The Swiss are the happiest people on the planet. That was the conclusion of the most recent UN World Happiness Report. Just weeks ago, however, Gallup released a report suggesting something very different -- that the happiest people in the world are Latin Americans. Which one is right?

The answer is "both" -- it just depends on how you define happiness. If you think happiness is how people see their lives -- then the Swiss are the happiest people in the world. If you think happiness is defined by how people live their lives through experiences such as smiling and laughing, enjoyment and feeling treated with respect each day -- then the happiest people in the world are Latin Americans.

"How people see their lives" is quantified by asking people around the world to evaluate their current lives using a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the worst possible life and 10 being the best possible life. Using this scale, the Swiss and Danes rate their lives the best in the world; people in Togo, Burundi and Afghanistan rate their lives the worst.

Gallup measures "how people live their lives" by asking a series of 10 questions on positive and negative experiences. The five positive experiences include feeling well-rested, laughing and smiling, enjoyment, feeling respected and learning or doing something interesting; the five negative experiences include stress, sadness, physical pain, worry and anger. The items are grouped into index scores known as the Positive Experience Index and the Negative Experience Index. Gallup's report onInternational Happiness Day featured the countries reporting the highest scores for the Positive Experience Index.

The Swiss rate their lives highly because of the overall human development in Switzerland, long life expectancy and high incomes -- all of which are big drivers of life evaluation. In fact, some research suggests that the more money you make, the higher you rate your life. This also appears to be true globally. Therefore, it is no surprise that residents of some of the richest countries in the world evaluate their lives the best -- and the poorest countries, the worst.  Read More at gallup

Who Are the Ha.ppiest People in the World? The Swiss or Latin Americans?