Dubliners have reason to be cheerful, the survey finds.
Ireland is the best place to live in the world, according to a "quality of life" assessment by Economist magazine.
The country"s combination of increasing wealth and traditional values gives it the conditions most likely to make its people happy, the survey found.
Ireland was followed by Switzerland, Norway and Luxembourg. All but one of the top 10 were European countries.
The USA languished in 13th, while Britain was 29th - the lowest of the pre-expansion EU nations.
The survey was prepared for the Economist"s "World in 2005" publication, with the remit: "Where will be the best place to live in 2005?"
Researchers took into account not just income, but other factors considered important to people"s satisfaction and well-being.
They included health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate, political stability and security, gender equality and family and community life.
The Economist said: "Ireland wins because it successfully combines the most desirable elements of the new, such as low unemployment and political liberties, with the preservation of certain cosy elements of the old, such as stable family and community life."
The magazine admits that measuring quality of life is not a straightforward thing to do, and that its findings will have their critics - "except, of course, in Ireland".
The Republic has made significant gains from its membership of the EU, earning the soubriquet Celtic Tiger for its economic progress.
Commentators say it is widely admired by the EU"s newest members, and has become a model for what they hope to achieve.
Although European nations generally do well in the survey, the continent"s major industrial powers of France, Germany and Britain finish 25th, 26th and 29th respectively.
The researchers said although the UK achieved high income per head, it had high levels of social and family breakdown.
The worst of the 111 countries to live in was considered to be Zimbabwe, "where things have gone from bad to worse under [President] Robert Mugabe".
"TOP TEN COUNTRIES"
1 Ireland
2 Switzerland
3 Norway
4 Luxembourg
5 Sweden
6 Australia
7 Iceland
8 Italy
9 Denmark
10 Spain
英國《經濟學家》雜誌關於“生活質量”的一份評估報告顯示，愛爾蘭是世界上最適宜居住的地方。
調查表明，愛爾蘭能夠將不斷增長的財富和傳統價值融爲一體，因此生活在那裏的人們更容易感到快樂。
排在愛爾蘭之後的依次是瑞士、挪威和盧森堡。在排名前十的國家中，有九個是歐洲國家。
美國退到了第13位，而英國僅列第29位，是歐盟東擴之前的成員國中排名最靠後的。
這份調查是爲《經濟學家》雜誌的出版物《2005年的世界》精心策劃的，選題是“2005年世界上最適合居住的地方是哪裏?”
研究者們不僅將(居民的)收入情況列入考慮範圍，還參考了其他一些被認爲對人們的滿意度和幸福感有重要影響的因素。
這些因素包括健康、自由、失業、家庭生活、氣候、政治穩定性和安全性、男女平等、以及家庭和社會生活。
《經濟學家》雜誌指出：“愛爾蘭之所以取勝，是因爲它成功地將新時代最誘人的事物(如低失業率和政治自由)和某些舒適安逸的`舊式生活元素相結合，比如穩定的家庭和社會生活。”
該雜誌承認，衡量生活質量並不是一件簡單的事，他們的調查結果必定會受到外界的批評——“當然，在愛爾蘭例外”。
愛爾蘭共和國從它的歐盟成員國身份中獲益匪淺，並憑藉經濟的快速增長獲得了“凱爾特之虎”的稱號。
評論員稱，愛爾蘭得到了歐盟新成員的普遍欽佩和羨慕，成了它們的榜樣。
儘管歐洲國家在這次調查中總體表現良好，但法國、德國和英國等歐洲大陸的主要工業國分別僅排到第25、26和29位。
研究者說，儘管英國的人均收入水平較高，但英國社會和家庭關係的破裂程度也很高。
在受調查的111個國家中，津巴布韋被評爲最不適宜居住的地方，“在總統羅伯特·穆加貝的統治下，情況變得越來越糟糕”。
排名前十位的最適宜居住的國家：
1 愛爾蘭
2 瑞士
3 挪威
4 盧森堡
5 瑞典
6 澳大利亞
7 冰島
8 意大利
9 丹麥
10 西班牙
Vocabulary:
languish : to be or become weak or feeble; lose strength or vigor(衰弱，變得軟弱或脆弱)
cosy : comfortable,easeful(舒適安逸的)
straightforward: free from ambiguity or pretense; plain and open(直率的，簡單直接的)
soubriquet: an affectionate or humorous nickname(綽號，親切的或幽默的綽號)(：夏根建)
