Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well. Scandinavian countries fared well, as did Australia and Canada.
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Canada
#1inQuality of Life Rankings
Denmark
#2inQuality of Life Rankings#3 out of 80 in 2017
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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$306.1 billion
POPULATION5.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,230
Sweden
#3inQuality of Life Rankings#2 out of 80 in 2017
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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$511.0 billion
POPULATION9.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$49,759
Norway
#4inQuality of Life Rankings#5 out of 80 in 2017
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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$370.6 billion
POPULATION5.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$69,407
Australia
#5inQuality of Life Rankings#4 out of 80 in 2017
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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$1.2 trillion
POPULATION24.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,712
Switzerland
#6inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$659.8 billion
POPULATION8.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$60,374
Finland
#7inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$236.8 billion
POPULATION5.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,261
Netherlands
#8inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$770.8 billion
POPULATION17.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$51,249
New Zealand
#9inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$185.0 billion
POPULATION4.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$37,165
Germany
#10inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$3.5 trillion
POPULATION82.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,449
Austria
#11inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Austria a culturally rich, high-income parliamentary democracy that hosts several key international organizations. Located in the heart of Central Europe, the modern Austrian state was shaped by the two world wars of the 20th century.
GDP$386.4 billion
POPULATION8.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$47,726
Luxembourg
#12inQuality of Life Rankings#14 out of 80 in 2017
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The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a landlocked country in northern Europe with Belgium to the west, France to the south and Germany to the east. The country is one of the smallest in the world and the second-wealthiest after Qatar. Castles and churches dot its forests and rolling hills.
GDP$59.9 billion
POPULATION583.0 thousand
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$105,741
United Kingdom
#13inQuality of Life Rankings#12 out of 80 in 2017
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The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence. Located off the northwest corner of Europe, the country includes the island of Great Britain – which contains England, Scotland and Wales – and the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The year 2017 ushered in anxiety about the country’s role on the global stage, due to the public voting in the summer of 2016 to leave the European Union. The vote raises questions about the European Union, as well as the policies supporting the eurozone.
GDP$2.6 trillion
POPULATION65.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,421
Japan
#14inQuality of Life Rankings#13 out of 80 in 2017
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Japan, one of the world’s most literate and technically advanced nations, is an East Asian country made up of four main islands. While most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded areas, the country’s roughly 126 million people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle. Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western life.
GDP$4.9 trillion
POPULATION127.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$41,220
Ireland
#15inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Republic of Ireland is an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean, separated from Britain on the east by the Irish Sea. Nicknamed the Emerald Isle for its well-watered grasslands, the country is known for its rich cultural traditions, lively pub scene and its struggles for independence. The country comprises five-sixths of the island of Ireland – the remaining sixth is Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. After a bloody fight for independence and civil war in the early 20th century, Ireland became a republic in 1949.
GDP$294.1 billion
POPULATION4.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$69,276
France
#16inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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It is difficult to overstate the influence France has on the world, both in the past and today. Located in Western Europe, France is one of the world’s oldest countries, and its reach extends around the globe through science, politics, economics and perhaps above all, culture. Starting in the Middle Ages, France evolved through kingdom, empire and finally, into a republic. It was one of the first nations to champion the rights of the individual.
GDP$2.5 trillion
POPULATION66.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,336
United States
#17inQuality of Life Rankings#18 out of 80 in 2017
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The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world’s most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television. In 2016 the country elected Donald Trump president. Trump's rhetoric and stances on issues including immigration and foreign trade have raised questions around the world, including from the country’s closest allies, about the nation’s future course on the global stage.
GDP$18.6 trillion
POPULATION323.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$57,608
Singapore
#18inQuality of Life Rankings#17 out of 80 in 2017
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Founded as a British trading colony in the 19th century, Singapore is a bustling metropolis in Southeast Asia and home to one of the world’s busiest ports. The vast majority of its 5.7 million citizens live on the eponymous capital island, and dozens of surrounding islands complete the city state. Gross domestic product per capita is high and unemployment is low, making Singapore one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
GDP$297.0 billion
POPULATION5.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$87,832
Spain
#19inQuality of Life Rankings#21 out of 80 in 2017
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A number of independent kingdoms united in 1492 to form the Kingdom of Spain, a cultural patchwork that continues to shape the modern nation’s dynamic identity. Spain comprises much of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal on the southwestern edge of Europe. It also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and two enclaves in North Africa.
GDP$1.2 trillion
POPULATION46.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$36,347
Portugal
#20inQuality of Life Rankings#19 out of 80 in 2017
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Jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on the edge of the Iberian Peninsula and flanked by Spain to the east, Portugal is a nation with its gaze turned outward. Its history is steeped in discovery and exploration, beginning with early leaders that, after ousting Celtic and Moorish settlers in the 12th century, focused on building their kingdom beyond continental borders.
GDP$204.6 billion
POPULATION10.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$28,916
China
#21inQuality of Life Rankings#20 out of 80 in 2017
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Home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China has been ruled by the Communist Party since 1949, when the nation was established as the People’s Republic of China. The country is the world’s most populous and is considered the second-largest by land mass.
GDP$11.2 trillion
POPULATION1.4 billion
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$15,395
Italy
#22inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Italy is a south-central European country, whose boot-shaped borders extend into the Mediterranean Sea. The country’s historical cities, world-renowned cuisine and geographic beauty make it a popular destination for more than 40 million tourists each year. The nation is home to Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, and houses two countries within its borders – the Vatican and San Marino.
GDP$1.8 trillion
POPULATION60.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$36,823
Poland
#23inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Poland is a medium-sized nation located in central Europe with a history and culture shaped by a millennium of conflict across the European continent.
The Christian Kingdom of Poland was formally created in 1025 and by the mid-16th century the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was one of the largest countries on the continent. Partitioned by neighboring countries in the late 18th century, Poland briefly regained its independence following World War I. Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union invaded the country in 1939, marking the beginning of World War II.
GDP$469.5 billion
POPULATION37.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,690
South Korea
#24inQuality of Life Rankings#25 out of 80 in 2017
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a nation in eastern Asia with a long history of conflict that occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula.
Liberated from Japan in 1945 at the end of World War II, South Korea was invaded by communist forces in North Korea a few years later. Aid requested by the United Nations helped end the three-year war and support the south on its way to democracy. A critical divide between the two nations along the center of the peninsula remains.
GDP$1.4 trillion
POPULATION51.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$37,731
United Arab Emirates
#25inQuality of Life Rankings#24 out of 80 in 2017
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The United Arab Emirates, or UAE, is a federation of seven emirates on the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula. The country, wedged between between Oman and Saudi Arabia, has rocky desert, wetlands, waterless mountains and coastlines that stretch along the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
The emirates that currently comprise the UAE were known as the Trucial States in the 19th century as a result of a series of agreements with Great Britain. In 1971, six of these states merged to form the UAE; a seventh joined in 1972.
GDP$348.7 billion
POPULATION9.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$68,092
Czech Republic
#26inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Czech Republic may have been born in 1993, but the nation’s history goes back more than 1,000 years. Its location in the heart of Central Europe has nurtured a rich culture yet provided its people with a reserve born from interference and invasions from larger powers. Perhaps due to the country’s history, the people are among the least religious in the world.
GDP$192.9 billion
POPULATION10.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$33,529
Hungary
#27inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Hungary is a landlocked central European country with Christian roots, which for centuries served as a barrier for Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. While Hungary enjoys the relative economic prosperity typical of many European countries, it is linguistically isolated from its European peers. Over a beer and goulash, most of Hungary’s 9.9 million citizens speak Hungarian, or Magyar. Like Finnish and Estonian, the language is one of the few non-Indo-European languages in Europe.
GDP$124.3 billion
POPULATION9.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,475
Malaysia
#28inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Located in two separate regions in the South China Sea, Malaysia is a small country with a fast-growing economy. Once a British colony, the country is home to about 29 million people, many of whom live in or near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Located on an ocean trade route, Malaysia came under the influence of China, India, the Middle East and eventually Great Britain in the late 18th century. The Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1948 by the unification of former British-ruled territories along the Malay Peninsula. In 1963, the former British colonies of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, joined the Federation, thereafter known simply as Malaysia.
GDP$296.4 billion
POPULATION31.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,292
Greece
#29inQuality of Life Rankings#33 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in southeastern Europe, Greece as an independent nation is young, existing since the 19th century. Its civilization, however, is one of history’s oldest and most influential, credited with creating the concept of democracy as well as the ancient Olympic Games, and laying Western foundations in science, the arts and philosophy.
GDP$194.6 billion
POPULATION10.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$26,829
Thailand
#30inQuality of Life Rankings#29 out of 80 in 2017
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Thailand, which translates to “land of the free,” is the only Southeast Asian nation that did not encounter European colonization. Located just above the equator, the nation is wedged into the Indochina peninsula with neighbors Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and has an arm that extends out to Malaysia.
GDP$406.8 billion
POPULATION68.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,885
Bulgaria
#31inQuality of Life Rankings#42 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in the southeastern corner of the Balkans, Bulgaria sits at the junction of Europe and Asia. Its location has made it susceptible to invasions in the past, but it also has provided a rich culture – the country is the birthplace of the Cyrillic script.
GDP$52.4 billion
POPULATION7.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$20,355
India
#32inQuality of Life Rankings#30 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in Southeast Asia, India sits on a peninsula that extends between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The country, the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism, is the world’s second most-populous nation after China, and has roughly one-sixth of the world’s population. After years of nonviolent struggle against British rule, India gained its independence in 1947.
GDP$2.3 trillion
POPULATION1.3 billion
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,694
Croatia
#33inQuality of Life Rankings#37 out of 80 in 2017
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Croatia has found itself at the crossroads of major historical movements, both East and West. These political shifts have uniquely shaped its present-day borders, which curve around Bosnia and Herzegovina in central Europe and stretch along the Adriatic Sea opposite Italy. The nation’s stunning Mediterranean coastline eases into the rugged Dinaric Alps and, continuing northeast, the fertile plains of the Danube River.
GDP$50.4 billion
POPULATION4.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,937
Indonesia
#34inQuality of Life Rankings#36 out of 80 in 2017
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Made up of a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia’s people are diverse, speaking more than 300 languages and ranging from cosmopolitan urbanites to rural villagers. There are hundreds of volcanoes in Indonesia, the most famous of which is Krakatoa, whose explosion in 1883 was one of the most catastrophic in history. Hindu-Buddhist and Muslim kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who colonized the archipelago but ceded independence to the country after an occasionally violent struggle in 1949. From 1967 until 1988, President Suharto ruled Indonesia with an iron hand. Free and fair elections took place in 1999, after rioting toppled his dictatorship.
GDP$932.3 billion
POPULATION261.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,717
Israel
#35inQuality of Life Rankings#40 out of 80 in 2017
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Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors.
GDP$318.7 billion
POPULATION8.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$35,220
Slovenia
#36inQuality of Life Rankings#38 out of 80 in 2017
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Slovenia is a small country located in southern Central Europe, bordered by Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia had been ruled by many larger states dating to the Roman Empire and later the Habsburgs of Austria. Following World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slovenia achieved self-determination, eventually merging with Croatia and Serbia to first form a Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, Slovenia was part of a reformed socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. It declared independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia and today the country has a parliamentary democracy form of government.
GDP$44.0 billion
POPULATION2.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$32,216
Philippines
#37inQuality of Life Rankings#34 out of 80 in 2017
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Thousands of islands in the South China Sea comprise the tropical nation of the Philippines. The land of beautiful beaches and abundant biodiversity has long been plagued by political instability, but its resilient economy continues to improve and push ahead of others in the region. The Republic of the Philippines claimed independence from Japan after World War II in 1946 with assistance from the United States, which had exercised colonial rule over the nation earlier in the century. American influence and ties remain prevalent in the Filipino society, although the relationship has become more strained since the 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte.
GDP$304.9 billion
POPULATION103.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,739
Russia
#38inQuality of Life Rankings#41 out of 80 in 2017
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The scale of Russia is difficult to imagine. It is the world’s largest country by land mass – nearly twice as big as Canada, the world’s second-largest nation – and covers all of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe. It shares land borders with more than a dozen countries, and shares sea borders with Japan and the United States.
GDP$1.3 trillion
POPULATION144.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$26,926
Romania
#39inQuality of Life Rankings#43 out of 80 in 2017
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Romania is the largest of the Balkan nations, tucked between Bulgaria and Ukraine in southeastern Europe along the Black Sea. It is a jigsaw of distinct regions, each with their own history and influence. In the 1860s the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia united to form Romania and in 1877 it gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Transylvania, which was ruled by Austria and Hungary, was later acquired by Romania after fighting for the Allies in World War I.
GDP$186.7 billion
POPULATION19.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,349
Vietnam
#40inQuality of Life Rankings#35 out of 80 in 2017
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Curving along the eastern edge of the Indochina Peninsula, Vietnam shares long stretches of its borders with Cambodia, Laos and the South China Sea. Occupied by the French until 1954, a communist state emerged in 1975 after the People’s Army of the north and Viet Cong guerilla fighters defeated the anti-communist south. The bitter war garnered international attention and participation, especially from the United States, at a critical juncture in the Cold War era in which communism was gaining ground on the global stage. “Doi moi” economic policy reforms beginning in 1986 have helped The Socialist Republic of Vietnam transition to a more modern, competitive nation.
GDP$202.6 billion
POPULATION92.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,423
Saudi Arabia
#41inQuality of Life Rankings#31 out of 80 in 2017
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Saudi Arabia is the giant of the Middle East, with both the vast majority of land and wealth of the Arabian Peninsula falling within its borders. Millions of devout Muslims from around the world participate in a pilgrimage to Mecca each year, believed to be the birthplace of the Muslim prophet Mohammed and the cradle of Islam. A fierce religious identity dominates the Sunni-majority nation, with principles of the Koran, conservative Sunni teachings known as Wahhabism and strict Islamic Shariah law present in all aspects of life.
GDP$646.4 billion
POPULATION32.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$55,331
Mexico
#42inQuality of Life Rankings#48 out of 80 in 2017
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Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on its West and the Gulf of Mexico to its East, Mexico is the third-largest country in Latin America and has the second-largest economy. The nation is one of contrasts, with terrain encompassing arid lands and Caribbean coastlines and a society that has extremes of wealth and poverty.
Once home of the Maya, Aztec and other ancient civilizations, Mexico was ruled by Spain starting in the early 16th century. Administered by Spain for three centuries, the country achieved independence early in the 19th century, first as a short-lived empire and then as a republic in 1824.
GDP$1.0 trillion
POPULATION127.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$18,935
Chile
#43inQuality of Life Rankings#45 out of 80 in 2017
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Distance is one way to define Chile, a long, narrow country on South America’s western coastline whose dramatic landscapes may play a part in the country’s history of producing great poets. A trip from the country’s northern border with Peru to its southern tip at Cape Horn covers 2,700 miles. Chile is narrow – its widest point is just 150 miles – as its eastern border with Argentina backs up against the Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world.
GDP$247.0 billion
POPULATION17.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$24,089
Latvia
#44inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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On the edge of eastern Europe, Latvia sits nestled between Estonia and Lithuania. The trio form the Baltic states and share roots in early tribal settlers as well as similarly strategic locations along the Baltic Sea that have led to various coinciding conquests of their land throughout history. Latvia is among the larger European countries in terms of landmass, but low population density has allowed more than half of the country’s geography to remain as natural ecosystems. There is great geographic diversity within the country’s borders, too, from Ventas Rumba, Europe’s widest waterfall, to the towering pines of Gauja National Park and the crystalline Baltic waters along the resort town of Jurmala.
GDP$27.7 billion
POPULATION2.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$25,702
Dominican Republic
#45inQuality of Life Rankings#49 out of 80 in 2017
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The Dominican Republic, the land of merengue and baseball, occupies two-thirds of the island Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. It was the site of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, as well the first toehold for European settlement. The country’s history reflects many of the historical challenges that the rest of Latin America has faced: civil disorder, ethnic tensions, authoritarian rule and economic upheaval.
The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy, with a multi-party political system and traditional separations of government power falling on executive, legislative and judicial branches.
GDP$71.6 billion
POPULATION10.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,071
Turkey
#46inQuality of Life Rankings#39 out of 80 in 2017
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Founded in 1923, Turkey is home to a unique intersection of culture as the nation bridges Asia with Europe. The country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, though influences of bygone Roman and Byzantine rule pepper the streets and skyline. Extravagant mosques and cathedrals can both be found within blocks of the Grand Bazaar in the city of Istanbul, home to 14 million people. Religious identity is an important part of Turkey’s evolution. For more than a decade, power struggles between a military-backed secular government and an increasingly popular religious movement have raised concerns about government stability.
GDP$857.7 billion
POPULATION79.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$24,986
Costa Rica
#47inQuality of Life Rankings#55 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in the heart of Central America, Costa Rica has been one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Central America since its birth in the 19th century The nation compares favorably to its regional neighbors in areas of human development, and it has used its landscapes of jungles, forests and coastlines to develop an international reputation for ecotourism. Costa Rica’s constitution was adopted in 1949, and has since been amended to declare the nation as multicultural and multiethnic.
