64th

Romania has come in 64th (out of 177 countries studied) in the UN Development Program's Human Development Report. (Click on the link marked "Human Development Indicators" for the rankings). This is some kind of complicated index that takes into account GDP, health care, life expectancy, income, education etc.

As far as the Romanian press are concerned this means Romania is the worst placed country in Europe - though they then proceed to add the proviso "if you take out the former Soviet states and countries such as Albania and Bosnia", so it's a bit like the UK press stating that "The UK is the worst placed country beginning with U in Europe if you ignore the Ukraine". Mind you it does mean that Romania is less developed (by this measurement) than Macedonia and Bulgaria (for some reason Serbia and Montenegro is not one of the 177 countries included). Other countries which are better off than we are include: Russia, Libya, Cuba, Mexico and Brazil. Which sounds pretty bad, I have to say. Mind you, for real low results, and to make themselves feel better Romanians need look no further than neighbouring Moldova which is down in 115th place, below Vietnam, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Cape Verde, to name a few.

Norway is top by the way. Followed by a top ten of Iceland, Australia, Luxembourg, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, and the USA. (The UK is 15th).