In 2009, Costa Rica was ranked first as the Happiest Place on Earth according to the Happy Planet Index (HPI) that was introduced in 2006.
Fast-forward three years to 2012 and once again, Costa Rica is honored with being atop the pack.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact.
Founders are the New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The index is a sort of “pressure plate” to help spark countries that are normally ignorant to sustainability and educate them on the importance of consuming less resources while providing a higher quality of life for their citizens.
A little known fact about Costa Rica within the whole ‘happy and healthy’ mindset is that the country holds one of only five Blue Zones in the entire world.
A Blue Zone is an area of the planet that is conducive to longevity and produces some of the longest life expectancies around the globe.
In Costa Rica the area most associated with longevity, and a designated Blue Zone, is the increasingly popular province of Guanacaste.
Guanacaste is in the northern sector of the country near the Nicaragua border. Over the years the area has become a popular tourist destination as well as a playground to the rich and famous.
Along with all the attention Guanacaste has been getting, this has also sparked a return of the once struggling economy of the area during the world crisis.
In fact just recently the brother of vice-president Joe Biden, Frank Biden, has announced his intention to develop a section of land near the Costa Rica airport of Daniel Oduber International.
The political heavyweight is looking to promote his interests at the “anti-aging” demographic given its close proximity to the officially designated Blue Zone.
As more and more people become uneasy within America (who ranked 105th), the reality is that a good number are choosing to live outside the country where their money goes further as does their quality and longevity of life.
Pura vida (pure life) as they say in Costa Rica!