GDP$57.4 billion
POPULATION4.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,434
Qatar
#48inQuality of Life Rankings#32 out of 80 in 2017
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Qatar is located on a small desert peninsula that extends northward into the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar became subject to the Islamic caliphate after the rise of Islam in 628 A.D. and was subsequently ruled by a number of local and foreign powers. Once a poor British protectorate, the small nation became an independent state in 1971. Now rich in oil and natural gas, Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Just over half of the country’s gross domestic product is comprised of manufacturing, construction and financial services, which has helped the country weather the global decline in oil prices in recent years.
GDP$152.5 billion
POPULATION2.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$125,160
Peru
#49inQuality of Life Rankings#46 out of 80 in 2017
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Peru is a nation whose history is as diverse as the peaks and valleys of its terrain. A strip of the Andes mountains separates a stretch of coastal plains from the dense Amazon jungle that covers more than half of the country. It is the third-largest country in South America, linking Ecuador and Chile along the west coast and bordering Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia inland. The ancient empire of the Incas was centered in Peru, leaving remnants of an expansive kingdom in its wake. A bite of the indigenous coca leaf can help to settle altitude sickness for those who climb the majestic Incan citadel of Machu Picchu.
GDP$192.1 billion
POPULATION31.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,913
Uruguay
#50inQuality of Life Rankings#47 out of 80 in 2017
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Uruguay spent much of the 20th century under military rule before emerging as a democratic country in 1984. The country’s origins date to the 16th century, when it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1512, but it remained in contention between Spain and Portugal until it gained independence in the 1811 Battle of Las Piedras. A series of civil wars and internal strife occupied most of the 19th century.
GDP$52.4 billion
POPULATION3.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$21,395
Tunisia
#51inQuality of Life Rankings#63 out of 80 in 2017
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Tunisia is a small Arab country in North Africa that represents both the aspirations of freedom and struggles against terrorism that roil the region. Along with neighbors Algeria and Libya, it lines the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a strategic location that has attracted Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and others over the years. At the end of 2010, rising inflation and a lack of political freedom combined with high unemployment - particularly among college graduates - ignited public protests that set off the “Arab Spring” wave of demonstrations across much of the Arab World that called for greater freedoms.
GDP$42.1 billion
POPULATION11.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,631
Brazil
#52inQuality of Life Rankings#58 out of 80 in 2017
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Occupying half of South America’s land mass, Brazil is the giant of the continent – both in size and in population. Brazil’s history is filled with economic turmoil, veering from boom to bust, and its culture is a melting pot that has traditionally welcomed the world.
Brazil is one of the world’s top tourist destinations. However, the country in the 21st century confronts serious questions touching on poverty, inequality, governance and the environment.
GDP$1.8 trillion
POPULATION207.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$15,238
Morocco
#53inQuality of Life Rankings#56 out of 80 in 2017
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The Kingdom of Morocco is a Muslim country in western North Africa, with coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Just an hour ferry ride from Spain, the country has a unique mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultural influences. Unlike many of its neighbors, Morocco remained independent for much of its history. Once part of the Roman Empire, the country was ruled by a series of kingdoms after the Arab conquest of the late seventh century. Morocco thwarted attempts at Turkish and European control until the country became a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956, when it gained independence.
GDP$101.4 billion
POPULATION35.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$8,160
Sri Lanka
#54inQuality of Life Rankings#51 out of 80 in 2017
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Referred to as the teardrop of India, Sri Lanka sits just off the southeast coast in the Indian Ocean. Scars of a bitter civil war are fading, and an island nation rich with resources and ripe for adventure is shining through.
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon, is governed by an elected president and legislature. The young nation was born in 1948, when the early Sinhalese settlers claimed independence from the British, putting an end to a string of colonization by many countries, including Portugal, the Netherlands and India.
GDP$81.3 billion
POPULATION21.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,285
Panama
#55inQuality of Life Rankings#54 out of 80 in 2017
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Panama is a Central American nation that connects Costa Rica and South America by way of Colombia. Much of the country’s narrative is tied to a connector of another kind: the Panama Canal, a hub of global trade and transportation that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Caribbean Sea. Construction of the canal began immediately after Panama’s secession from Colombia at the turn of the 20th century. The two nations, along with Ecuador and Venezuela initially, claimed joint independence from Spain in 1821. The massive project was financed and built by the United States in return for a claim to sovereignty over land on either side of it, effectively splitting Panama in half.
GDP$55.2 billion
POPULATION4.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,989
Argentina
#56inQuality of Life Rankings#50 out of 80 in 2017
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Argentina, the birthplace of tango, has experienced its share of tragedy and hardship since it became an independent nation in the early 19th century. During the 20th century, Argentina tilted between democracy and authoritarian rule, marked by the 1976-1983 “Dirty War” launched against political opponents of the country’s military government. Democracy returned to Argentina in 1983. The overwhelming majority of its citizens are ethnically European or partially European, reflecting the country’s 16th-century Spanish colonization and the waves of 19th and early 20th century immigration that flowed from Europe – particularly Spain and Italy.
GDP$545.9 billion
POPULATION43.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$20,053
Kenya
#57inQuality of Life Rankings#66 out of 80 in 2017
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When Kenya claimed its independence from the U.K. in 1963, leaders of the newly formed republic promoted a sense of national unity using the motto “harambee,” Swahili for ‘pulling together.’ The sentiment holds true today in a country that blends the rich culture and traditions of dozens of varied groups that call it home.
Scientists have called the East African nation, situated along the equator, the cradle of humankind. Some of the oldest and most complete human remains have been found along the Great Rift Valley, a volcano-lined trench that runs through western Kenya.
GDP$70.5 billion
POPULATION48.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$3,364
Myanmar
#58inQuality of Life Rankings#53 out of 80 in 2017
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The history of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is marked by ethnic violence and widespread impoverishment as it has convulsed between democratic freedom and brutal authoritarian rule. The country, a medium-sized nation in Southeast Asia that borders Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand, is populated by several ethnic groups, with the Burmese dominating the population, politics, economy and society.
GDP$67.4 billion
POPULATION52.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,804
Ecuador
#59inQuality of Life Rankings#52 out of 80 in 2017
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Named for its proximity to the Earth’s equator, the South American nation of Ecuador is home to a more dynamic society than its straightforward name may suggest. Tremendous culture is packed within a nation a quarter the size of its neighbors, Colombia and Peru. Once part of the Inca Empire, Ecuador won independence from Spain in the early 1800s and was one of three countries that emerged from the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia. Its current population -- largely of mixed indigenous and European descent -- is a clear manifestation of these distinctive roots. Spanish is the official language, and Incan Quechua is used in formal intercultural relations.
GDP$97.8 billion
POPULATION16.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,185
Belarus
#60inQuality of Life Rankings#62 out of 80 in 2017
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Carved out of Russia’s east border, Belarus sits among a group of post-Soviet states in East Europe to the north of Ukraine. The nation claimed its independence in 1991 after seven decades under the USSR. Though landlocked, more than 11,000 lakes and ancient, enchanting woodlands cover the flat landscape. Despite operating under an autonomous government, Belarus maintains extremely close political and economic ties with Russia. Isolationist trade policies are fueled by priority access to cheap oil from Russia, a relationship that has been called into question more than once in the last decade.
GDP$47.4 billion
POPULATION9.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$18,073
Bahrain
#61inQuality of Life Rankings#60 out of 80 in 2017
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Off the east coast of Saudi Arabia, a collection of a few dozen small islands comprise the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is one of seven Arab states that border the Persian Gulf and, with the exception of Iraq, belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic union in the region. Much of Bahrain’s identity stems from its relationship with the water surrounding it; translated from Arabic, its name means “the two seas.” In 1932, it was the first to discover oil off of its shores in the Persian Gulf. While its petroleum industry has not matched the same production level or profitability as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have achieved, its central location to oil transit gives Bahrain a strategic advantage and an important role in foreign relations.
GDP$31.9 billion
POPULATION1.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$50,719
South Africa
#62inQuality of Life Rankings#59 out of 80 in 2017
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South Africa is located on the southern tip of Africa, with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa’s third-largest economy behind Nigeria and Egypt, South Africa draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year eager to see its impressive terrain, wildlife and cultural diversity. Although South Africa has come a long way since the end of apartheid in 1994, it remains a country of vast inequality and high crime. While the country is dotted with world-class dining, trendy shops, sprawling vineyards and upscale safari lodges, townships lacking basic infrastructure are often only a short distance away.
