"Brazil is associated with all these qualities of good humor and good living and Carnaval," says Anholt. "Carnaval is very important – it's the classic image that people have of Rio, and it's an image of happiness."
Next on the list is the top city from Australia, Sydney, known for balmy weather, friendly locals and an iconic opera house, Sydney fared well in Anholt's survey because of its association with a popular brand – Australia.
"It's where everybody would like to go," he says. "Everybody thinks they know Australia because they've seen Crocodile Dundee. There's this image of this nation of people who basically sit around having barbecues."
Rounding out the top five are third-ranked Spain's Barcelona, which Anholt calls "the classic Mediterranean city"; fourth-ranked Amsterdam, because Anholt's young respondents "know you can smoke dope in the bars"; and Melbourne, Australia, which makes the list simply because it's in Australia.
"People know it's in Australia, and that it's full of Australians," says Anholt. "Therefore, it must be fun."
The data Anholt provided for Forbes list is part of the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index which surveyed fifty metropolises and was released in June. The research was compiled through online interviews with 10,000 respondents in 20 countries.
Happiness is difficult to quantify, and Anholt acknowledges that his data is less an indicator of where local populations are happiest than a reflection of respondents' thinking about where they could imagine themselves happy.
"This is a survey of perception, not a survey of reality," he says. "People write me all the time and say 'that's not true.' It probably isn't true, but it's what people think. The gap between perception and reality is what is of interest to city governments."
Anholt notes that the results of his survey reflect the longstanding reputation of Mediterranean and Latin American cities as non-stop party locales.
"It's pretty much the expected bunch," says Anholt. "Though I'm a little surprised about Spain outdoing Italy. It's interesting that the Spanish are perceived as being happier than the Italians – I find the Spanish rather gloomy."
Still, Barcelona – Spain's highest-ranked city – has plenty of supporters.
San Francisco, in the US's West Coast, is the only American city the made the list, coming in seventh place. The town is seen by foreigners as "the most fun" of America's big cities. "It's associated with gay pride," says Anholt. "That's a happy image unless you're a raging homophobe."
Rounding up the top ten list, there are Rome (8th), Paris (9th) and Buenos Aires, which is number 10. Buenos Aires seems to have made the list for a reason Argentineans probably won't accept: its proximity to the happiest city in the world, Rio de Janeiro.
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