What are some good countries to live in??

Just wondering what countries around the globe besides the US and Canada are good, I know about both, i'm just interested in hearing about places on other foreign soil. Share your experiences here please!!


Thank you!

Edit: Rephrased Question.

[edit on 4-8-2004 by TrueLies]

Well, with the right attitude, way of thinking and being you can probably live with great freedom in most countries on the planet. If you are a master, you can live in freedom in all.

[edit on 27-7-2004 by TheBandit795]

Well the US isn't that bad. UK is supposed to be nice, lets see Canada, I've heard Finland is actually nice despite the fact that its cold. Supposedly most people there are quite educated.

South Africa is a beautiful, first world lifestyle/infrastructure kind of country. Friendly people mostly educated, english speaking for the most part ( if thats a consideration). In fact if you were looking for a place to live its really a great option, its only drawback is that its often mistaken for just another african country.

Its definitly Canada, free healthcare, monthly pension if you have kids, maternity leave when you are pregnant and parternity leave too!!! and of course... me, nothing better than that!!!

Somalia!
Wonderful place, to get tanned, lose weight, and play with guns!

Not sure if this completely up to date, but this is list of the top 15 countries by standard of living (from the UN's Human Development Report):

1. Norway
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. Belgium
5. Australia
6. United States
7. Iceland
8. Netherlands
9. Japan
10. Finland
11. Switzerland
12. France
13. United Kingdom
14. Denmark
15. Austria

In terms of poverty, Norway's again at the top with the lowest level of human poverty at 7.3%, and then it's Sweden on 7.6%. The worst industrialised countries for poverty are the U.S on 15.8%, then Ireland on 15%, then the U.K on 14.6%.

I think it's impossible to get a completely accurate picture of 'standard of living' as there are so many factors varied between countries.
It's interesting that the top two for standard of living and lowest levels of poverty have strong socialist tendancies though eh?.

LUXEMBORG.................great lifestyle.....speaks english.........rich country...........no wars..............good landscape...........personally i just like that castle

Well and this is just my opinion and experiences mind you but...

I am an american and when it's good it's great baby, but when it's bad it's oh so freakin' scary. I will always consider America overall the best place, but the real close runner ups IMHO are...

Australia! Except for the taxes Australia is fantastic. The people have massive balls and are not afraid to speak their minds. From the Flinders Ranges to Sydney it's just a great country. Another advantage is the fact that most of the food and produce are grown on the continent, over all the quality of the food is incredible. I can't say enough about this place, just great. The skin heads can be a problem in Melbourne but each man to his own path and all. Oh and they make the best beer in the whole world Victoria Bitter, holy freakin' crap is that good stuff.

Japan. I lived in Japan for a little over a year and there was tight social control such as the subways stopping at midnight and banks and atms not availble after a certain hour on the weekends. This was a while ago so I don't know if it's different. But Japan is great, a beautiful country. Also the Japanese will never suffer a bad meal so the food (even the fast food places) tend to be very good. Japan is all about merging cultures. The samurai/honor tradition is alive and well in subtext which does much to keep most every one from doing something dishonorable.

I like England a lot but I love Scotland. I defy you to have a bad time in a room full of Scots, can't be done. Edinburgh is nice but if you really wanna see Scotland it's the highlands, the town of Inver Lochy (sp?) is a real hoot.

I'm sure I'm leaving out something but that's my short list.

Spiderj

Here's a different way to rate it, what about happiness!

Apparently the country with the highest percentage of happy people is Nigeria then;

Mexico
Venezuela
El Salvador
Puerto Rico

And the unhappiest are;

Russia
Armenia
Romania

BBC
A new study of more than 65 countries published in the UK's New Scientist magazine suggests that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria - and the least happy, in Romania.

People in Latin America, Western Europe and North America are happier than their counterparts in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest.

...The survey appears to confirm the old adage that money cannot buy happiness.

Originally posted by DEEVAH
Its definitly Canada, free healthcare, monthly pension if you have kids, maternity leave when you are pregnant and parternity leave too!!! and of course... me, nothing better than that!!!

