In search of peace? Maybe it's
time to move to Iceland.
According to the nonprofit
Institute for Economics and Peace, the thinly populated island in the midst of
the North Atlantic has retained its place as the most peaceful country in the
world.
The institute released its
Global Peace Index for 2015 this week, which ranks 162 nations around the globe
based on factors like the level of violent crime, involvement in conflicts and
the degree of militarization.
Six out of the top 10 most
peaceful countries were European, with Denmark and Austria holding the second
and third spots.
"Europe maintained its
position as the most peaceful region in the world, supported by a lack of
domestic and external conflicts," the report said.
But that glowing review is
helped by the fact that violence-plagued Ukraine is lumped into a different
region: Russia and Eurasia.
U.S. in bottom half of
rankings
Ukraine suffered the second
biggest deterioration in its rating over the past year as pro-Russian
separatists clashed with government forces.
The only country that fared
worse was Libya, which has "sunk into a low-level civil war between
Islamist and nationalist groups," the report said.
War-ravaged Syria remained at
the bottom of the rankings. And Iraq, the other country where the Islamic
militant group ISIS holds large areas of territory, dropped below South Sudan
and Afghanistan to second last place.
The United States is in the
bottom half of the index, scoring badly in terms of militarization, homicides
and fear of violence. Its ranking improved somewhat from a year earlier,
though, rising from 101st place to 94th.
Source: CNN
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