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)

Young performer at The Lal Kach festival, an event well known in the local community for more than hundred years in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 13, 2017. (Photo by Mushfiqul Alam/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Models sit backstage during Dakar Fashion Week in the Senegalese capital, Friday June 30, 2017. The continent's fashion scene has grown steadily over the past two decades with Sub-Saharan Africa's apparel and footwear market now worth $31 billion, according to data by Euromonitor. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/AP Photo)

Kristina Elekes, 23, races on her ski during the Bikini Race contest held at Arena Platos Paltinis winter resort, near Sibiu city, 275 Km north from Bucharest, Romania, 06 March 2016. Bikini Race is a timed show on the slopes, at the fourth edition, for women dressed only in swimmsuits and some winter accessories. (Photo by Mihaela Bobar/EPA)

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 woman takes part in a “Brave Run” competition in Minsk October 4, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A donkey is seen before the start of the procession of the “Virgem da Atalaia” during Holy Week at Alcochete, near Lisbon April 5, 2015. Women ride donkeys during the “Virgem da Atalaia” procession, that has been held annually for about 400 years. In the past, only single women rode the donkeys to ask for help from the Virgin to find a husband. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

A Palestinian man walks down snow-covered stairs after Friday prayers near the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City February 20, 2015. Snow covered Jerusalem and mountainous areas of Israel early Friday morning and the education ministry closed schools for the day. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)