Easiest country to obtain a long term Visa

It is the Schengen Area, not Shengan, named after the village in Luxembourg where the Schengen Treaty was signed.
You are supposed to apply to the country you are intending to stay in most of the time, and the rules for getting a visa are decided by that country, so it is really dictated by your travel plans. Once you have the visa for that country, it gives "access all areas" rights for the other members of the Schengen Area. Since there are no checks between Schengen countries, there is no way, legally or practically, to prevent you visiting other countries.
AFAIK no countries require you to have a one year lease, but they usually require you to have residence (an address) in that country for the duration of your stay, as you will be legally living there.

My apologies for the spelling error. Thank you for your response.

I pretty much think Chris meant to make it easier for you to find information on the topic. You won't find much for Shengan.

I'm interested in this topic, too, because if you start a trip by taking a month or so of language lessons, it really cuts into the time you have for traveling, and Day 90 shows up pretty quickly. I haven't figured out a solution yet, but I have seen vague comments online about language schools helping people get visas. I don't know whether that just means providing a statement about the registration commitments of folks who plan semester- or year-long programs or whether some schools might allow students to use the school's address when applying for the visa. The permanent-address-for-a-year does seem a challenging hurdle to overcome.

Haven't heard of year long leases but have heard of extensive resources needed - as much as $50,000 cash. A few years ago I thought that Spain may be the easiest when I looked into that question. There are a lot of huddles to jump over. Could take the better part of the year to get it done.

I don't recall if it was here or elsewhere that someone linked to this a few days ago; similar situation with some interesting reading, they are currently based in Portugal:

https://noparticularplacetogo.net/moving-to-portugal/

Some ideas are below.
The most important things to have are:
1. Sufficient liquid assets to show that you don't need to work. That will depend on the country, in Italy, about 15 years ago it was a minimum of almost 30 euro per day (that was for a student visa) for one person, that would be over 10,000 euro for a year. If it's two of you, it's more, but not necessarily double. Those figures may be outdated now however. But I'm sure that assets for 50,000 euro would be sufficient for a couple.
2. Proof of health insurance, including evacuation insurance.
3. Proof of lodging of some sort.
3. A reason other than tourism (that will allow you only 90 days). Study is a good one, although you will need proof of enrollment in a course that is long enough.

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/

http://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en

The above are general norms for Italy. The website is the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Enter you data in the 4 question boxes, including the reason for long stay.

Tourism won't work as a reason, because that is limited to 90 days. The following are probably the best for you:
Elective Residence
Study
and maybe 'Work Holiday'.

Just start typing and they'll come up.
It doesn't give specifics on the amount necessary for a long term visa. For elective residence (basically people who retire in Italy), the asset requirements and proof of steady income are probably substantial.

Ah, already found an error in this. Nomadic Matt explains "These Schengen countries have a border-free visa agreement that lets residents move throughout the Area without needing a passport." No! Not residents, but citizens only. This means: When you are a non-Schengen citizen and have a long-term visa e.g. for Portugal, you are not allowed to move freely within the Schengen area. As soon you leave Portugal, the 90 days out of 180 still applies! Your long-term visa is bound to a specific country. It's not accepted by any other Schengen country. (Though, as there are no passport checks, you hardly ever run into a problem.)

JJJ, that contradicts information that we have seen here many times. Do you have a citation that explains that? In taking a quick look around, I found a site for potential expats in Spain that said exactly what Nomadic Matt said - with a long term visa, you can travel freely in the Schengen zone without time restriction.

Nancy, jjj's statement is corroborated by the European Commission's official FAQ on Schengen, question 15: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/docs/frequently_asked_questions_en.pdf

Quote from the document (added emphasis):

I have a valid long stay visa/residence permit for a country that is
part of the Schengen area. Do I need another visa to travel to other
Schengen states?

No. A long stay visa or a residence permit issued by a Schengen State
allows you to travel or stay in other Schengen States, while
respecting the maximum duration of a “short stay” (a stay of "90 days
in any 180 day period").

I'm not too familiar with the Schengen rules, since I don't have to deal with them, but I think what JJJ writes is correct.

If you are not a citizen of the EU and obtain a long term residency in one Schengen state, you are not allowed unlimited entry to the others. You are still restricted to 90 days per each 6 month period, when outside the country in which you obtained a long term residency.

This is what the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states:

Under Schengen rules, the residence permit issued by the Police (Questura) or the diplomatic or service identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to holders of a long-sojourn visa allows aliens, unless express limitations are imposed, entry to and exit from the Schengen area and to travel without restraint for a period not to exceed 90 days in any 6-month period within territories of the other Contracting States, provided that they hold a valid national passport or equivalent travel document. Nevertheless, all aliens are required to report their presence to the police on the soil of any other Schengen State within 3 working days of entry.

http://www.esteri.it/mae/en/ministero/servizi/stranieri/ingressosoggiornoinitalia/soggiorno_stranieri_in_italia.html

With a long term visa, you could spend up to 89 days traveling outside your residence country, then stay in your residence country and visit non-Schengen countries for at least 90 days, after which you are allowed to travel in Schengen countries once again. That's 270 days, up to 180 of which could be spent in Schengen countries. If your long-term visa is for France or Italy, you would have months and months of sights to visit in either country. It wouldn't be bad to be "stuck" inside either country.

Dejan, thanks for the link. Obviously the other site I found was wrong as well.

Some countries require a return plane ticket, for proof that you'll be returning before your visa expires.
You can rent an apartment or a hotel and move around - you just have to show proof that you have someplace to live. If you rent an apartment, you should ask the agency or landlord to write an affidavit giving the length of stay and a paid receipt.