The World's Best Places to Live

Finland was recently named the best place in the world to live, thanks largely to great air and water quality, low rates of infant diseases, and protection from water pollution and natural disasters. What else is great about Finland? Well, for starters, Finland ...

• Boasts the Northern Lights
• Hosts the Sauna World Championships
• Offers sleddog vacations
• Is home to the Ice Hotel

Plus, it's gorgeous.

Gallery: Finland

Iceland also made the list of the world's best places to live. Despite it's name, Iceland is not made entirely of ice. In fact, Iceland offers:

• Opportunities to surf
• Excursions to the Icelandic Phallological Museum
• Some of the most gorgeous valleys in the world
• Scuba diving

Iceland has all this, plus ... it's stunningly beautiful.

Gallery: Iceland

Norway made the cut, too. Despite it's reputation as being expensive, Norway has:

• Amazing views
• Amazing coasts
• The amazing Hurtigruten
• Some of the world's most amazing islands

Don't believe us? Check out this amazing gallery.

Gallery: Norway

Ahhhh ... Sweden. There are so many reasons to love this nation:

• It's home to one of the world's top tech cities.
• You can see the world's longest art gallery here.
• It'll soon have an ABBA museum!
• They even have Swedish tacos.

Yup ... it wouldn't be hard to live here.

Gallery: Sweden

Austria rounds out the list of the five most liveable countries. However, just because it came in at number five -- and just because it has controversial urinals -- don't dismiss this nation. Austria is the proud home of:

• The world's largest ice caves
• One of the world's most elegant Easter festivals
• Entire villages you can RENT!
• One of the world's most unusual spas

Of course, the nation is lovely to look at, too.

Gallery: Austria

Don't feel like living outside the U.S.? Be sure to check out Money's list of the best places to live in America!

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Europe, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden