A new Mercer study ranks cities by the quality of life they offer expatriate executives and their families across the world

What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? To find out, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which provides advice to multinational companies on international assignments, has come up with a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. They include political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing, the environment and public safety. Mercer collected the data between September and November of 2006 and considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland's main commercial and cultural center, Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva, and Vancouver and Vienna, which tied for third. To see how other cities fared, check out this interactive table.

2007 RANK	2006 RANK	CITY	COUNTRY	2007 Index	2006 Index
215	215	BAGHDAD	Iraq	14.5	14.5
214	214	BRAZZAVILLE	Congo	29.5	30.3
213	213	BANGUI	Central African Republic	30.6	30.6
212	212	KHARTOUM	Sudan	31.0	31.7
211	211	POINTE NOIRE	Congo	33.0	33.9
210	210	NDJAMENA	Chad	34.0	37.2
208	207	PORT HARCOURT	Nigeria	38.2	38.2
208	207	SANAA	Yemen Arab Republic	38.2	38.2
207	205	KINSHASA	Dem. Rep. Of The Congo	38.3	40.7
206	207	NOUAKCHOTT	Mauritania	39.0	38.2
205	201	CONAKRY	Guinea Republic	40.4	41.2
203	200	DHAKA	Bangladesh	40.5	41.5
203	206	OUAGADOUGOU	Burkina Faso	40.5	40.5
202	202	NIAMEY	Niger	40.8	41.1
201	202	ANTANANARIVO	Madagascar	41.1	41.1
200	202	PORT AU PRINCE	Haiti	41.4	41.1
199	199	LAGOS	Nigeria	41.8	41.8
198	198	TASHKENT	Uzbekistan	43.0	43.0
197	194	ADDIS ABABA	Ethiopia	43.1	44.2
196	197	LUANDA	Angola	43.4	43.4
195	196	ABIDJAN	Ivory Coast	43.7	43.7
194	195	BAMAKO	Mali	43.9	43.9
193	192	BAKU	Azerbaijan	44.8	44.8
192	193	LOME	Togo	45.1	44.3
191	191	KAZAN	Russia	46.7	47.0
190	190	DAR ES SALAAM	Tanzania	47.4	47.4
189	187	HAVANA	Cuba	47.8	48.7
188	189	NOVOSIBIRSK	Russia	47.9	48.2
187	187	MAPUTO	Mozambique	48.7	48.7
186	186	DOUALA	Cameroon	49.2	48.9
185	185	YANGON	Myanmar	49.3	49.3
184	183	ALMATY	Kazakhstan	49.4	49.8
183	184	MINSK	Belarus	49.5	49.5
182	182	YAOUNDE	Cameroon	51.3	51.1
181	180	TIRANA	Albania	51.7	51.7
180	181	SAN PEDRO SULA	Honduras	51.8	51.3
179	179	BEIRUT	Lebanon	52.5	52.0
178	178	ALGIERS	Algeria	52.6	52.6
176	173	DAMASCUS	Syria	52.8	54.5
176	176	TEHRAN	Iran	52.8	54.1
175	170	KARACHI	Pakistan	52.9	54.9
173	175	DJIBOUTI	Djibouti	54.2	54.2
173	177	TRIPOLI	Libya	54.2	53.5
172	174	COTONOU	Benin	54.3	54.3
171	172	MOSCOW	Russia	54.4	54.8
170	170	MANAGUA	Nicaragua	54.9	54.9
169	169	VIENTIANE	Laos, People's Dem. Republic Of	55.0	55.0
168	168	HARARE	Zimbabwe	55.2	55.9
167	165	KIEV	Ukraine	56.2	56.2
164	165	RIYADH	Saudi Arabia	56.4	56.2
164	162	ST. PETERSBURG	Russia	56.4	56.8
164	167	SAN SALVADOR	El Salvador	56.4	56.0
163	163	LAHORE	Pakistan	56.5	56.5
162	161	JEDDAH	Saudi Arabia	57.3	57.1
161	160	JILIN	China	57.9	57.4
160	163	SARAJEVO	Bosnia-Herzegovina	58.7	56.5
159	159	CHENNAI (MADRAS)	India	59.3	58.3
158	157	ISLAMABAD	Pakistan	59.8	59.8
157	155	HANOI	Vietnam	60.1	60.0
156	148	NAIROBI	Kenya	60.2	61.9
155	153	LIBREVILLE	Gabon	60.6	60.6
154	152	ACCRA	Ghana	60.9	60.9
153	153	BANGALORE	India	61.3	60.6
152	156	SKOPJE	Macedonia	61.4	59.9
151	150	MUMBAI	India	61.7	61.0
150	148	HO CHI MINH CITY	Vietnam	62.0	61.9
149	145	SANTA CRUZ	Bolivia	62.1	63.3
148	150	NEW DELHI	India	62.4	61.0
147	158	BELGRADE	Serbia	62.6	59.4
146	144	DAKAR	Senegal	62.7	63.5
145	147	SHENYANG	China	63.0	62.6
144	145	MEDELLIN	Colombia	63.3	63.3
143	143	BOGOTA	Colombia	63.6	63.6
142	142	JAKARTA	Indonesia	63.7	63.7
141	140	CARACAS	Venezuela	64.1	64.5
140	141	GUATEMALA CITY	Guatemala	64.3	64.3
139	137	LA PAZ	Bolivia	64.5	65.7
138	139	KINGSTON	Jamaica	65.3	65.3
137	138	LUSAKA	Zambia	65.5	65.5
136	120	COLOMBO	Sri Lanka	66.3	73.6
135	136	NANJING	China	66.8	66.3
134	135	BLANTYRE	Malawi	66.9	66.9
133	134	KUWAIT CITY	Kuwait	69.0	68.1
132	132	RAYONG	Thailand	69.3	70.3
131	133	GUANGZHOU	China	70.3	69.8
129	126	AMMAN	Jordan	71.2	72.2
129	131	CAIRO	Egypt	71.2	71.2
128	128	MEXICO CITY	Mexico	71.3	71.7
127	130	SANTO DOMINGO	Dominican Republic	71.4	71.4
126	129	MANAUS	Brazil	71.5	71.5
125	127	GUAYAQUIL	Ecuador	72.0	72.0
123	125	MANAMA	Bahrain	72.3	72.3
123	118	MANILA	Philippines	72.3	73.8
122	124	JERUSALEM	Israel	72.5	72.5
121	108	ISTANBUL	Turkey	73.4	77.1
120	122	LIMA	Peru	73.6	73.0
119	123	CASABLANCA	Morocco	73.7	72.8
118	117	QUITO	Ecuador	74.2	74.2
116	121	BEIJING	China	74.3	73.4
116	118	SOFIA	Bulgaria	74.3	73.8