British financial advisor Money.co.uk compiled the list of the world’s healthiest places to live, which includes two Romanian cities: Temesvár/Timișoara in the country’s western part and Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, ranked 15th and 16th, respectively.
The ranking is based on five criteria: obesity rate, pollution rate, food prices, life expectancy, and hours of sunlight. While one can always argue whether or not these are the only measurements that make for healthy living, the comparison is interesting nevertheless.
Based on their ranking, the Iberian peninsula is the healthiest region overall, represented by no less than four cities in the top 20: Valencia and Madrid in Spain (first and second), as well as Lisbon and Porto in Portugal (3rd and 13th).
Perhaps even more significant is the complete absence of the two Americas and Africa from the list. Just as interesting is the fact that seven of the top ten cities are in Europe.
Besides Temesvár and Kolozsvár, the only other Central European city to make it into the top 20 is the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.
