lol at 2nd best...

http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=554234&showcomments=true

Australia moves up in the world! 
International Living magazine has released their annual Quality of Life index, one of the more scientific of the 'where's the best place to live' surveys that pop up from time to time.

Each January, the researchers use statistics like the Index of Overseas Living Costs, literacy rates, GDP growth, greenhouse emissions, civil rights and even calorie consumption to come up with a list of best (and worst) countries to call home.


It's good news for Australia, which has moved up the rankings to number two (we were fifth last year). That's a pretty decent result but we'll still have to work a bit harder to take the number one spot from France, which has won the rankings for five years in a row. New Zealand did pretty well too, coming in at number five after Switzerland and Germany.


Here's the top ten:



1. France

2. Australia


3. Switzerland


4. Germany


5. New Zealand


6. Luxembourg


7. USA


8. Belgium


9.Canada


10. Italy


If you're a bit bummed that we got beaten by the French, console yourself with the thought that you could be living in poor old Somalia, Yemen or Sudan, the three worst countries in the world according to the index.

Have a look a the full 2010 countries list, which yields some interesting and surprising results (who knew that Luxembourg was such a great place?)


Do you think Australia is the second-best place in the world to live? Have your say using the comments form below: