For many people, the world feels like a much more dangerous place now than it was a few decades ago. With increasing unrest in many countries around the world and the threat of thermonuclear war, it is hard not to feel unsafe. Information travel quickly these days and through multiple mediums.
In times like these, it is even more important to stay informed, understand other people and cultures and have correct knowledge about other countries be it for travel or immigration.
The Global peace Index, issued by the , recently released a ranking of the safest countries in the world. Peace, as it is, is notoriously difficult to define. The simplest way, according to Global Peace Index, is in terms of the harmony achieved by the absence of violence or the fear of violence, which has been described as Negative Peace. The GPI measures a country’s level of Negative Peace using three domains of peacefulness. The first domain, ongoing domestic and international conflict, investigates the extent to which countries are involved in internal and external conflicts, as well as their role and duration of involvement in conflicts.
The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation.
In their latest rankings, Iceland maintained its position as the most peaceful country in the world in 2017. It was also ranked as the most peaceful country on two of the three domains covered in the GPI. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Portugal, Austria, and Denmark, all of which were ranked highly in last year’s GPI. Denmark fell from second position to fifth due to increases in the impact of terrorism and deterioration in the neighbouring country relations indicators.
Syria remains the world’s least peaceful country for the second successive year, and has been ranked amongst the world’s five least peaceful countries since the start of the civil war in 2013. Iraq and Afghanistan have also remained amongst the bottom five countries of the index for the past five years. South Sudan is now the fourth least peaceful country and has experienced a steady decline in recent years, dropping 15 places since achieving independence from Sudan.
Source: GPI report
Source: GPI report
The overall score for the 2017 Global Peace Index (GPI) improved slightly this year due to gains in six of the nine geographical regions represented. This is the first improvement in global peacefulness recorded since 2014 and does not necessarily indicate a new trend. Of significance is the number of countries that improved, 93, compared to those that deteriorated, 68.
Source: GPI report
See the list of the safest countries in the world below:
- Iceland: Iceland is number one on the Global Peace Index, making it the most peaceful country in the world.
Reykjavík seen from the tower of Hallgrímskirkja Source: Wikimedia/Andreas Tille CC BY-SA 3.0 - New Zealand: An isolated nation which is dedicated to providing its own power through renewable sources.
The advantage of steep hills in Wellington is that almost everywhere you go, there are stunning harbour views. Source: TOURISM NEW ZEALAND - Portugal: Portugal has been described as an ‘Ocean of Stability’ who’ve managed to avoid most wars since WW2.
Portugal Source: flickr/Maria Eklind CC BY-SA 2.0 - Austria: its ranked 4th out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index 2017.
Austria Source: flickr/Pedro Szekely CC BY-SA 2.0 - Denmark: It controls Greenland a vast island which is politically unaligned and fairly remote.
Denmark Source: flickr/Roman Boed CC BY 2.0 - Czech Republic: is a landlocked nation state in central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast.
Czech Source: flickr/Dennis Jarvis CC BY-SA 2.0 - Slovenia: Slovenia is investing heavily in renewable energy sources managing to produce 22 percent of its energy needs from green sources.
Slovenia Source: flickr/Bernd Thaller CC BY 2.0 - Canada: It’s also the eighth most peaceful, and scored a 1.1 out of five for domestic and international conflict, which means it’s one of the least involved countries when it comes to war.
Canada Source: flickr/Thank you for visiting my page …. CC BY 2.0 - Switzerland: They’re the oldest neutral country in the world since 1815 and they’ve not fought a foreign war since signing the Treaty of Paris.
SWITZERLAND Date: Source: Ardea Picture Library - Ireland: they’ve practised neutrality since the First World War.
Ireland Source: flickr/Jay Sturner CC BY 2.0
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