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After Barack Obama's shout-out to Finland's ever-blossoming and popular metal scene, it is actually true that countries with more metal bands are happier and wealthier - says science. 

President Obama welcomed leaders from Nordic nations to the White House for a summit and state dinner over the weekend, when he spoken out in praise of Finnish metal, as well as the strength in their exports and success in trade and commerce.  

“I do want to point out, that Finland has perhaps the most heavy metal bands in the world, per capita, and also ranks high on good governance,” he said. “I don't know that there's any correlation there.”

Well, Mr Obama, there is a correlation. According to The Atlantic’s City Lab and the Martin Prosperity Institute, a study shows that the number of heavy metal bands in a given area is positively associated with, “economic output per capita; level of creativity and entrepreneurship; share of adults that hold college degrees; as well as overall levels of human development, well-being, and satisfaction with life.”

The study added that Scandinavian countries in particular make “efforts to put compulsory music training in schools, which created a generation with the musical chop to meet metal’s technical demands" - not to mention to amount of brilliant pop music that comes from Norway and Sweden. 

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Here's a map that shows how many metal band each country has per 100,000 people:

Researchers Richard Florida and Mellander added: “Though metal may be the music of choice for some alienated working-class males, it enjoys its greatest popularity in the most advanced, most tolerant, and knowledge-based places in the world.” 

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