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... But assuming you can avoid pagan magic and the "old gods," Nordic countries do well on many other measures of human development. In the most recent World Happiness Report, for example, Finland tops the list while Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are all in the top six. (Costa Rica is the non-Nordic exception here, taking the fourth spot.)

These countries are also near the top in global average life expectancy.

They also happen to have the most press freedom on the planet.

Reporters Without Borders (or RSF, to use the initialism for its French name, Reporters Sans Frontires) today released the 2026 version of its venerable World Press Freedom Index, and Norway continues its decade-long run atop the leaderboard. Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia are also in the top 10 spots. Looking at the report's global map, the Nordic region stands out as the freest spot on Earth for journalists; it is the only area of the map to be marked in green. ...