GDP$294.8 billion
POPULATION55.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$13,291
Bolivia
#63inQuality of Life Rankings#61 out of 80 in 2017
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Named after a key leader in the Latin American independence revolutions of the early 19th century, Bolivia is a landlocked nation in central South America that reflects the region’s rich yet painful past as well as present-day challenges and promise. Bolivia is a multiethnic country that has a large proportion of indigenous people. Other groups include mestizo (mixed Indian and European descent) and European.
GDP$33.8 billion
POPULATION10.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,229
Kazakhstan
#64inQuality of Life Rankings#69 out of 80 in 2017
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Kazakhstan, the world's largest landlocked country, is located mostly in Central Asia, with a small section in easternmost Europe. The country has the largest economy in the region, fueled mostly by its vast natural resources. Present day Kazakhstan was part of various empires throughout the centuries, including the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries. The area came under Russian control in the 18th century and became a Soviet Republic in 1936. In 1991, it was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.
GDP$133.7 billion
POPULATION17.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$25,167
Colombia
#65inQuality of Life Rankings#70 out of 80 in 2017
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Colombia is located in the northwest corner of South America and is the continent’s most populous Spanish-speaking nation. Roughly twice the geographic size of France, Colombia is bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as well as Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Colombia won independence from Spain in the early 19th century, and was one of three countries that formed out of the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia – the other two nations being Ecuador and Venezuela. Today the country is a democratic republic with universal suffrage, with separate executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.
GDP$282.5 billion
POPULATION48.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,126
Ghana
#66inQuality of Life Rankings#64 out of 80 in 2017
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The former Gold Coast, named for its rich deposits of the precious metal, became the Republic of Ghana in 1957 when it gained independence from British colonial rule. An ancient trade route once ran through west Africa, crossing through Ghana and neighbors Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. The discovery of gold made Ghana one of the first places in sub-Saharan Africa to attract European traders; it was also the first nation in the region to break colonial rule.
GDP$42.7 billion
POPULATION28.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$4,383
Azerbaijan
#67inQuality of Life Rankings#65 out of 80 in 2017
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Azerbaijan is a small nation located in the Caucasus region, straddling Europe and Asia. Situated at a geographic crossroads, the land was ruled by many empires before it first became a democratic republic in 1918, following World War I. Just two years later, however, it was absorbed into the Soviet Union. In 1991 Azerbaijan emerged as an independent republic following the Soviet collapse.
GDP$37.8 billion
POPULATION9.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$17,453
Guatemala
#68inQuality of Life Rankings#57 out of 80 in 2017
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Home to much of Mayan civilization, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America, touching Mexico’s southern border and possessing coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Guatemalans have traveled a painful road to present-day democracy. The country won independence from Spain in the early 19th century, but civil discord and authoritarian rule has marked much of the country’s history.
GDP$68.8 billion
POPULATION16.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,945
Tanzania
#69inQuality of Life Rankings#67 out of 80 in 2017
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Tanzania is an East African country home to the continent’s highest mountain – Kilimanjaro – and the world’s second-deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika. It also includes the Zanzibar Archipelago, several islands – sometimes called the “spice islands” – in the Indian Ocean.
GDP$47.4 billion
POPULATION55.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$3,090
Egypt
#70inQuality of Life Rankings#72 out of 80 in 2017
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Egypt, with vast swaths of desert in its east and west and the rich Nile River Valley at its heart, is site to one of the world’s earliest and greatest civilizations. Its location at the northeast corner of Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea has made it a cultural and trading center. But its location has also made it a prize to claim by empires and put it at the center of social and religious movements.
GDP$336.3 billion
POPULATION95.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,551
Pakistan
#71inQuality of Life Rankings#77 out of 80 in 2017
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The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was born in 1947 when Muslims broke from the Hindu-majority, British India to rule their own homeland. Located in the ancient Indus Valley of the Middle East, settlements in the region, among the Khyber Pass, Himalayas and Arabian Sea, are some of the oldest in the world and most heavily travelled in history. Conflicts over the Kashmir region, one of the largest of the disputed territories, erupted into wars with India, and in 1971, India helped the Bengalis of the east secede from Pakistan to form modern-day Bangladesh.
GDP$283.7 billion
POPULATION193.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,095
Ukraine
#72inQuality of Life Rankings#74 out of 80 in 2017
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Ukraine, a nation whose history has experienced long periods of occupation from other countries, today wrestles between war and peace, as well as between corruption and reform. The nation borders the Black and Azov seas to the south and abuts several Eastern European nations, including Russia. Ukraine declared independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Its president is directly elected by voters. The prime minister is the head of the central government, which is separated along executive, legislative and judicial branches.
GDP$93.3 billion
POPULATION45.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$8,320
Serbia
#73inQuality of Life Rankings#71 out of 80 in 2017
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Serbia is a small country in central-southeast Europe whose history is a timeline of European wars dating to the Middle Ages. Contemporary Serbia reflects the ambiguities and contradictions of modern Europe – culturally rich, comparatively developed economically yet driven by regional rivalries and ethnic tensions.
GDP$37.7 billion
POPULATION7.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,412
Oman
#74inQuality of Life Rankings#68 out of 80 in 2017
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The oldest independent state in the Arab world, Oman is located on the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The country was always of interest to foreign powers due to its strategic position for Indian Ocean trade. Controlled by the Portuguese in the 1500s and later the Persians, the country eventually formed close ties with Britain in the late 19th century, though it never became a colony. During the 1800s, Oman profited greatly from the slave trade, cultivating colonies in modern-day Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan.
GDP$66.3 billion
POPULATION4.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$46,067
Jordan
#75inQuality of Life Rankings#73 out of 80 in 2017
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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small, young country located on land of ancient biblical significance. The country is one of the most liberal in the region and also has one of the smallest economies, as it lacks the natural resources enjoyed by many of its neighbors. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and later a mandate of the United Kingdom, Jordan became an independent kingdom in 1946. The country lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel in the war of 1967. Years later the country joined Egypt in becoming one of the two Arab nations to make peace with Israel.
GDP$38.7 billion
POPULATION9.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,265
Angola
#76inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Republic of Angola is an oil-rich nation in southern Africa, bordered by Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Atlantic Ocean. It's shimmering shores rise to a high plateau with both desert and rainforest terrain. Originally colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, the Portuguese withdrew from Angola in 1975, and the newly independent nation was thrown into a decades-long civil war between rival independence movements. The nation’s people and economy are still recovering from the conflict that killed thousands and displaced millions before peace was reached in 2002.
GDP$89.6 billion
POPULATION28.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,797
Nigeria
#77inQuality of Life Rankings#75 out of 80 in 2017
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The Federal Republic of Nigeria claimed its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, becoming the most populous country in Africa. The Niger River connects Nigeria to its West African neighbors along the Gulf of Guinea, and empties into the Niger Delta, a hotbed for the oil trade. Before moving to the centrally located city of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital was Lagos, a port city by the Niger Delta. Lagos maintains the heaviest concentration of Nigeria’s population and is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
GDP$405.1 billion
POPULATION186.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,936
Algeria
#78inQuality of Life Rankings#79 out of 80 in 2017
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Nestled against the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, Algeria was born in 1962 when it gained independence from France following an eight-year war. It is the largest nation by size in the Arab world, and most of the country is covered by desert. In the 21st century it emerged from years of civil war that began in 1992 when authorities canceled elections after an Islamist party won the early vote. What ensued was a conflict between the military and Islamist militants that occupied the 1990s.
GDP$156.1 billion
POPULATION40.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,955
Lebanon
#79inQuality of Life Rankings#78 out of 80 in 2017
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Lebanon is a Levantine country in the northern Arabian Peninsula, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered by Syria to its north and east, and Israel to its south. Its location at the crossroads of Asia and Europe gave birth to early kingdoms and has put it in the center of political and religious upheavals throughout history.
GDP$47.5 billion
POPULATION6.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$19,050
Iran
#80inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Iran, once the heart of the great Persian Empire, sits in southwestern Asia, bordered to its east by Afghanistan and to its west by Iraq. Iran has one of the largest economies in the Middle East and one of the largest populations, with 80.8 million people. While Iran experienced secular reforms and a glimpse of democracy in the mid-20th century, today it is governed by an authoritarian regime. Iran can trace its history back 2,500 years to the time of the Achaemenids. The country has long been of interest to global powersbecause of its strategic location within the Middle East and its abundant supply of oil and other natural resources.
GDP$393.4 billion
POPULATION80.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$19,256
Canada
#1inQuality of Life Rankings
No Change in Rank from 2017
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Canada takes up about two-fifths 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 35.5 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.
GDP $1.5 trillion
POPULATION 36.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP $46,441
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Canada takes up about two-fifths 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 35.5 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.
