Did you know that life expectancy depends not only on our genes, physical activity and diet, but also on what country we live in? Thanks to the enormous achievements of modern medicine, people all over the world are living longer. Based on data from the World Bank, the UN, the Bloomberg news agency and reports from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a ranking of countries with the highest life expectancy was compiled. Want to know what countries these are? We present to your attention the top 10 countries where people live the longest.
10. Norway.
The average life expectancy in the country is 81.3 years. The official retirement age is 67 years. Currently, the group of people over 60 years old makes up 22 percent of the Norwegian population.
9. France.
The average life expectancy in France is 81.67 years. The official retirement age is 60 years. Pensioners over 60 years of age make up 24 percent of the country's population.
8. Israel.
The average Israeli citizen lives 81.76 years. Men retire at age 67, and women at age 62. 15 percent of Israel's population are over 60 years of age.
7. Sweden.
Swedes live on average 81.8 years. They retire at the age of 65. Already more than 25 percent of the population of this country is over 60 years old. Interestingly, only 4.1 percent of Swedish pensioners live with their adult children. This is one of the lowest rates in the world.
6. Australia.
81.85 years is the average life expectancy in Australia. The official retirement age for men is 65 years, for women - 64 years. Currently, 20 per cent of Australian society are over 60 years of age.
5. Italy.
The average Italian lives 82.09 years. The retirement age for men is 65 years, for women - 60 years. People over 60 years old make up 27 percent of the total Italian population.
4. Spain.
In Spain, the average lifespan is 82.33 years. Both men and women retire here at the age of 65. People over 60 make up 23 percent of the Spanish population.
3. Iceland.
The average life expectancy in the country is 82.36 years, and the retirement age is 67 years. Thanks to the good demographic situation, the population over 60 years of age is only 17 percent. FYI: Iceland has one of the highest birth rates in Europe. 
2. Japan.
The average Japanese citizen lives 82.59 years. The Japanese retire at the age of 65. People over 60 make up 32 percent of the country's total population, the highest figure in the world.
The time allotted to each person on earth is individual, and it is impossible to predict in advance how many years are still ahead, and when making plans, seriously count on their implementation. Man is mortal, and, as the classic rightly noted, the bad thing is that he is mortal suddenly. However, almost everyone expects to live a long life and hopes to meet an interesting old age. From time immemorial, people have been looking for ways to prolong their lives, to find a medicine that guarantees longevity, and, if possible, immortality.
Are there any patterns that allow us to say that certain factors contribute to a long life span? Are there any magical potions that will give you a dozen or two extra years of life? People who live 90 years or more are called centenarians. Each additional year lived on earth brings more and more attention to them. The centenary anniversary becomes a real event, and children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, gathering on such a wonderful occasion, secretly cherish the hope that longevity is a hereditary factor and they themselves will also have the opportunity to blow out a hundred candles on the birthday cake. So what does the number of years lived depend on?
What is the maximum life expectancy of a person?
The person who lived the longest life is considered to be the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. She managed to celebrate her 122nd birthday before she passed away. Moreover, such a long life span is documented and is beyond doubt among scientists. It’s surprising, but if we take into account official data, then among the ten people who lived the longest lives, nine are women, and only one is a man! Coincidence? Or is there some terrible secret hidden here? Women often face difficult trials, but, nevertheless, obligations to children and parents, a more hardened nervous system, and the habit of relying on themselves make women less vulnerable. From time immemorial, men have been fighting, working, trying to do everything, and in this rush they are losing an unequal battle with life and death. Women, as continuers of the family, live for themselves, for men.
Fewer and fewer representatives of the generation that won the Great Patriotic War remain alive. People who suffered the most terrible hardships, hunger, disease, hardships and deprivations, went through fire and water, the ovens of concentration camps - and survived, and many of them lived long lives. The triggered genetic code prevented the surviving people from dying from disease and hunger after the war, and the people rose almost from the ashes. And how many centenarians there are, about whom there is no official data, grandparents who live out their lives in remote villages, who restored documents after the war from memory and do not know how old they really are.
If we take into account unverified and unconfirmed data, then each country can boast of its centenarians and try to compete with the Guinness Book of Records. Stories about the Chinese Li-Chgung-yang, who lived for about three hundred years, despite the complete absence of any documentary evidence, excite minds and hearts and force us to look for a way to repeat his life path. A postage stamp was issued in honor of the 169th birthday of Colombian Javier Pereira. A similar honor was given to the long-lived USSR Mukhamed Eyvazov, who celebrated his 150th birthday.
Despite the fact that France is considered the record holder for the number of people with the longest life expectancy, with the UK and Germany in the top three, the oldest person lives in a small village on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Carmelo Flores Laura passed the 123 mark. He considers the secret of his longevity to be hard work and a small amount of food eaten.
What affects life expectancy?
Food that prolongs life:
- Apples restore elasticity to the walls of blood vessels and regulate the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
- Dark chocolate improves memory, reduces fatigue;
- Natural is becoming a good method for preventing cancer;
- Rice is a real storehouse of nutrients. It’s not for nothing that in the East, where rice is an integral part of the diet, life expectancy is quite high;
- Vegetables, berries, greens cleanse blood vessels and promote hematopoiesis.
- Fish and seafood are the optimal material for the renewal of body cells. The number of long-living Japanese people can safely be considered as proof of the benefits of their systematic consumption.
In addition to proper nutrition, proper healthy sleep, physical activity interspersed with rest, and mental balance are important. But if everything is so simple, why don’t people live for two hundred years? Diseases, stress, poor ecology, negative emotions destroy bodies and souls. Numerous man-made disasters, accidents and wars claim the lives of thousands of people. Are we able to change our lives ourselves, or are each of us just a follower along the road of life? Be that as it may, we can make our life more correct, full of positive deeds and thoughts, otherwise, why live a hundred years if there is no good memory left after you? Dare, search, try, and who knows, maybe you will give the world a cure for longevity?
“It’s better to be healthy and rich than to be poor and sick.” Perhaps this phrase will become the leitmotif of a series of articles on the topic: Which country is good to live in!
Who among us has not wished for a long and happy life? Therefore, in our opinion, one of the most striking signs of quality of life is its duration.
How life expectancy is calculated by country
When calculating the average life expectancy of citizens of a particular country, WHO uses the following concept: “Life expectancy.” What does this indicator mean? It characterizes the average life expectancy of a group of people born in the same year, assuming a constant mortality rate for each age group in these countries. The indicator is calculated both separately for men and women, as well as the overall average.
What determines life expectancy by country?
The quality of healthcare, lifestyle, climatic conditions, and environmental indicators of the state are the main factors that influence the average life expectancy of citizens. Important factors influencing mortality and, as a consequence, life expectancy are also military actions carried out on the territories of the analyzed states. Another important factor influencing increased mortality is the prevalence of HIV. It is this factor that becomes decisive in the countries of central Africa.
Results of the ranking of 15 countries with the highest life expectancy rates
15. Norway - On average, Norwegians live 81.8 years.
14. Netherlands - 81.8 years
13. Luxembourg - 82 years old
12. Canada - 82.2 years
11. Republic of Korea - 82.3 years
Top 10 countries in terms of life expectancy:
10. Sweden - 82.4 years
9. France - 82.4 years
8. Israel - 82.5 years
7-6. Iceland, Italy - 82.7 years
5-4. Spain, Australia - 82.8 years
WITH Countries with the highest life expectancy:
3. Singapore - 83 years old
2. Switzerland - 83.1 years
Absolute leader 1st place!
1. Japan - 83.7 years
Russia in this list does not occupy an honorable 110th place. The average life expectancy in our country is 70.5 years. People live longer than us even in countries such as Bolivia, Guatemala and even Honduras!
The secret of long-livers in heaven
Some 200 years ago, Japan could not boast of such high figures. The average lifespan of the Japanese in the 1800s was 37 years! But in Russia in those same years, the average life expectancy was 45-50 years, and this figure was one of the highest in the world!
Objective factors influencing the life expectancy of the Japanese:
- One of the main secrets of Japanese longevity is considered to be proper nutrition. No wonder there are so many followers in the world Japanese diet.
- A healthy lifestyle is not an empty phrase for the Japanese; daily walks and leisurely running are as necessary a daily ritual as washing and brushing your teeth.
- The Japanese are an obedient nation, and this also applies to medical obedience. Following doctors' recommendations is an undeniable dogma for any Japanese.
- Maintaining hygiene. It is almost impossible to see an unkempt or dirty Japanese person. And during epidemics, not a single Japanese will disdain a special protective mask. Rather, they will come up with a design for them. These measures protect the Japanese from the spread of infections.
- Japanese culture promotes maintaining a beautiful body into old age. Therefore, you need to treat your body with care without harming it. The Japanese not only treat old age with respect, but in some way there is a cult of old age in Japan. On September 15, the Japanese celebrate a national holiday - Old People's Day.
- The economic level of the state and significant contribution to medicine also contribute to the high life expectancy of the Japanese.
But there are also subjective factors that influenced the statistical data
Japan has a low birth rate and low infant mortality rate. All this leads to a low percentage of children in society. And this indicator, in turn, affects the estimated life expectancy indicators.
The oldest book says that a person lives “...70 years, and with greater strength, 80 years...”. According to average statistics, this figure is much less, but what can be said about the unique exceptions to the rules? About those who live longer than others. About people who know from personal experience what life is like after a hundred years.
According to historical data, the longest living person in the world lived in China. His name was Li Qingyun. This man was born in 1677 and died at the beginning of the twentieth century (1933). In total, he lived 256 years, and, according to eyewitnesses, he looked 50 years younger. How did he manage to live so long? During his lifetime, he was often asked this question, and he paid attention primarily to proper nutrition and exercise.
It is known that he was so physically strong that at the age of 70 he became a teacher in the Chinese martial arts army. In addition to nutrition and exercise, from early childhood he devoted a lot of time to collecting and studying medicinal herbs, from which he often made infusions that strengthened health. Therefore, in the modern history of mankind, this is the most unique man who lived the longest.
Centenarians today
According to the UN decision, a person can be considered a centenarian if his age exceeds 90 years. All over the world you can find people who live the longest, but in some countries they are especially numerous. For example, in Japan there are about 50 thousand centenarians, and these are only those who survived the turn of the century. Of these, approximately 87% are women, whose average lifespan in this country is about 86 years.
Particularly outstanding individuals are included in the Guinness Book of Records. Now it includes Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman who is 115 years old. She is considered the oldest woman in the world. Before her was Koto Okubo, who died earlier this year at the age of 115 years and 19 days.
As for long-living men, the oldest is now almost 116 years old. He is the oldest living person in the world. He lives in Kyoto (Japan) and his name is Jiroemon Kimura. He twice became a Guinness World Records holder and, born in 1897, achieved three centuries during his lifetime. During his lifetime, people invented the television, the car and the Internet. While he lives, there have been 6 monarchs in Britain, 20 presidents in the USA, 5 emperors in Japan, the Soviet Union collapsed, and with it the communist regime.
This amazing man was a postman for 40 years and a farmer until he was 90. He has a very large family: 7 children (he outlived two of them), 14 grandchildren and granddaughters, 25 great-grandchildren and already 13 great-great-grandchildren. According to him, life expectancy depends on moderation in food. Therefore, he recommends never eating more than necessary, even if the dish is very tasty.
Centenarians in the past
Other longest-living people who have already died are also worthy of attention. There are not many of them, so they will be listed below.
Long-lived women:
- Jeanne Kalman lived 122 years and 164 days (02/21/1875-08/04/1997);
- Knauss Sarah lived 119 years and 97 days (09/24/1880-12/30/1999);
- Hana Lucy lived 117 years and 248 (07/16/1875-03/21/1993);
- Maria Louise Mailer lived 117 years and 230 days (08/29/1880-04/16/1998);
- Maria Esther de Capovilla lived 116 years and 347 days (09/14/1889-08/27/2006);
- Ikai Tane lived 116 years and 175 days (01/18/1879-07/12/1995);
- Elizabeth Bolden lived 116 years and 118 days (08/15/1890-12/11/2006);
- Besie Cooper lived to be 116 years old and 100 years old (08/26/1896-12/4/2012).
Long-lived men:
- Christian Mortensen lived 115 years and 252 days (08/16/1882-04/25/1998);
- Emiliano Mercado del Toro lived 115 years and 156 days (08/21/1891-01/24/2007);
- Brüning Walter lived 114 years and 205 days (09/21/1896-04/14/2011);
- Chunanji Yukichi lived 114 years and 189 days (03/23/1889-09/28/2003).
Throughout history, there have been people whose life expectancy exceeded our wildest expectations.
All of these people lived more than 115 years, which means they can be called supercentenarians (people who lived to at least 110 years). Some of them drank and smoked all their lives, and some led a very healthy lifestyle and all went down in history with their own secret to longevity.
There are several people, such as the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi, who, according to some estimates, reached 120 years old, as well as Shirali Muslimov, an Azerbaijani shepherd, who allegedly reached the age of 168 years - centenarians who have reached an unprecedented old age. But these cases have not been confirmed.
Here are 10 supercentenarians whose lifespans have been tested.
10. Christian Mortensen (1882-1998) 
Danish-American centenarian Christian Mortensen, who lived 115 years, 252 days, is considered the oldest man on record. He was born on August 16, 1882 and died on April 25, 1998.
Mortenson is unusual not only because he was a man (only 9.8 percent of verified supercentenarians are men), but also because he smoked several cigars a week during the 95 years of his life. He was also single for most of his life, which usually has a negative impact on life expectancy. But Mortenson became an exception to the rule here, having been married for only 10 years.
This amazing man immigrated to America in 1903, where he worked as a tailor and milkman. So what is the secret of longevity, according to Mortenson himself? “Friends, good cigars, drinking plenty of good water, abstaining from alcohol, an optimistic outlook on life and singing will ensure you a long life,” he asserted.
9. Maggie Pauline Barnes (1882 -1998)
Maggie Pauline Barnes was born into slavery on March 6, 1882. She died on January 19, 1998 at the age of 115 years and 319 days. Although little is known about her, her age alone speaks of an amazing life. Not only did Maggie endure the hardships of slavery in the United States, but she also outlived 11 of her 15 children.
The woman died from complications caused by a minor infection in her leg. Her story is all the more amazing because at the beginning of the 20th century, the average life expectancy was 47 years for representatives of the white Caucasian race and 40-42 years for African Americans. And although this gap is increasingly narrowing, Bruns has done the impossible, living 75 years longer than the average life expectancy.
8. Bessie Cooper (1896 -)
Bessie Cooper was born on August 26, 1896. She recently celebrated her 116th birthday, becoming the oldest living person in the world. When asked the secret to her long life, she replied, “I don’t pry into other people’s business,” and added, “And I don’t eat junk food.”
Bessie's life spans three centuries, she lived through two world wars and many other historical events.
Cooper worked as a school teacher, and after her husband died at the age of 68, she lived alone on the family farm. At 105, she moved into a nursing home.
7. Elizabeth Bolden (1890 - 2006)
Elizabeth Bolden lived from August 15, 1890 to December 11, 2006. At the time of death she was 116 years 118 days old.
She was born into a family of freed slaves in Tennessee, USA, and her life was not easy. Her longevity genes were apparently not passed on to her children, and only two of Elizabeth's seven children were alive at the time of her death. And yet, one of her descendants may be able to set a new longevity record. When she died, she left behind more than 500 direct descendants, including 75 great-great-great-great grandchildren.
Although Boden hasn't spoken much since her stroke in 2004, she happily celebrated her 116th birthday by trying two of her favorite treats: ice cream and candy.
6. Tain Ikai (1879 -1995)
With an incredible lifespan of 116 years 175 days, Tein Ikai is both the oldest confirmed specimen in Japan and Asia. The woman was born on January 18, 1879 into a family of farmers in the city of Kansei in Japan. She married at age 20 and had 4 children, whom she outlived by the time of her death on July 12, 1995.
Thane enjoyed making embroidery and ceramics. She ate mostly rice porridge, which, combined with a traditional Japanese diet, may have helped protect her from heart disease and cancer.
An autopsy after her death revealed that the centenarian died of kidney failure. So far, she is the only supercentenarian who has undergone an autopsy.
5. Maria Capovilla (1889 - 2006)
Ecuadorian centenarian Maria Capovilla was born on September 14, 1889, the same year the Eiffel Tower was unveiled to the public. Having lived to 116 years 347 days, she became the oldest South American woman in history, as well as the longest living person in the southern hemisphere. Capovilla died on August 27, 2006, just under a month short of her 117th birthday.
She was the picture of health and energy almost until the end of her life, although she drank a little alcohol, but never smoked. She was born into the family of a colonel and lived among the elite of Ecuador, and in 1917 she married an officer, Italian by birth, Antonio Capovilla.
When she was 99 years old, she suddenly fell ill and was practically buried in the Catholic Church. But she survived, and after that she walked without a cane, read newspapers, watched TV and was in good health. Three of her five children were alive at the time of her death, and they were 78, 80 and 81 years old.
4. Maria Louise Mailer (1880 – 1998)
Marie Louise Mailer was 117 years 230 days old when she died on April 16, 1998. Interestingly, at the time of her death, one of her sons lived in the same nursing home as herself, and her daughter was 90 years old.
The French-Canadian centenarian was born in Quebec, Canada on August 29, 1880. Her first husband died of pneumonia when she was 30 years old. Mailer then moved to the Quebec-Ontario border, where she met her second husband, Hector Mailer.
The woman believed that her longevity was due to hard work and this is not surprising, given that she had 10 children and two marriages. The centenarian also liked to occasionally drink a glass of wine, and quit smoking when she was 90 years old, 27 years before her death.
3. Lucy Hannah (1875 -1993)
Lucy Hannah was never awarded the title of oldest person in history, simply because she lived at the same time as Jeanne Calment, who received this title.
Despite this, Hannah lived to a ripe 117 years and 248 days and is the oldest African American woman and the third oldest person in history.
She was born in Alabama in the USA on July 16, 1875. In 1901 she married John Hannah and had 8 children, 6 of whom she survived. Two of Hannah's sisters lived to be 100 years old, and her mother lived to be 99 years old.
2. Sarah Knauss (1880 -1999) 
Sarah Knauss is the second oldest person in history. She died at the age of 119 years 97 days. This amazing woman was born on September 24, 1880 and died on December 30, 1999, just a few days shy of the 21st century. Obviously this didn't bother Sarah at all. When she was told that she had become the oldest person in the world, she replied: “So what.”
Her daughters described their mother as incredibly calm, undisturbed by anything. Perhaps this was the secret of her long life, since excessive stress negatively affects human health.
Knauss survived 7 American wars, the Great Depression and the death of her husband after 64 years of marriage. At the time of her death, she was already older than the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty in the United States.
1. Jeanne Kalman (1875 – 1997)
Jeanne Kalment is the oldest person who has ever lived on Earth, and so far no one has been able to beat her record of 122 years 164 days. She was born in Arles, France on February 21, 1875 and died on August 4, 1997. During her life, she witnessed the invention of the automobile, cinema, stainless steel, television and airplanes.
Surprisingly, she even met Vincent van Gogh when she was 13, whom she described as "dirty, unkempt and scowling."
Kalman, like Sarah Knauss, had “immunity to stress.” She could also boast of wit and at every birthday she announced a new secret to longevity.
The centenarian rode a bicycle and drank port until she was 100 years old, and also smoked almost until she died. She claimed that laughter, physical activity and a strong stomach helped her live to an old age. And her best advice was, “If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry.”
