Nicholas D. Kristof, of the New York Times, wrote in a recent essay: The Happiest People

"Hmmm. You think it’s a coincidence? Costa Rica is one of the very few countries to have abolished its army, and it’s also arguably the happiest nation on earth."

He quotes the World Database of Happiness, which calls itself "an ongoing register of scientific research on the subjective enjoyment of life."

In the article, Kristof discusses how the countries of the world ranked in regards to self-reported contentment in several key areas.

Prioritizing human and environmental well-being is not a common benchmark of successful development, but it should be.

Another country that has demonstrably prioritized happiness is Bhutan, with its "Gross National Happiness" Indicator.

A BBC special from a few years back describes this outlook.

One spokesperson termed it as "a development philosophy that puts people at the center...where we look at not just the material needs but the spiritual needs of people." In the 25+ years that their current king has held office, forested terrain has increased, and he also made a decision to share power equally with their Parliament. "To us, GNH means that the ultimate goal of development should be happiness. Not purely economic development, but carefully balanced with spiritual health, the environment and generally the quality of life."

Unfortunately Bhutan has also been widely accused of expelling thousands of Nepali-speaking residents and others through forced displacement and ethnic cleansing. But the unique determination to consider the political, social and spiritual well-being of the citizens is commendable.

Here is a short contemplative film about Bhutan

This from Wikipedia:

A second-generation GNH concept, treating happiness as a socioeconomic development metric, was proposed in 2006 by Med Yones, the President of International Institute of Management. The metric measures socioeconomic development by tracking 7 development area including the nation's mental and emotional health.[3] GNH value is proposed to be an index function of the total average per capita of the following measures:

1. Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
2. Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
3. Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
4. Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
5. Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
6. Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
7. Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts.

International attention to the nature of development can be seen: "Rethinking Development: Local Pathways to Global Wellbeing", the Second International Conference on Gross National Happiness was held in Antigonish, Nova Scotia June 20–24, 2005, co-hosted by Genuine Progress Index Atlantic (proceedings online); the Coady International Institute; Shambhala; the Centre for Bhutan Studies; the Province of Nova Scotia; the Gorsebrook Research Institute at Saint Mary's University; and the University of New Brunswick.

Do you know more about countries or even companies which are prioritizing the human and natural element over profits? Write in and tell about it!