GDP $1.5 trillion
POPULATION 36.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP $46,441
Denmark
#2inQuality of Life Rankings#3 out of 80 in 2017
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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$306.1 billion
POPULATION5.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,230
Sweden
#3inQuality of Life Rankings#2 out of 80 in 2017
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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$511.0 billion
POPULATION9.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$49,759
Norway
#4inQuality of Life Rankings#5 out of 80 in 2017
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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$370.6 billion
POPULATION5.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$69,407
Australia
#5inQuality of Life Rankings#4 out of 80 in 2017
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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$1.2 trillion
POPULATION24.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,712
Switzerland
#6inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$659.8 billion
POPULATION8.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$60,374
Finland
#7inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$236.8 billion
POPULATION5.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,261
Netherlands
#8inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$770.8 billion
POPULATION17.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$51,249
New Zealand
#9inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$185.0 billion
POPULATION4.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$37,165
Germany
#10inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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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$3.5 trillion
POPULATION82.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$48,449
Austria
#11inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Austria a culturally rich, high-income parliamentary democracy that hosts several key international organizations. Located in the heart of Central Europe, the modern Austrian state was shaped by the two world wars of the 20th century.
GDP$386.4 billion
POPULATION8.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$47,726
Luxembourg
#12inQuality of Life Rankings#14 out of 80 in 2017
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The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a landlocked country in northern Europe with Belgium to the west, France to the south and Germany to the east. The country is one of the smallest in the world and the second-wealthiest after Qatar. Castles and churches dot its forests and rolling hills.
GDP$59.9 billion
POPULATION583.0 thousand
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$105,741
United Kingdom
#13inQuality of Life Rankings#12 out of 80 in 2017
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The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence. Located off the northwest corner of Europe, the country includes the island of Great Britain – which contains England, Scotland and Wales – and the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The year 2017 ushered in anxiety about the country’s role on the global stage, due to the public voting in the summer of 2016 to leave the European Union. The vote raises questions about the European Union, as well as the policies supporting the eurozone.
GDP$2.6 trillion
POPULATION65.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,421
Japan
#14inQuality of Life Rankings#13 out of 80 in 2017
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Japan, one of the world’s most literate and technically advanced nations, is an East Asian country made up of four main islands. While most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded areas, the country’s roughly 126 million people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle. Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western life.
GDP$4.9 trillion
POPULATION127.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$41,220
Ireland
#15inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Republic of Ireland is an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean, separated from Britain on the east by the Irish Sea. Nicknamed the Emerald Isle for its well-watered grasslands, the country is known for its rich cultural traditions, lively pub scene and its struggles for independence. The country comprises five-sixths of the island of Ireland – the remaining sixth is Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. After a bloody fight for independence and civil war in the early 20th century, Ireland became a republic in 1949.
GDP$294.1 billion
POPULATION4.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$69,276
France
#16inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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It is difficult to overstate the influence France has on the world, both in the past and today. Located in Western Europe, France is one of the world’s oldest countries, and its reach extends around the globe through science, politics, economics and perhaps above all, culture. Starting in the Middle Ages, France evolved through kingdom, empire and finally, into a republic. It was one of the first nations to champion the rights of the individual.
GDP$2.5 trillion
POPULATION66.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$42,336
United States
#17inQuality of Life Rankings#18 out of 80 in 2017
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The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world’s most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television. In 2016 the country elected Donald Trump president. Trump's rhetoric and stances on issues including immigration and foreign trade have raised questions around the world, including from the country’s closest allies, about the nation’s future course on the global stage.
GDP$18.6 trillion
POPULATION323.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$57,608
Singapore
#18inQuality of Life Rankings#17 out of 80 in 2017
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Founded as a British trading colony in the 19th century, Singapore is a bustling metropolis in Southeast Asia and home to one of the world’s busiest ports. The vast majority of its 5.7 million citizens live on the eponymous capital island, and dozens of surrounding islands complete the city state. Gross domestic product per capita is high and unemployment is low, making Singapore one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
GDP$297.0 billion
POPULATION5.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$87,832
Spain
#19inQuality of Life Rankings#21 out of 80 in 2017
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A number of independent kingdoms united in 1492 to form the Kingdom of Spain, a cultural patchwork that continues to shape the modern nation’s dynamic identity. Spain comprises much of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal on the southwestern edge of Europe. It also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and two enclaves in North Africa.
GDP$1.2 trillion
POPULATION46.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$36,347
Portugal
#20inQuality of Life Rankings#19 out of 80 in 2017
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Jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on the edge of the Iberian Peninsula and flanked by Spain to the east, Portugal is a nation with its gaze turned outward. Its history is steeped in discovery and exploration, beginning with early leaders that, after ousting Celtic and Moorish settlers in the 12th century, focused on building their kingdom beyond continental borders.
GDP$204.6 billion
POPULATION10.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$28,916
China
#21inQuality of Life Rankings#20 out of 80 in 2017
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Home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China has been ruled by the Communist Party since 1949, when the nation was established as the People’s Republic of China. The country is the world’s most populous and is considered the second-largest by land mass.
GDP$11.2 trillion
POPULATION1.4 billion
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$15,395
Italy
#22inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Italy is a south-central European country, whose boot-shaped borders extend into the Mediterranean Sea. The country’s historical cities, world-renowned cuisine and geographic beauty make it a popular destination for more than 40 million tourists each year. The nation is home to Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, and houses two countries within its borders – the Vatican and San Marino.
GDP$1.8 trillion
POPULATION60.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$36,823
Poland
#23inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Poland is a medium-sized nation located in central Europe with a history and culture shaped by a millennium of conflict across the European continent.
The Christian Kingdom of Poland was formally created in 1025 and by the mid-16th century the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was one of the largest countries on the continent. Partitioned by neighboring countries in the late 18th century, Poland briefly regained its independence following World War I. Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union invaded the country in 1939, marking the beginning of World War II.
GDP$469.5 billion
POPULATION37.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,690
South Korea
#24inQuality of Life Rankings#25 out of 80 in 2017
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a nation in eastern Asia with a long history of conflict that occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula.
Liberated from Japan in 1945 at the end of World War II, South Korea was invaded by communist forces in North Korea a few years later. Aid requested by the United Nations helped end the three-year war and support the south on its way to democracy. A critical divide between the two nations along the center of the peninsula remains.
GDP$1.4 trillion
POPULATION51.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$37,731
United Arab Emirates
#25inQuality of Life Rankings#24 out of 80 in 2017
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The United Arab Emirates, or UAE, is a federation of seven emirates on the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula. The country, wedged between between Oman and Saudi Arabia, has rocky desert, wetlands, waterless mountains and coastlines that stretch along the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
The emirates that currently comprise the UAE were known as the Trucial States in the 19th century as a result of a series of agreements with Great Britain. In 1971, six of these states merged to form the UAE; a seventh joined in 1972.
GDP$348.7 billion
POPULATION9.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$68,092
Czech Republic
#26inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Czech Republic may have been born in 1993, but the nation’s history goes back more than 1,000 years. Its location in the heart of Central Europe has nurtured a rich culture yet provided its people with a reserve born from interference and invasions from larger powers. Perhaps due to the country’s history, the people are among the least religious in the world.
GDP$192.9 billion
POPULATION10.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$33,529
Hungary
#27inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Hungary is a landlocked central European country with Christian roots, which for centuries served as a barrier for Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. While Hungary enjoys the relative economic prosperity typical of many European countries, it is linguistically isolated from its European peers. Over a beer and goulash, most of Hungary’s 9.9 million citizens speak Hungarian, or Magyar. Like Finnish and Estonian, the language is one of the few non-Indo-European languages in Europe.
GDP$124.3 billion
POPULATION9.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,475
Malaysia
#28inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Located in two separate regions in the South China Sea, Malaysia is a small country with a fast-growing economy. Once a British colony, the country is home to about 29 million people, many of whom live in or near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Located on an ocean trade route, Malaysia came under the influence of China, India, the Middle East and eventually Great Britain in the late 18th century. The Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1948 by the unification of former British-ruled territories along the Malay Peninsula. In 1963, the former British colonies of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, joined the Federation, thereafter known simply as Malaysia.
GDP$296.4 billion
POPULATION31.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$27,292
Greece
#29inQuality of Life Rankings#33 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in southeastern Europe, Greece as an independent nation is young, existing since the 19th century. Its civilization, however, is one of history’s oldest and most influential, credited with creating the concept of democracy as well as the ancient Olympic Games, and laying Western foundations in science, the arts and philosophy.
GDP$194.6 billion
POPULATION10.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$26,829
Thailand
#30inQuality of Life Rankings#29 out of 80 in 2017
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Thailand, which translates to “land of the free,” is the only Southeast Asian nation that did not encounter European colonization. Located just above the equator, the nation is wedged into the Indochina peninsula with neighbors Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and has an arm that extends out to Malaysia.
