Costa Rica: the Happiest Place on Earth?

If you've been there, you'll agree: Costa Rica is a happy place. In fact, Costa Rica topped the "Happy Planet Index" for 2009.

Run by a independent research group in Britain called the New Economics Foundation, the Happy Planet Index ranks countries with the most content people and the least ecological impact. In a statement, the group claimed "Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the new world (second to Canada) ... They also have an ecological footprint that means that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of ... consuming its fair share of the Earth's natural resources."

Latin American nations filled 9 of the top 10 spots, with Guatemala ranking fourth on the list. The United States, however, ranked 114th.