the history and culture of Nordic Finland, one of the most northern-reaching countries in the world. Bordered by Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, Finland and its vast stretches of heavily forested open land acts as a northern gate between West and East. GDP of $269 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $51,521 and POPULATION of 5.52 million.
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Germany #9 in Quality of Life and #3 in Best Countries Overall
Germany, the most populous nation in the European Union, possesses one of the largest economies in the world and has seen its role in the international community grow steadily since reunification. The Central European country borders nine nations, and its landscape varies, from the northern plains that reach to the North and Baltic seas to the Bavarian Alps in the south. GDP of $3.89 trillion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $56,285 and POPULATION of 83.1 million.
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New Zealand #10 in Quality of Life and #7 in Best Countries Overall
British and Polynesian influences course through picturesque New Zealand, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia. Early Maori settlers ceded sovereignty to British invaders with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and European settlers flooded in. Today, 70 percent of Kiwis, a common term for the people of New Zealand after a native flightless bird, are of European descent. A sense of pride has surged among the Maori, the country’s first settlers who now account for about 14 percent, as homeland grievances become more openly addressed. GDP of $213 billion, GDP PER CAPITA, PPP of $45,073 and POPULATION of 4.98 million.