GDP$406.8 billion
POPULATION68.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,885
Bulgaria
#31inQuality of Life Rankings#42 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in the southeastern corner of the Balkans, Bulgaria sits at the junction of Europe and Asia. Its location has made it susceptible to invasions in the past, but it also has provided a rich culture – the country is the birthplace of the Cyrillic script.
GDP$52.4 billion
POPULATION7.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$20,355
India
#32inQuality of Life Rankings#30 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in Southeast Asia, India sits on a peninsula that extends between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The country, the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism, is the world’s second most-populous nation after China, and has roughly one-sixth of the world’s population. After years of nonviolent struggle against British rule, India gained its independence in 1947.
GDP$2.3 trillion
POPULATION1.3 billion
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,694
Croatia
#33inQuality of Life Rankings#37 out of 80 in 2017
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Croatia has found itself at the crossroads of major historical movements, both East and West. These political shifts have uniquely shaped its present-day borders, which curve around Bosnia and Herzegovina in central Europe and stretch along the Adriatic Sea opposite Italy. The nation’s stunning Mediterranean coastline eases into the rugged Dinaric Alps and, continuing northeast, the fertile plains of the Danube River.
GDP$50.4 billion
POPULATION4.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,937
Indonesia
#34inQuality of Life Rankings#36 out of 80 in 2017
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Made up of a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia’s people are diverse, speaking more than 300 languages and ranging from cosmopolitan urbanites to rural villagers. There are hundreds of volcanoes in Indonesia, the most famous of which is Krakatoa, whose explosion in 1883 was one of the most catastrophic in history. Hindu-Buddhist and Muslim kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who colonized the archipelago but ceded independence to the country after an occasionally violent struggle in 1949. From 1967 until 1988, President Suharto ruled Indonesia with an iron hand. Free and fair elections took place in 1999, after rioting toppled his dictatorship.
GDP$932.3 billion
POPULATION261.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,717
Israel
#35inQuality of Life Rankings#40 out of 80 in 2017
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Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors.
GDP$318.7 billion
POPULATION8.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$35,220
Slovenia
#36inQuality of Life Rankings#38 out of 80 in 2017
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Slovenia is a small country located in southern Central Europe, bordered by Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia had been ruled by many larger states dating to the Roman Empire and later the Habsburgs of Austria. Following World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slovenia achieved self-determination, eventually merging with Croatia and Serbia to first form a Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, Slovenia was part of a reformed socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. It declared independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia and today the country has a parliamentary democracy form of government.
GDP$44.0 billion
POPULATION2.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$32,216
Philippines
#37inQuality of Life Rankings#34 out of 80 in 2017
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Thousands of islands in the South China Sea comprise the tropical nation of the Philippines. The land of beautiful beaches and abundant biodiversity has long been plagued by political instability, but its resilient economy continues to improve and push ahead of others in the region. The Republic of the Philippines claimed independence from Japan after World War II in 1946 with assistance from the United States, which had exercised colonial rule over the nation earlier in the century. American influence and ties remain prevalent in the Filipino society, although the relationship has become more strained since the 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte.
GDP$304.9 billion
POPULATION103.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,739
Russia
#38inQuality of Life Rankings#41 out of 80 in 2017
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The scale of Russia is difficult to imagine. It is the world’s largest country by land mass – nearly twice as big as Canada, the world’s second-largest nation – and covers all of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe. It shares land borders with more than a dozen countries, and shares sea borders with Japan and the United States.
GDP$1.3 trillion
POPULATION144.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$26,926
Romania
#39inQuality of Life Rankings#43 out of 80 in 2017
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Romania is the largest of the Balkan nations, tucked between Bulgaria and Ukraine in southeastern Europe along the Black Sea. It is a jigsaw of distinct regions, each with their own history and influence. In the 1860s the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia united to form Romania and in 1877 it gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Transylvania, which was ruled by Austria and Hungary, was later acquired by Romania after fighting for the Allies in World War I.
GDP$186.7 billion
POPULATION19.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,349
Vietnam
#40inQuality of Life Rankings#35 out of 80 in 2017
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Curving along the eastern edge of the Indochina Peninsula, Vietnam shares long stretches of its borders with Cambodia, Laos and the South China Sea. Occupied by the French until 1954, a communist state emerged in 1975 after the People’s Army of the north and Viet Cong guerilla fighters defeated the anti-communist south. The bitter war garnered international attention and participation, especially from the United States, at a critical juncture in the Cold War era in which communism was gaining ground on the global stage. “Doi moi” economic policy reforms beginning in 1986 have helped The Socialist Republic of Vietnam transition to a more modern, competitive nation.
GDP$202.6 billion
POPULATION92.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,423
Saudi Arabia
#41inQuality of Life Rankings#31 out of 80 in 2017
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Saudi Arabia is the giant of the Middle East, with both the vast majority of land and wealth of the Arabian Peninsula falling within its borders. Millions of devout Muslims from around the world participate in a pilgrimage to Mecca each year, believed to be the birthplace of the Muslim prophet Mohammed and the cradle of Islam. A fierce religious identity dominates the Sunni-majority nation, with principles of the Koran, conservative Sunni teachings known as Wahhabism and strict Islamic Shariah law present in all aspects of life.
GDP$646.4 billion
POPULATION32.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$55,331
Mexico
#42inQuality of Life Rankings#48 out of 80 in 2017
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Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on its West and the Gulf of Mexico to its East, Mexico is the third-largest country in Latin America and has the second-largest economy. The nation is one of contrasts, with terrain encompassing arid lands and Caribbean coastlines and a society that has extremes of wealth and poverty.
Once home of the Maya, Aztec and other ancient civilizations, Mexico was ruled by Spain starting in the early 16th century. Administered by Spain for three centuries, the country achieved independence early in the 19th century, first as a short-lived empire and then as a republic in 1824.
GDP$1.0 trillion
POPULATION127.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$18,935
Chile
#43inQuality of Life Rankings#45 out of 80 in 2017
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Distance is one way to define Chile, a long, narrow country on South America’s western coastline whose dramatic landscapes may play a part in the country’s history of producing great poets. A trip from the country’s northern border with Peru to its southern tip at Cape Horn covers 2,700 miles. Chile is narrow – its widest point is just 150 miles – as its eastern border with Argentina backs up against the Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world.
GDP$247.0 billion
POPULATION17.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$24,089
Latvia
#44inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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On the edge of eastern Europe, Latvia sits nestled between Estonia and Lithuania. The trio form the Baltic states and share roots in early tribal settlers as well as similarly strategic locations along the Baltic Sea that have led to various coinciding conquests of their land throughout history. Latvia is among the larger European countries in terms of landmass, but low population density has allowed more than half of the country’s geography to remain as natural ecosystems. There is great geographic diversity within the country’s borders, too, from Ventas Rumba, Europe’s widest waterfall, to the towering pines of Gauja National Park and the crystalline Baltic waters along the resort town of Jurmala.
GDP$27.7 billion
POPULATION2.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$25,702
Dominican Republic
#45inQuality of Life Rankings#49 out of 80 in 2017
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The Dominican Republic, the land of merengue and baseball, occupies two-thirds of the island Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. It was the site of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, as well the first toehold for European settlement. The country’s history reflects many of the historical challenges that the rest of Latin America has faced: civil disorder, ethnic tensions, authoritarian rule and economic upheaval.
The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy, with a multi-party political system and traditional separations of government power falling on executive, legislative and judicial branches.
GDP$71.6 billion
POPULATION10.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,071
Turkey
#46inQuality of Life Rankings#39 out of 80 in 2017
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Founded in 1923, Turkey is home to a unique intersection of culture as the nation bridges Asia with Europe. The country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, though influences of bygone Roman and Byzantine rule pepper the streets and skyline. Extravagant mosques and cathedrals can both be found within blocks of the Grand Bazaar in the city of Istanbul, home to 14 million people. Religious identity is an important part of Turkey’s evolution. For more than a decade, power struggles between a military-backed secular government and an increasingly popular religious movement have raised concerns about government stability.
GDP$857.7 billion
POPULATION79.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$24,986
Costa Rica
#47inQuality of Life Rankings#55 out of 80 in 2017
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Located in the heart of Central America, Costa Rica has been one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Central America since its birth in the 19th century The nation compares favorably to its regional neighbors in areas of human development, and it has used its landscapes of jungles, forests and coastlines to develop an international reputation for ecotourism. Costa Rica’s constitution was adopted in 1949, and has since been amended to declare the nation as multicultural and multiethnic.
