The 17 happiest cities in Europe

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Lake Zurich crossing swimming

REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

People swim during the annual public Lake Zurich crossing swimming event. Zurich ranked highly in the European Commission's survey.

Every year, the European Commission releases its Flash Eurobarometer of quality of life in European cities, a huge survey of how happy people in hundreds of major cities across Europe are.

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The survey asks people to rank their satisfaction with everything from the cleanliness of their city and the amount of green space, to how safe it is.

We took the European Commission's data and chose those cities where the highest percentage of citizens said they were "very satisfied with the life they lead" and ranked them. In other words, we found out where in Europe people are happiest with their lives.

You might think that Europe's biggest, most vibrant metropolises like Paris, Rome, Berlin, and London are where people enjoy life most, but in general it is actually smaller, less busy cities, where people are at their happiest.

Check out the list below.

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