RIYADH: The United Nations last Wednesday released its world happiness report for the year 2016, revealing that the people of Denmark are the happiest people of the world.



The report covered 156 countries on the list where Saudi Arabia was in 34th position in the world and second in the Arab world after the UAE.

Saudi Arabia reached second position in happiness in the Arab world among 68 countries, according to a survey conducted by WIN/Gallup International which sampled 66,000 people from these countries. They were asked about their concepts of happiness and material wealth, optimism, stability and the economy, a website reported.

Dr. Eizzuddin Al-Nimr, a professor at Al-Qassim University, said there were five reasons which make Saudi Arabia one of the happiest nations in the world.

He said that understanding happiness depends on the understanding of a citizen about life. “Some patients, despite feeling pain, may feel happy, which may not be felt by some healthy people. Some poor people also may feel happy even if they do not have money, and many rich may not have this,” he said.

There are five reasons behind the happiness of Saudis. First, there is religion. The center of Islam is in Makkah. The second is peace and security — you cannot feel happy if you are not safe and secure. The third is money — Saudis live financially comfortable lives compared to many Arab, non-Arab, Western and developed countries. Fourth is free education, which is not available in many countries, even if they are Western, rich and developed countries. The fifth reason is comprehensive health care.

If a person loses their happiness, they become just a body that breathes. There are a number of things which make you miserable for weeks; there are only a few things which give you happiness for a full day.