I can definatly say that Canada is one relaxing place to live. Not alot of day to day worries and I couldn't ask for a better mix of summer weather and winter weather, for those who like to play in the winter that is.

Like DEEVAH said free healthcare, prescripitons, pensions, leaves from work, lower crime than USA and less murders.

Basically anything in western europe is nice. That includes Germany. Taiwan is supposed to be quite nice, the only thing that disqualifies it is impending invasion from China. Stay away from anypart of Asia (especially the middle east) except the far east. Stay away from most of Africa, and South America isn't that great either. Luxemborg I've heard has the highest GPN per person. Nice isn't it. But I would say Canada is probably the winner thanks to the low crime rate and various medical benefits, and its very clean, take Toronto as an example. In general the US is great but certain parts are better than others. Stay away from major cities and its actually quite nice.

[edit on 7/27/2004 by cyberdude78]

Originally posted by Netchicken
Somalia!
Wonderful place, to get tanned, lose weight, and play with guns!

So far Somalia gets my vote for the best place to live out of those listed.

It's the "play with guns" part that won me over

any small town british Columbia single men want a girlfriend?

I would like to move...I love winter sports and fishing.......

this is embarassing because I am serious

Hello,

Currently I live in Nikishka, Alaska. Which is very nice and unpretentious unless you go to Anchorage. It is truly beautiful here. The summers are fantastic little time to sleep because there is so much to do. Winter is cold and long and dark. However if you enjoy winter sports you can not find a better place. Ounce you get out of Anchorage the cost of housing is very reasonable the cost of food is above average and quality is costly. People are down to earth and simple. Blue Levi's are the the latest fashion
I was born raised and educated in Boston, there are no cultural amenities here, such as museums, old libraries, Gothic looking churches, fantastic theartre,etc... In Anchorage they try but it is only a city of approximately 500,000 and very recently built. I recommend it highly to those that are tough as a nail, unless you live in Anchorage, there you can be wimpy and urban. Best have money though, $10 for a good hamburger at a restaurant.
I have recently been forced into a early retirement with an extremely modest income so Paris and Amsterdam are out of the question. Recently I have been looking into Central America. Belize is nice the language is English but it is even more primitive there than the wilderness of Alaska, no supply chain so to speak, very, very, laid back. Costa Rica and Guatemala looked very enticing with lots of amenities. But Panama is looking real nice right about now. Stable and about 1/5th the cost of living of the last three countries mentioned and a lot of perks for retired Americans. I will just have to wait and see how the winter goes without working and living alone it may be difficult for me.
The future holds my answers
Let me know if I can help. Twenty years ago I would have gone to Egypt, a lovely place. However while I was busy working someone screwed up the World.

Tutankhamen

Originally posted by theRiverGoddess
any small town british Columbia single men want a girlfriend?

I would like to move...I love winter sports and fishing.......

this is embarassing because I am serious

No worries. I'm free for any single women of Iceland.

I'm serious too, but incapable of embarassment.

Originally posted by theRiverGoddess
any small town british Columbia single men want a girlfriend?

I would like to move...I love winter sports and fishing.......

this is embarassing because I am serious

If you enjoy winter sports and fishing it does not get any better than the Kenai Peninsula. The river is full of Reds and Kings and I have been eating salmon all week. I have read quite a few of your posts and enjoy them and I am single. So the only question is what are you waiting for a formal invitation
Think about it,

TUT

CANADA !

But I plant to go back to India and have 10 wives and 50 kids !

Yay !!!!!!!!!!

Deep

Finland. Very advanced in technology, healthcare and such yet we still have thousands of lakes and forests that seem to go on forever.

Norway is good, I heard they banned Islam...

Also, South Africa used to be good until the Mandela age... now it has the highest rape rates in the world, highest new aids cases in the world, whites are basically forced to surrender all property to the government. I have family there in case you wonder how I get this info. For some reason they don't publicize it too much on the news...