The Happiest Kingdom? #102

Bhutan’s attempt to measure the total happiness of its citizens: Does it work?

The Gross National Happiness Index of the Kingdom of Bhutan was the first large-scale attempt to measure the level of happiness of a whole country’s population. But does it work?

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The happy kingdom

The Kingdom of Bhutan is not a place you’d normally have heard of. It’s a small country, 46,500 square kilometres: roughly 150 km north to south and 300 km east to west [1]. It’s mostly high mountains and deep valleys, and it stretches from a hot and humid south to the perpetual snow of the Himalayas in the north. What makes it remarkable, though, is that its government has set itself the explicit goal of making its people happier.