Frankly, I'm surprised the U.S. is ranked as high as it is in this first ever U.S. News and World Report survey of the best countries in the world.

Is it ironic that Germany is #1?  When you consider the history of the last century, you have to think so.

Canada ranks #2 and Great Britain #3.  The survey, conducted by the magazine and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and global brand consultants BAV Consulting, took into account 24 factors to make their determinations.

Washington Post:

The new project ranks 60 countries across 24 categories and is based on a survey of more than 16,000 people.

The United States ranked first in power and influence. Sweden scored the most top spots, ranking first for being the best country for citizenship, raising kids and green living. Other top rankings include Brazil for adventure; Luxembourg for opening a business; France for cultural influence; Germany for entrepreneurship; Canada for quality of life; Italy for heritage; and India for its up-and-coming economy. In the end, Germany scored highest overall.

The ranking relied on surveys from 16,248 people from 36 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa. Of those, more than 8,000 were "informed elites" (college-educated, middle- or upper-class individuals). More than 4,500 were business leaders, defined as senior leaders in an organization or individuals who own small business that employ others. The rest belonged to the general public.

Each respondent was asked to share his or her perceptions on a random selection of 65 attributes for a random selection of countries. The attributes were each scored and grouped into nine broader categories: adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life.

Scores in each category were then weighted based on correlation with widespread prosperity, measured using the International Monetary Fund's 2014 per capita gross domestic product purchasing power parity.

The 60 countries included were chosen based on other key business, economy and quality of life indicators.

Most of this list looks just about right.

The only surprise to me was the low ranking for Singapore and South Korea, two very wealthy countries.  And France's high ranking might raise a few eyebrows given their numerous economic and social problems.

But in the end, it's all subjective anyway.  I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere else, and I suspect most Americans would say the same.

Deputy editor Drew Belsky adds: Germany's top spot can be considered ironic in light of the last few weeks, to say nothing of the last century.  But for some reason, the surveyors did not see fit to include a "Likelihood of Getting Raped by Muslim 'Refugees'" category among the 24.  Doing so would have lowered Germany's score considerably.