Huh, I tend to think of No. 4 as a country with rather high income inequality
In another take, Finland have warred with Russia 4 times.
2-nil and one undecided to the Finns.
So even if not the happiest, maybe the smirkiest?
(not a historian)
1 Like
Finland has ceded large amounts of its territory to Russia on a number of occasions as a result of these disputes. In each case Russia ended up getting what they wanted.
2 Likes
It’s not perfect and should be improved, but according to the World Bank Gini index, we are No 122 (with No 1 being South Africa, the US No 54, and Finland No 150).
There you go, told you I wasn’t a historian.
Mind you, I bet they only ceded the shit parts. 
1 Like
Perfect! If we can quantify it, we can rank all countries according to their K-Factor.
4 Likes
I know you admit that you arent a historian. I’m not either.
The territory ceded between 1917 and 1946 amounted to over 20% of the country’s land area, as well as the northern sea ports. Over 400,000 Finns were displaced. Far from shit areas.
4 Likes
Guess I was just hoping for the best
Finland is Funland.
4 Likes
2 Likes
I get the feeling Canada would maybe be a little happier if its neighbour wasn’t so frequently annoying… we’ve probably got more to be happy about than the US, but we can’t be quite as blissfully unaware.
4 Likes
This really clashes with my understanding of Finland delivered via the webcomic ‘Scandinavia and the World’
Finland is one of the main characters of SatW and is part of the Nordic group. He is definitely the black sheep of the bunch, with his bitter alcoholism, filthy temper, and penchant for wanton violence (although to be fair, he has never been depicted actually hurting anyone, only scaring them with his knife). It’s hard to say what makes him tick since he almost never speaks, and when he does, it’s usually just to swear in his native tongue. Occasionally, he communicates via written signs. He’s not exactly a loner — he goes to the Nordic gatherings (even the ones with silly themes) and it can probably be assumed that he has a good time, since he never hesitates to make it known when he’s having a bad time. All the same, he is kind of a jerk. His sense of humour seems restricted to playing cruel pranks on others.
5 Likes
Don’t they get a lot of seasonal affective disorder in Finland?
1 Like
You would think the past year would make folks reconsider the criteria, right? After spending a lot of time reading about countries mentioned in the Continuing Coronavirus topic, I came here expecting to see New Zealand. 
4 Likes
… sometimes.
1 Like
I remember back when the goverment actually did that. Creeping neoliberalism and the rise of right-wing populism has been eating the Finnish welfare state for years.
BTW we had three wars during WW2.
- Winter War (30 November 1939 – 13 March 1940)
USSR Vs. Finland
- Continuation War or Finnish Front of the Great Patriotic War (25 June 1941 – 19 September 1944)
Finland, Germany & Italy Vs. USSR & UK
- Lapland War (15 September 1944 – 27 April 1945)
Finland & USSR Vs. Germany
Bonus Hitler at Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defense Forces Field Marshal Mannerheim’s 75. birthday in 1942:
Mannerheim, Hitler & President of Finland Ryti
9 Likes
So apparently that is what makes them happy 
4 Likes
I gleefully showed off the list to my German friend (Netherlands #5, Germany #7). He said it’s because the Dutch are happy to live next to Germany and the Germans are unhappy to live next to the Netherlands. Touché, mein Freund. Touché. (I still think it’s because we have the stroopwafels.)
11 Likes
These are some happy Finns who aren’t bathing in the blood of their enemies; yet. Though they are working on breaching fortifications.
I love their massive, warm clothing.
8 Likes
