Afghan men work in a small sweets factory in Kabul, Afghanistan January 5, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

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)

The workers dry the pipe papade made from seasoned and colored dough, during the containment imposed by the government as a preventive measure against COVID-19, in Agartala, the capital of the state of north-east India on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Abhisek Saha/Le Pictorium Agency via ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Sotheby's employee poses with a claw-set diamond ring weighing 36.57 carats during a press preview of an upcoming auction from Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, 08 May 2019. The ring is expected to reach between 4,500,000 to 5,500,000 US Dollars during the “Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels” auction on May 14 in Geneva. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

Indian labourers carry clay bricks to a brick kiln in Farakka, in the Indian state of West Bengal, on April 3, 2019. (Photo by Xavier Galiana/AFP Photo)

In this July 11, 2016 photo, a young, masked drug trafficker poses for photos holding his guns at a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Teenagers openly tote guns while they work as guards, lookouts and distributors for drug lords operating just a few miles from where hundreds of thousands and tourists and athletes will be for the Aug. 5-21 Olympic Games. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

A woman looks out from her stall selling traditional garments and textiles at a market in Ashgabat February 8, 2012. (Photo by Aman Mehinli/Reuters)