The United Nations has released its 2009 Human Development Index (HDI). The index uses three major factors to compare countries on how they treat their own citizens. The countries rated highest are generally considered the best countries to live in.

The factors considered in computing the index are health, knowledge and standard of living. Health is determined by life expectancy at birth. Knowledge is measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the gross school enrollment ratio. Standard of living is arrived at by the Gross Domestic Product per capita.

For the second year running, Norway has been named as the best place in the world to live, according to an annual report from the United Nations.

Sierra Leone was placed last, and the bottom 24 countries are all in Africa.

Here are the top 25 countrys according to the HDI:

1. Norway

2. Australia

3. Iceland

4. Canada

5. Ireland

6. Netherlands

7. Sweden

8. France

9. Switzerland

10. Japan

11. Luxembourg

12. Finland

13. United States

14. Austria

15. Spain

16. Denmark

17. Belgium

18. Italy

19. Liechtenstein

20. New Zealand

21. United Kingdom

22. Germany

23. Singapore

24. Hong Kong

25. Greece

These are the 15 countries with the lowest HDI (starting with the worst):

182. Niger

181. Afghanistan

180. Sierra Leone

179. Central African Republic

178. Mali

177. Burkina Faso

176. Congo

175. Chad

174. Burundi

173. Guinea-Bissau

172. Mozambique

171. Ethiopia

170. Guinea

169. Liberia

168. Gambia

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