New Zealand cities are among the best in the world in which to live according to a new quality of life survey.
Auckland ranked highest of the major New Zealand cities in the 2005 Mercer survey of quality of life - eighth equal with Sydney in Australia; Bern in Switzerland; and Copenhagen in Denmark.
Wellington placed 14th equal along with Melbourne, Berlin, Luxembourg and Toronto.
The Queen city slipped down three places from its fifth placed ranking in the 2004 survey, but the capital improved by one place.
However, Sydney had slipped three places from the human resources company's 2004 survey when it was the fifth best place to live.
The survey, which covers 215 cities worldwide, is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria including personal safety, political, social, economic and environmental factors, and health, education, transport and other public services.
Luxembourg was ranked the safest place in the world, while Baghdad was again ranked last.
The safety survey evaluated the cities for crime levels and internal stability.
The Swiss cities of Geneva and Zurich had the best quality of life while, unsurprisingly, Baghdad had the worst.
Other low-ranking cities include Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, Bangui in Central African Republic, and Port Harcourt and Lagos in Nigeria.
"The top-ranking cities for personal safety and security are in politically stable countries with good international relations and sustainable economic growth," said Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer.
In contrast most of the low-scoring cities are in countries with civil unrest, little law enforcement, and high levels of crime.
Top rankings:
1. Geneva,
Switzerland
1. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Vancouver, Canada
3. Vienna, Austria
5. Frankfurt, Germany
5. Munich, Germany
5. Dusseldorf, Germany
8. Auckland, New Zealand
8. Bern, Switzerland
8. Copenhagan, Denmark
8. Sydney, Australia
