Qatar ranked 2nd happiest country in MENA region

Qatar has been ranked as the second happiest country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as reported by Qatar Tribune.

According to the World Happiness Report of 2017, Qatar is ranked 35th happiest country in the world. The country stood at 36th place in 2016.

In the MENA region, the UAE is ranked the highest (21), Saudi Arabia placed at 37th, Kuwait 39th and Bahrain 41st.

Doha News reported that the report ranks 157 countries based on happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and social support. Norway displaced Denmark as the world's happiest country this year.

The Nordic nations are the most content, according to the World Happiness Report 2017 produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative launched by the United Nations in 2012.

Countries in the sub-Saharan Africa, along with Syria and Yemen, are the least happy of the 155 countries ranked in the fifth annual report released at the United Nations. The World Happiness Report was released on the International Day of Happiness."Happiness is increasingly considered the proper measure of social progress and the goal of public policy," the report said.

Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden rounded out the top ten countries.

South Sudan, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Central African Republic were at the bottom.