Finland again tops list of happiest countries
HELSINKI − Juuso Raukola uses the sauna in his home every single day, as do his wife and children. Raukola’s parents do the same with their home sauna, his friends and colleagues with theirs.
When Raukola and his two brothers met up last month in Finland’s capital to catch up and celebrate a birthday, they did so in a quiet place made of fragrant hard wood, warmed to 175 degrees Fahrenheit and with easy access for a dip in the Baltic’s icy waters.
“Sometimes Finnish people say saunas are like churches. I think that’s a really strong word. Maybe too strong,” said Raukola, 35, a mechanical engineer, as he or one of his brothers periodically stood up to pour water on hot wood pellets that created a burst of steam in Helsinki’s Kulttuurisauna. “What I think they are trying to say is saunas are where Finnish people go to calm themselves, to reset.”
Finland has an estimated 3 million saunas for 5 million people, according to government figures. The Nordic country was recently crowned the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in a row by the United Nations. The U.S. landed in 23rd among more than 140 nations, down from 15th in 2023.
Ask a Finn what makes them seemingly so contented and while they may jokingly attribute it to a combination of steam and heat, they are likely to say happiness doesn’t just happen. made.
Teemu Tallberg, a professor of military sociology at Finland’s National Defense University, is one of the researchers who say Finland’s “consensus” society and preparedness for achieving goals and managing crises − war, if it comes to it − may play the bigger role.
Frank Martela, a business professor at Finland’s Aalto University, has said it’s clear that Nordic countries are doing something right when it comes to engineering the conditions for happiness, even if happiness defies easy definition.
Nordic countries have well-functioning democratic institutions and rela
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tively generous welfare services. They score well on surveys that track equality legislation, lack of corruption, social cohesion and trust, high levels of freedom, media literacy, human rights, access to public goods and low levels of income equality.
An 833-mile border with Russia
For historical reasons, happiness in Finland may be closely linked to resilience, researchers say.
Finland became a full member of NATO only last April, in direct reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Finland has a long and strained relationship, and an 833-mile border, with its massive neighbor that has required it to adopt coping strategies.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Russian monarchs repeatedly tried to conquer Finland, then part of Sweden. After Sweden lost a war with Russia in 1809, Finland became a self-governing part of the Russian empire until 1917 when it declared its independence in the wake of the Russian Revolution. Then Finland fought off a Soviet invasion in 1939.
Today, Finland maintains a widely