0 WHAT IS THE MOST PEACEFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD?

Well, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI) - the world's leading measure of global peacefulness, the most peaceful country in the world

for the year 2011

is...

ICELAND!

(Last Year it was New Zealand!)

The GPI, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. It gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarisation in 153 countries by taking into account 23 separate indicators. 
The results for 2011 suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year.  The deterioration, however, is smaller than that which occurred between the 2009 and 2010 editions of the GPI, when some nations experienced an intensification of conflicts and growing instability linked to rapid rises in food, fuel and commodity prices and the global economic downturn.

So What's The -
TOP TEN MOST PEACEFUL COUNTRIES?

STATE OF PEACE
Below are the GPI rankings for the countries analysed this year.  Countries most at peace are ranked first.  A lower score indicates a more peaceful country.


   1        Iceland (1.148)
  2        New Zealand (1.279)
  3        Japan (1.287)
  4        Denmark (1.289)
  5        Czech Republic (1.320)
  6        Austria (1.337)
  7        Findland (1.352)
  8        Canada (1.355)
  9        Norway (1.356)
10        Slovenia (1.358)


And the Bottom - 
TEN LEAST PEACEFUL COUNTRIES:

144              Central African Republic (2.869)
145              Israel (2.901)
146              Pakistan (2.905)
147              Russian Federation (2.966)
148              Congo, the Democratic Republic of the (3.016)
149              Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (3.092)
150              Afghanistan (3.212)
151              Sudan (3.223)
152              Iraq (3.296)
153              Somalia (3.379)


And The Others:
(Where does YOUR Country fit in?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how exactly do they calculate, study and conclude their findings you say? 

Well, as mentioned earlier, twenty-three indicators of the existence or absence of
peace were chosen by the panel, which are divided into three broad categories:

• Ongoing domestic and international conflict;
• Safety and security in society;
• Militarisation


Measures of ongoing domestic and international conflict comprise five of the 23 indicators:
• Number of external and internal conflicts fought: 2004-09
• Estimated number of deaths from organised conflict (external)
• Number of deaths from organised conflict (internal)
• Level of organised conflict (internal)
• Relations with neighbouring countries

Measures of societal safety and security
Ten of the indicators assess the levels of safety and security in a society (country), ranging from the perception of criminality in society, to the level of respect for human rights and the rate of homicides and violent crimes. Crime data is from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. The difficulties of comparing international crime statistics are discussed in detail in
Annex A. Five of these indicators have been scored by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s team of country analysts:
• Perceptions of criminality in society
• Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the population
• Political instability
• Political Terror Scale
• Potential for terrorist acts
• Number of homicides per 100,000 people
• Level of violent crime
• Likelihood of violent demonstrations
• Number of jailed population per 100,000

• Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

Measures of militarisation
Eight of the indicators are related to a country’s military build-up—reflecting the assertion that the level of militarisation and access to weapons is directly linked to how at peace a country feels internationally.  Comparable data are readily available from sources such as the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS):
• Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP
• Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people
• Volume of transfers (imports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people
• Volume of transfers (exports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people
• Budgetary support for UN peacekeeping missions: percentage of outstanding payments versus annual assessment to the budget of the current peacekeeping missions
• Aggregate number of heavy weapons per 100,000 people
• Ease of access to small arms and light weapons
• Military capability/sophistication



Some Interesting Notes I've Read From the PDF Document Below:

• Western Europe remains markedly the most peaceful region, with the majority of the countries in this group ranking in the top 20.
• Four Nordic nations are ranked in the GPI’s top ten, with high levels of safety and security indicating broadly harmonious societies, free from civil conflict.
• Sweden ranks lower than its Nordic neighbours on account of its thriving arms-manufacturing industry and the volume of exports of conventional weapons.
  Its score deteriorated owing to a rise in the number of internal security offi cers and police and a rise in the perception of terrorist acts (from a low base) and it dropped out of the top ten to 13th position.
• Greece’s score deteriorated for the third successive year, and by the largest margin in the region with an increasing risk of demonstrations and rises in the level of violent crime linked to the ongoing financial crisis and high unemployment. Very large numbers of heavy weapons per head in both Greece and Cyprus contribute
  to their relatively high overall scores and low ranks.
• The second most peaceful region, North America, experienced a slight improvement since last year,continuing a trend since 2007. This year it reflects an upturn in Canada’s score and ranking (to eighth position). Canada’s relations with neighbouring countries improved, having worsened during the previous year as the government sought to defend its sovereign claims in the Arctic. Canada’s measure of respect for human rights (the Political Terror Scale) also advanced slightly, to the highest possible level.
• The United States's overall score remained unchanged (a fall in the level of violent crime was offset by a rise in the number of deaths from external conflict) although it rose three places to 82nd position as a result of deteriorations in other countries previously ranked above it. The US’s rank reflects much higher levels of militarisation and involvement in external confl icts than its northern neighbour.
• The United Kingdom and France have been accorded low positions compared with their neighbouring countries in previous editions of the GPI owing to their sophisticated military spheres, substantial arms exports, involvement in external conflicts and relatively high homicide rates.  This year the UK’s score was unchanged, but it rose to 26th place as a result of deteriorations in the scores of four countries ranked above it in 2010: Oman, Chile,Costa Rica and Spain.
  

 

To Read More, I've Downloaded the PDF File below: