Siberia is the happiest place in Russia, says a major new survey

There are more regions with a 'very high' happiness rating east of the Urals than west, according to a league table based on surveys conducted for the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society. 

The highest rankings in the country were registered in the Yamalo-Nanets Autonomous Okrug, based on Salekhard, a town which straddles the Arctic Circle.

One of Russia's coldest regions, why is it so happy? Gas maybe a factor.

It has more than 90% of Russia's natural gas, and 12% of the country's oil, and is now one of the most affluent places.  Whatever the reason, this survey finds it is happier than Moscow, which came 9th place, achieving 95 points in the survey against the capital city's 70, and 17 points ahead of its nearest rival.

Runner up in the happiness table, with 78 points, was Tyumen, the region surrounding the city of the same name, founded in 1586 as the first Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains.

It is now rich and prosperous from oil, and is sometimes called the Russian Texas. 

In all, Siberia has 9 regions where happiness is 'very high' compared with 6 in the rest of Russia. We won't argue with this. 

Other high ranking regions are the Republics of Buryatia, Tyva, Alti, and Khakassia, the territories of Kemerovo and Altai, and the autonomous okrug of Khanty-Mansiysk, all in the top 15. All of these achieved a higher score than - for example - St Petersburg. 

The findings confound the grim view of Siberia often portrayed in the Western media, all the more so since it table was drawn up based on the views of locals about their regions. 

The territory of the Russian Federation was divided into four categories with a rating of 'very high', 'high', 'medium' and 'below average' levels of happiness.

None of the Siberian or Russian Far East regions were in the lowest category. 

The three lowest scoring regions east of the Urals were Zabaikalsky Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region and Kamchatka Region.