Bahrain amongst the happiest places...

Bahrain 'happiest place in region'

By ALISTAIR BAPTISTA

MANAMA

BAHRAIN residents were among the happiest people in the region,
according to a new online survey released yesterday. They ranked fourth
among residents of 11 countries in the region, behind Oman, Saudi
Arabia and Qatar respectively.

The UAE-based research firm Maktoob Research announced that overall, 49 per cent of the people in the region are "happy".

The firm found that Bahrain residents aged above 45 years were the
happiest, compared to the least happiest - 26 to 35 age group.

Manama was said to be the "happiest" city in Bahrain, followed by Muharraq.

A cross section of 340 Bahrain residents took the survey, including
Bahrainis, Algerians, Egyptians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Kuwaitis,
Lebanese, Pakistanis Palestinians, Saudis, Sudanese, Syrians,
Tunisians, Emiratis and Yemenis.

The survey was conducted from March 11 to 17 this year, with 7,434
residents from Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria taking part.

Of Bahrain's respondents, 160 were male and 180 were female, aged between 18 years to 45 years old.

More than 54pc of Bahrain residents said they were happy.

Thirty per cent of people aged more than 45 years were found to be
the happiest, while nine per cent of those aged between 26 and 35 years
were most unhappy.

More than 36pc of people aged 18 to 25 years old said that they were neither happy nor sad.

Manama was ranked the country's happiest city with 67pc of happy residents, ahead of Muharraq at 56pc.

According to the survey, 61pc of Oman, 57pc of Saudi and 56pc of Qatar residents said they were happy.

They are followed by that of Kuwait (53pc), the UAE (52pc), Jordan
(47pc), Egypt (46pc), Syria (46pc), Morocco (44pc) and Lebanon (35pc).

More than 19pc of men and 17pc of women respondents classed
themselves as unhappy while the remaining classed themselves as neither
happy nor unhappy.

Factors that made people happy varied from country to country,
however, major reasons included an optimistic nature, being part of a
close-knit loving family, marital stability, wonderful friends, strong
religious faith, high levels of job satisfaction, financial and career
stability, sizable income, good health, a successful career and
achievement of personal goals.

Respondents cited very high costs of living, problems at work,
insufficient salary, unemployment, bad health, obesity, dissatisfaction
with personal appearance, unhappy marital and family life, lack of
close friends, large debts, unsatisfactory academic results, recent
loss of loved ones, general instability and uncertainty regarding the
future as reasons for unhappiness.

"Our first 'Happiness Survey' has revealed some very interesting results," said Maktoob Research director Tamara Deprez.

"One of the most quoted factors for unhappiness among surveyed countries is the rising cost of living," he said.

(from todays Gulf daily news)

well, im very happy with living here so....