An activist takes a selfie during a protest ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, in Paris, Sunday, November 29, 2015. More than 140 world leaders are gathering around Paris for high-stakes climate talks that start Monday, and activists are holding marches and protests around the world to urge them to reach a strong agreement to slow global warming. (Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Photo)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland. The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50. Here: #8. NEW ZEALAND: A woman dives from a platform into a giant air bed at a park in Palmerston North September 29, 2011. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)

A baby Chimpanzee plays in its enclosure at Taronga Zoo July 14, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

A street entertainer waits for tourists in Havana, Cuba on October 2009. (Photo by Desmond Boylan/Reuters)

A Chinese man uses an old film camera to take a picture of relatives near the Forbidden City on March 27, 2014 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A man pedals his cycle rickshaw during monsoon rains in New Delhi, India August 31, 2016. Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rainfall lashed the city Wednesday morning, resulting in waterlogging and traffic jams. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

In this Tuesday January 21, 2014, file photo, slaughtered chickens are displayed for sale at a wholesale poultry market in Shanghai. The Chinese government on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, says a 41-year-old man has contracted what might be the w0orld’s first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but the risk of large-scale spread is low. (Photo by AP Photo/File)