GDP$57.4 billion
POPULATION4.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$16,434
Qatar
#48inQuality of Life Rankings#32 out of 80 in 2017
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Qatar is located on a small desert peninsula that extends northward into the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar became subject to the Islamic caliphate after the rise of Islam in 628 A.D. and was subsequently ruled by a number of local and foreign powers. Once a poor British protectorate, the small nation became an independent state in 1971. Now rich in oil and natural gas, Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Just over half of the country’s gross domestic product is comprised of manufacturing, construction and financial services, which has helped the country weather the global decline in oil prices in recent years.
GDP$152.5 billion
POPULATION2.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$125,160
Peru
#49inQuality of Life Rankings#46 out of 80 in 2017
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Peru is a nation whose history is as diverse as the peaks and valleys of its terrain. A strip of the Andes mountains separates a stretch of coastal plains from the dense Amazon jungle that covers more than half of the country. It is the third-largest country in South America, linking Ecuador and Chile along the west coast and bordering Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia inland. The ancient empire of the Incas was centered in Peru, leaving remnants of an expansive kingdom in its wake. A bite of the indigenous coca leaf can help to settle altitude sickness for those who climb the majestic Incan citadel of Machu Picchu.
GDP$192.1 billion
POPULATION31.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,913
Uruguay
#50inQuality of Life Rankings#47 out of 80 in 2017
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Uruguay spent much of the 20th century under military rule before emerging as a democratic country in 1984. The country’s origins date to the 16th century, when it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1512, but it remained in contention between Spain and Portugal until it gained independence in the 1811 Battle of Las Piedras. A series of civil wars and internal strife occupied most of the 19th century.
GDP$52.4 billion
POPULATION3.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$21,395
Tunisia
#51inQuality of Life Rankings#63 out of 80 in 2017
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Tunisia is a small Arab country in North Africa that represents both the aspirations of freedom and struggles against terrorism that roil the region. Along with neighbors Algeria and Libya, it lines the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a strategic location that has attracted Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and others over the years. At the end of 2010, rising inflation and a lack of political freedom combined with high unemployment - particularly among college graduates - ignited public protests that set off the “Arab Spring” wave of demonstrations across much of the Arab World that called for greater freedoms.
GDP$42.1 billion
POPULATION11.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,631
Brazil
#52inQuality of Life Rankings#58 out of 80 in 2017
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Occupying half of South America’s land mass, Brazil is the giant of the continent – both in size and in population. Brazil’s history is filled with economic turmoil, veering from boom to bust, and its culture is a melting pot that has traditionally welcomed the world.
Brazil is one of the world’s top tourist destinations. However, the country in the 21st century confronts serious questions touching on poverty, inequality, governance and the environment.
GDP$1.8 trillion
POPULATION207.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$15,238
Morocco
#53inQuality of Life Rankings#56 out of 80 in 2017
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The Kingdom of Morocco is a Muslim country in western North Africa, with coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Just an hour ferry ride from Spain, the country has a unique mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultural influences. Unlike many of its neighbors, Morocco remained independent for much of its history. Once part of the Roman Empire, the country was ruled by a series of kingdoms after the Arab conquest of the late seventh century. Morocco thwarted attempts at Turkish and European control until the country became a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956, when it gained independence.
GDP$101.4 billion
POPULATION35.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$8,160
Sri Lanka
#54inQuality of Life Rankings#51 out of 80 in 2017
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Referred to as the teardrop of India, Sri Lanka sits just off the southeast coast in the Indian Ocean. Scars of a bitter civil war are fading, and an island nation rich with resources and ripe for adventure is shining through.
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon, is governed by an elected president and legislature. The young nation was born in 1948, when the early Sinhalese settlers claimed independence from the British, putting an end to a string of colonization by many countries, including Portugal, the Netherlands and India.
GDP$81.3 billion
POPULATION21.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,285
Panama
#55inQuality of Life Rankings#54 out of 80 in 2017
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Panama is a Central American nation that connects Costa Rica and South America by way of Colombia. Much of the country’s narrative is tied to a connector of another kind: the Panama Canal, a hub of global trade and transportation that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Caribbean Sea. Construction of the canal began immediately after Panama’s secession from Colombia at the turn of the 20th century. The two nations, along with Ecuador and Venezuela initially, claimed joint independence from Spain in 1821. The massive project was financed and built by the United States in return for a claim to sovereignty over land on either side of it, effectively splitting Panama in half.
GDP$55.2 billion
POPULATION4.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$22,989
Argentina
#56inQuality of Life Rankings#50 out of 80 in 2017
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Argentina, the birthplace of tango, has experienced its share of tragedy and hardship since it became an independent nation in the early 19th century. During the 20th century, Argentina tilted between democracy and authoritarian rule, marked by the 1976-1983 “Dirty War” launched against political opponents of the country’s military government. Democracy returned to Argentina in 1983. The overwhelming majority of its citizens are ethnically European or partially European, reflecting the country’s 16th-century Spanish colonization and the waves of 19th and early 20th century immigration that flowed from Europe – particularly Spain and Italy.
GDP$545.9 billion
POPULATION43.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$20,053
Kenya
#57inQuality of Life Rankings#66 out of 80 in 2017
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When Kenya claimed its independence from the U.K. in 1963, leaders of the newly formed republic promoted a sense of national unity using the motto “harambee,” Swahili for ‘pulling together.’ The sentiment holds true today in a country that blends the rich culture and traditions of dozens of varied groups that call it home.
Scientists have called the East African nation, situated along the equator, the cradle of humankind. Some of the oldest and most complete human remains have been found along the Great Rift Valley, a volcano-lined trench that runs through western Kenya.
GDP$70.5 billion
POPULATION48.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$3,364
Myanmar
#58inQuality of Life Rankings#53 out of 80 in 2017
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The history of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is marked by ethnic violence and widespread impoverishment as it has convulsed between democratic freedom and brutal authoritarian rule. The country, a medium-sized nation in Southeast Asia that borders Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand, is populated by several ethnic groups, with the Burmese dominating the population, politics, economy and society.
GDP$67.4 billion
POPULATION52.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,804
Ecuador
#59inQuality of Life Rankings#52 out of 80 in 2017
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Named for its proximity to the Earth’s equator, the South American nation of Ecuador is home to a more dynamic society than its straightforward name may suggest. Tremendous culture is packed within a nation a quarter the size of its neighbors, Colombia and Peru. Once part of the Inca Empire, Ecuador won independence from Spain in the early 1800s and was one of three countries that emerged from the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia. Its current population -- largely of mixed indigenous and European descent -- is a clear manifestation of these distinctive roots. Spanish is the official language, and Incan Quechua is used in formal intercultural relations.
GDP$97.8 billion
POPULATION16.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$11,185
Belarus
#60inQuality of Life Rankings#62 out of 80 in 2017
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Carved out of Russia’s east border, Belarus sits among a group of post-Soviet states in East Europe to the north of Ukraine. The nation claimed its independence in 1991 after seven decades under the USSR. Though landlocked, more than 11,000 lakes and ancient, enchanting woodlands cover the flat landscape. Despite operating under an autonomous government, Belarus maintains extremely close political and economic ties with Russia. Isolationist trade policies are fueled by priority access to cheap oil from Russia, a relationship that has been called into question more than once in the last decade.
GDP$47.4 billion
POPULATION9.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$18,073
Bahrain
#61inQuality of Life Rankings#60 out of 80 in 2017
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Off the east coast of Saudi Arabia, a collection of a few dozen small islands comprise the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is one of seven Arab states that border the Persian Gulf and, with the exception of Iraq, belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic union in the region. Much of Bahrain’s identity stems from its relationship with the water surrounding it; translated from Arabic, its name means “the two seas.” In 1932, it was the first to discover oil off of its shores in the Persian Gulf. While its petroleum industry has not matched the same production level or profitability as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have achieved, its central location to oil transit gives Bahrain a strategic advantage and an important role in foreign relations.
GDP$31.9 billion
POPULATION1.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$50,719
South Africa
#62inQuality of Life Rankings#59 out of 80 in 2017
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South Africa is located on the southern tip of Africa, with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa’s third-largest economy behind Nigeria and Egypt, South Africa draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year eager to see its impressive terrain, wildlife and cultural diversity. Although South Africa has come a long way since the end of apartheid in 1994, it remains a country of vast inequality and high crime. While the country is dotted with world-class dining, trendy shops, sprawling vineyards and upscale safari lodges, townships lacking basic infrastructure are often only a short distance away.
