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  • No. 12: Costa Rica


    PHOTO: Tourists from different countries visit The Botos Lagoon at the Poas Volcano National Park in Alajuela, some 40 kilometers from San Jose, on February 11, 2010. AFP PHOTO/ Yuri CORTEZ (Photo credit should read YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 15: Panama


    PHOTO: Tourists visit the 'San Felipe' neighborhood, next to 'El Chorrillo', partially destroyed in 1989 during the U.S. invasion, in Panama City, on December 8,2011. AFP PHOTO/Rodrigo ARANGUA (Photo credit should read RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 16: Mexico


    A replica of the Angel de la Independencia (Independence Angel) is on display at the Zocalo Square in Mexico City, on July 25, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Alfredo Estrella (Photo credit should read ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 17: USA


    The United States might not be part of Latin America but it does house over 50 million Hispanics. PHOTO: One World Trade Center and the lower New York City skyline, including the Brooklyn Bridge, are seen from the air over New York on May 13, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 20: Venezuela


    PHOTO: A girl plays on a beach at La Tortuga island, in the southern Caribbean Sea, during an inspection by the Venezuelan Tourism Minister on July 20, 2013. AFP PHOTO/JUAN BARRETO (Photo credit should read JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 24: Brazil


    PHOTO: Local men play football on Botafogo beach in front of Sugar Loaf Mountain ahead of the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 on June 9, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)




  • No. 28: Chile


    PHOTO: A tourist visits the Moon Valley near San Pedro de Atacama, in northern Chile, on March 11, 2013. AFP PHOTO/ MARTIN BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 29: Argentina


    PHOTO: In this April 5, 2010 file photo, cars drive past the Obelisk on 9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)




  • No. 35: Colombia


    PHOTO: People walk in a street of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on August 24, 2013. Cartagena de Indias was founded in 1533 and named after Cartagena, Spain. In 1984 Cartagena's colonial fortified city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. AFP PHOTO / Luis Acosta




  • No. 37: Uruguay


    PHOTO: Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez (R) crosses a plaza in downtown Montevideo on November 28, 2012, a day before playing a show in the Uruguayan capital as part of his South American tour. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA




  • No. 47: Guatemala


    PHOTO: View of Mayan temples at the Tikal archaeological site on February 19, 2011 in the municipality of Flores, Peten, 488 km north of Guatemala City. AFP PHOTO/Johan ORDONEZ




  • No. 49: Ecuador


    PHOTO: A group of tourists at the entrance of the Compania de Jesus Church in Quito, as seen on April 2, 2008. The building of the church started in 1605, and lasted 160 years. AFP PHOTO/Rodrigo BUENDIA. AFP PHOTO/Rodrigo BUENDIA




  • No. 50: Bolivia


    PHOTO: A group of European tourists ride their bicycles down the 'Death Road' near La Paz, on July 18, 2013. Many tourists, mostly Europeans, climb down with their bicycles the 67 km road that drops from 4600 to 1200 metre above sea level from La Paz to Las Yungas region, in the heart of Bolivia's coca production region. AFP PHOTO/Aizar Raldes




  • No. 52: El Salvador


    PHOTO: Tourists enjoy lunch at the Coatepeque lake, in Santa Ana, 55 kms west of San Salvador. (Photo credit should read Juan CARLOS/AFP/GettyImages)




  • No. 54: Paraguay


    PHOTO: Tourists visit the Jesuitical ruins in Trinidad, Paraguay, on January 27, 2013. The finding of hexagonal tiles from the floor of a large Jesuitical temple built by Guarani indians in the XVII century, rekindled an ambicious project of rediscovering the ruins of the paradise lost when the Jesuits were expelled from the country in 1767. AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE




  • No. 55: Peru


    PHOTO: An Andean woman shows quinoa grains during the inauguration of the gastronomic fair 'Mistura' in Lima on September 6, 2012. The festival aims to promote Peruvian cuisine, chefs, food and products from all over the country. AFP PHOTO/ERNESTO BENAVIDES




  • No. 65 Nicaragua


    PHOTO: Tourists visit the viewpoint near of the Masaya volcano craters in the National Park Volcan Masaya, 23 kilometers southeast of Managua, on November 10, 2012. AFP PHOTO/Hector RETAMAL (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)




  • No. 84: Honduras


    PHOTO: Tourists visit a waterfall at La Tigra National Park, 40 km northeast of Tegucigalpa, on June 3, 2012, two days before the celebration of the World Environment Day. AFP PHOTO/Orlando SIERRA.




  • No. 95: Dominican Republic


    PHOTO: Tourists go for a walk at Bavaro beach, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on January 16, 2012. Tourism is the main industry in Dominican Republic, and Punta Cana is one of the leading tourist destinations in the Caribbean. AFP PHOTO/ERIKA SANTELICES





The happiest country in the world may not be in Latin America,[1] but the region’s future is looking very bright.


Northern Europe houses the globe’s happiest nations but Latin America was the region that demonstrated the most significant increase in happiness[2] , according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 2013 World Happiness Report released Monday.


Of the countries that showed a considerable improvement in well-being, more than half were located in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the 2010-2012 period, the report adds, the region also saw a decline in inequality of happiness and reported significantly lower perceptions of corruption.[3]


“On a regional basis, by far the largest gains in life evaluations, in terms of the prevalence and size of the increases, have been in Latin America and the Caribbean... In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than three quarters of all countries showed significant increases in average happiness, with a population weighted average increase amounting to 7.0% of the 2005-07 value,” the report reads. [4]

Cuba and Puerto Rico were not included in the report’s findings because their data was missing in the World Development Indicators.


(Check Out Where Latin American Countries Ranked In The Slideshow Above)


The report -- which analyzed 156 countries -- is intended to be used as a means of improving policy making[5] worldwide by highlighting how people around the world measure their well-being. The findings were based off national statistics and several surveys, including the Gallup World Poll, to assess a population’s emotional happiness and overall satisfaction with life.


"There is now a rising worldwide demand that policy be more closely aligned with what really matters to people as they themselves characterize their well-being," Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to the UN Secretary General and co-editor of the report, said in a press release.[6] "More and more world leaders are talking about the importance of well-being as a guide for their nations and the world. The World Happiness Report 2013 offers rich evidence that the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness can teach us a lot about ways to improve the world's well-being and sustainable development."


Check out some infographics below.



Infographic by Jan Diehm for The Huffington Post.