After Stockholm, these countries rank 2 through 10 on the list of best places for women, based on their health, financial, and gender-equality practices, according to the World Economic Forum:
2) NORWAY: By law, all company boards must be at least 40 percent women. Today, about 50 percent of the country's government cabinet posts are filled by women.
3) ICELAND: On October 24, 1975, women went on strike to protest the fact that they earned only 64 percent of men's wages. (They struck at 2:08 p.m., or exactly 64 percent of the 9-to-5 workday.) Today, women earn 72 percent as much (in the U.S., it's 75.5 percent).
4) DENMARK: Women have the highest employment rate in the world and the smallest gender wage gap.
5) FINLAND: Women have the option of staying home with a new baby until the child turns 3--and their employer must keep their job open for them.
6) NEW ZEALAND: On September 19, 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women suffrage. Today, women hold three constitutional positions: prime minister, chief justice, and governor-general.
7) CANADA: At the 2006 Winter Olympics, female athletes won more than half of Canada's medals. They benefit from gender policies requiring equal facilities, sponsorship, and opportunity in sports.
8) U.K.:Thanks to the government's National Childcare Strategy (to expand goodquality, affordable childcare), this year, more than 2 million children will receive subsidized day-care services.
9) GERMANY: Angela Merkel, the first woman ever elected chancellor, currently enjoys an 80-percent approval rating, the highest-ever rating for the top job.
10) AUSTRALIA: Widely regarded as a world leader in domestic-violence awareness, the Australian government is currently studying ways to make abusive men leave the home, rather than forcing women to abandon their houses in order to escape the relationship.
