For all the boys trying to tease us Aussies: :lol:
Australia is the third-best country in which to live, says a United Nations report released yesterday.
However, as Australia joins Norway (first), Sweden (second), Canada (fourth) and the Netherlands (fifth) as the top-ranking countries, quality of life in Africa has plummeted because of AIDS, with average life expectancy falling below 40 in some areas.
This year's Human Development Index measured a nation's wellbeing by rating 2002 figures for per-capita income, educational levels, health care and life expectancy.
Issued annually, it includes every country for which statistics are available, with Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Liberia among nations not included because of a lack of data. Australia, Japan at ninth, and New Zealand at 18th, were the only countries outside Europe or North America in the top 20.
The United States was ranked eighth, a fall of one place from last year, with Norway topping the list for the past four years. (source Sydney Morning Herald 16 July 2004)
:roll: I guess now we get to see how the Olympics pan out!! Go the Aussies :!:
