World life expectancy & the Blue ZonesLongevity MapHow long people live, everywhere on Earth
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Longest-lived (green)
Around the world average
Shortest-lived (red)
Blue Zone — a longevity hotspot
Mediterranean climate belt (30°–45°)
No data
2022
🔵 The Blue Zones — where the world lives longest
Blue Zones are pockets of the planet where people reach 100 at extraordinary rates. Five were demographically validated by Dan Buettner and researchers; this atlas adds Buettner's "engineered" sixth, a set of emerging candidates it nominates, and two famous-but-debunked legends — because the difference between a real Blue Zone and a good story is the birth-certificate paperwork.
The "Power 9" — what they share
Nine lifestyle traits common across the validated Blue Zones.
Sources: Dan Buettner / National Geographic; Pes & Poulain; the Adventist Health Study; and the regional studies cited on each card. Lifestyle claims are associations, not medical advice.
About the Longevity Map
The Longevity Map paints every country and territory by how long its people live — green where life is longest, yellow around the world average, red where it is shortest — and marks the world's Blue Zones in blue.
Use the All / Women / Men switch to see the longevity gap between the sexes. Drag the time slider back to 1960 and press ▶ to watch six decades of dramatic gains — and the rare, real collapses (Rwanda 1994, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge). Click a country to see its rank, its history, and — for many — which of its regions live longest and shortest (e.g. Kerala vs Chhattisgarh in India).
The ranking panel lists the longest-lived countries and, separately, the longest-lived cities. The faint Mediterranean climate belt (latitudes 30°–45°) can be toggled on — a nod to the old idea that mild, temperate climates are gentler on human life.
Country data is sourced live from the World Bank Open Data API (life expectancy at birth, 1960–2022; total, male and female). Subnational and city figures come from national statistics offices and are best-available estimates with varying methods and years — compare within a country, not across. Conflict-affected states have volatile data. Taiwan is supplemented from its own statistics agency.