The happiest people in the world

The US and India are the world's happiest nations

Americans and Indians are the happiest people in the world, while Russians and Chinese are the saddest, according to a new global survey.

Global market research agency, Roper Starch Worldwide, and its Indian partner, ORG-Marg, conducted their "1999 Happiness Barometer" in 22 countries over five continents.

They said they wanted to find out how people around the world felt in the run-up to the millennium.

And the results showed that Americans are the happiest people with 46% of them saying that they are "very happy" with their quality of life.

India came second in the survey, with 37% of those surveyed declaring they were happy with their lives, compared with a global average of 24%.

Sad Europe

But only 9% of Chinese people surveyed said they were happy with their lot while Russia was left trailing with a 3% happiness rating.

The happiest and unhappiest nations

46% of Americans happy

37% of Indians happy

36% of British people happy

9% of Chinese people happy

Only 3% of Russians happy

Generally, most European nations did not score too high in the happiness ratings, but Britain bucked the trend coming third with a 36% happiness rating.

The survey asked people if they were satisfied with various aspects of their lives such as money, work, sex and leisure.

It also questioned respondents about relationships with their families and the role of religion in their lives.

Family and friends ranked as the biggest source of happiness in peoples' lives.

About 61% of British respondents were happy with this part of their life compared with 56% of people surveyed in the United States and 51% in India.