GDP$294.8 billion
POPULATION55.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$13,291
Bolivia
#63inQuality of Life Rankings#61 out of 80 in 2017
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Named after a key leader in the Latin American independence revolutions of the early 19th century, Bolivia is a landlocked nation in central South America that reflects the region’s rich yet painful past as well as present-day challenges and promise. Bolivia is a multiethnic country that has a large proportion of indigenous people. Other groups include mestizo (mixed Indian and European descent) and European.
GDP$33.8 billion
POPULATION10.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,229
Kazakhstan
#64inQuality of Life Rankings#69 out of 80 in 2017
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Kazakhstan, the world's largest landlocked country, is located mostly in Central Asia, with a small section in easternmost Europe. The country has the largest economy in the region, fueled mostly by its vast natural resources. Present day Kazakhstan was part of various empires throughout the centuries, including the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries. The area came under Russian control in the 18th century and became a Soviet Republic in 1936. In 1991, it was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.
GDP$133.7 billion
POPULATION17.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$25,167
Colombia
#65inQuality of Life Rankings#70 out of 80 in 2017
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Colombia is located in the northwest corner of South America and is the continent’s most populous Spanish-speaking nation. Roughly twice the geographic size of France, Colombia is bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as well as Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Colombia won independence from Spain in the early 19th century, and was one of three countries that formed out of the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia – the other two nations being Ecuador and Venezuela. Today the country is a democratic republic with universal suffrage, with separate executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.
GDP$282.5 billion
POPULATION48.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,126
Ghana
#66inQuality of Life Rankings#64 out of 80 in 2017
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The former Gold Coast, named for its rich deposits of the precious metal, became the Republic of Ghana in 1957 when it gained independence from British colonial rule. An ancient trade route once ran through west Africa, crossing through Ghana and neighbors Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. The discovery of gold made Ghana one of the first places in sub-Saharan Africa to attract European traders; it was also the first nation in the region to break colonial rule.
GDP$42.7 billion
POPULATION28.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$4,383
Azerbaijan
#67inQuality of Life Rankings#65 out of 80 in 2017
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Azerbaijan is a small nation located in the Caucasus region, straddling Europe and Asia. Situated at a geographic crossroads, the land was ruled by many empires before it first became a democratic republic in 1918, following World War I. Just two years later, however, it was absorbed into the Soviet Union. In 1991 Azerbaijan emerged as an independent republic following the Soviet collapse.
GDP$37.8 billion
POPULATION9.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$17,453
Guatemala
#68inQuality of Life Rankings#57 out of 80 in 2017
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Home to much of Mayan civilization, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America, touching Mexico’s southern border and possessing coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Guatemalans have traveled a painful road to present-day democracy. The country won independence from Spain in the early 19th century, but civil discord and authoritarian rule has marked much of the country’s history.
GDP$68.8 billion
POPULATION16.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$7,945
Tanzania
#69inQuality of Life Rankings#67 out of 80 in 2017
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Tanzania is an East African country home to the continent’s highest mountain – Kilimanjaro – and the world’s second-deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika. It also includes the Zanzibar Archipelago, several islands – sometimes called the “spice islands” – in the Indian Ocean.
GDP$47.4 billion
POPULATION55.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$3,090
Egypt
#70inQuality of Life Rankings#72 out of 80 in 2017
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Egypt, with vast swaths of desert in its east and west and the rich Nile River Valley at its heart, is site to one of the world’s earliest and greatest civilizations. Its location at the northeast corner of Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea has made it a cultural and trading center. But its location has also made it a prize to claim by empires and put it at the center of social and religious movements.
GDP$336.3 billion
POPULATION95.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,551
Pakistan
#71inQuality of Life Rankings#77 out of 80 in 2017
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The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was born in 1947 when Muslims broke from the Hindu-majority, British India to rule their own homeland. Located in the ancient Indus Valley of the Middle East, settlements in the region, among the Khyber Pass, Himalayas and Arabian Sea, are some of the oldest in the world and most heavily travelled in history. Conflicts over the Kashmir region, one of the largest of the disputed territories, erupted into wars with India, and in 1971, India helped the Bengalis of the east secede from Pakistan to form modern-day Bangladesh.
GDP$283.7 billion
POPULATION193.2 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,095
Ukraine
#72inQuality of Life Rankings#74 out of 80 in 2017
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Ukraine, a nation whose history has experienced long periods of occupation from other countries, today wrestles between war and peace, as well as between corruption and reform. The nation borders the Black and Azov seas to the south and abuts several Eastern European nations, including Russia. Ukraine declared independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Its president is directly elected by voters. The prime minister is the head of the central government, which is separated along executive, legislative and judicial branches.
GDP$93.3 billion
POPULATION45.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$8,320
Serbia
#73inQuality of Life Rankings#71 out of 80 in 2017
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Serbia is a small country in central-southeast Europe whose history is a timeline of European wars dating to the Middle Ages. Contemporary Serbia reflects the ambiguities and contradictions of modern Europe – culturally rich, comparatively developed economically yet driven by regional rivalries and ethnic tensions.
GDP$37.7 billion
POPULATION7.1 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,412
Oman
#74inQuality of Life Rankings#68 out of 80 in 2017
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The oldest independent state in the Arab world, Oman is located on the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The country was always of interest to foreign powers due to its strategic position for Indian Ocean trade. Controlled by the Portuguese in the 1500s and later the Persians, the country eventually formed close ties with Britain in the late 19th century, though it never became a colony. During the 1800s, Oman profited greatly from the slave trade, cultivating colonies in modern-day Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan.
GDP$66.3 billion
POPULATION4.4 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$46,067
Jordan
#75inQuality of Life Rankings#73 out of 80 in 2017
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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small, young country located on land of ancient biblical significance. The country is one of the most liberal in the region and also has one of the smallest economies, as it lacks the natural resources enjoyed by many of its neighbors. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and later a mandate of the United Kingdom, Jordan became an independent kingdom in 1946. The country lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel in the war of 1967. Years later the country joined Egypt in becoming one of the two Arab nations to make peace with Israel.
GDP$38.7 billion
POPULATION9.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$12,265
Angola
#76inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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The Republic of Angola is an oil-rich nation in southern Africa, bordered by Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Atlantic Ocean. It's shimmering shores rise to a high plateau with both desert and rainforest terrain. Originally colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, the Portuguese withdrew from Angola in 1975, and the newly independent nation was thrown into a decades-long civil war between rival independence movements. The nation’s people and economy are still recovering from the conflict that killed thousands and displaced millions before peace was reached in 2002.
GDP$89.6 billion
POPULATION28.8 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$6,797
Nigeria
#77inQuality of Life Rankings#75 out of 80 in 2017
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The Federal Republic of Nigeria claimed its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, becoming the most populous country in Africa. The Niger River connects Nigeria to its West African neighbors along the Gulf of Guinea, and empties into the Niger Delta, a hotbed for the oil trade. Before moving to the centrally located city of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital was Lagos, a port city by the Niger Delta. Lagos maintains the heaviest concentration of Nigeria’s population and is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
GDP$405.1 billion
POPULATION186.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$5,936
Algeria
#78inQuality of Life Rankings#79 out of 80 in 2017
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Nestled against the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, Algeria was born in 1962 when it gained independence from France following an eight-year war. It is the largest nation by size in the Arab world, and most of the country is covered by desert. In the 21st century it emerged from years of civil war that began in 1992 when authorities canceled elections after an Islamist party won the early vote. What ensued was a conflict between the military and Islamist militants that occupied the 1990s.
GDP$156.1 billion
POPULATION40.6 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$14,955
Lebanon
#79inQuality of Life Rankings#78 out of 80 in 2017
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Lebanon is a Levantine country in the northern Arabian Peninsula, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered by Syria to its north and east, and Israel to its south. Its location at the crossroads of Asia and Europe gave birth to early kingdoms and has put it in the center of political and religious upheavals throughout history.
GDP$47.5 billion
POPULATION6.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$19,050
Iran
#80inQuality of Life RankingsNo Change in Rank from 2017
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Iran, once the heart of the great Persian Empire, sits in southwestern Asia, bordered to its east by Afghanistan and to its west by Iraq. Iran has one of the largest economies in the Middle East and one of the largest populations, with 80.8 million people. While Iran experienced secular reforms and a glimpse of democracy in the mid-20th century, today it is governed by an authoritarian regime. Iran can trace its history back 2,500 years to the time of the Achaemenids. The country has long been of interest to global powersbecause of its strategic location within the Middle East and its abundant supply of oil and other natural resources.
GDP$393.4 billion
POPULATION80.3 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP$19,256
Tạp chí USNEWS Mỹ nhận định : so với năm 2017, năm nay Canada vẫn đứng đầu trong 80 nước trên thế giới về đời sống, an sinh xã hội và môi trường , và vẫn đứng thứ 2 trên thế giới về tổng thể !
