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Costa Rica ranked happiest place on planet

The Central American country of Costa Rica has been ranked the happiest in the world, according to the  New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index.

Costa Rica flag.

Costa Rica, meaning "'rich coast", is a popular eco-tourism destination known for its beautiful beaches, rainforests and diverse plants and wildlife, including colourful toucan birds, the Times of  India quoted as reporting.

The next happiest places are Vietnam and Colombia.

The organisation ranked all of the countries in the world from data culled from a Gallup World Poll asking people how they felt their lives measured up on a scale of one to 10, TOI reported

They then factored in life expectancy and the country's ecological footprint—the amount of land needed to sustain its way of life.

The New Economics Foundation said that it didn't believe its Happy Planet Index was the only way the measure the success of a country, but it was a valid indicator of the state of a nation.