CAIRO: According to a recent Gallup poll, Egypt ranked 115 globally in terms of happiness and 15th among Arab countries. The international polling center said in its findings that only some 10 percent of Egyptians said they were content to face the pressures of life, equal to the level reported by Syrians. The list included 155 countries with the United Arab Emirates topping the list of most happy Arab countries. It was ranked number 20 worldwide, followed by Kuwait, 23rd globally. Qatar was ranked third in the Arab world and 35th globally, then Bahrain (48 worldwide), Jordan, 52, and Saudi Arabia at number 58. The researchers at Gallup said the study involved thousands of people in 155 countries between 2005 and 2009. The poll measured happiness on two levels: the conviction of the people concerning their lives and whether they feel stabled and respected. Denmark was the happiest country, reporting 82 percent of its population as content in their lives, followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Netherlands and Costa Rica tied after that, with New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Switzerland rounding out the top 10. Hoda Zakaria, a professor of political sociology at the University of Zagazig, questioned the credibility of the poll, saying she is “not quite sure of the credibility of any foreign research and polls,” adding that it is “impossible for the researchers to tour all over Egypt to find out how happy are Egyptians.” She stressed that the criteria for happiness differs from one place to another and from one person to another. “There is no clear concept of happiness. The West may be identified in accordance with the standards of thinking and traditions, which vary in form and substance to the Arabs in the Middle East,” she added. Elsewhere across the Middle East, Libya came in 67th globally, followed by Lebanon, 73, Algeria, 85, Tunisia, 96, Yemen, 97, Palestine, 96, Iraq 110 and Sudan,130. BM
