In a new global ranking of the world's most peaceful countries, published yesterday, Portugal ranked 9th. European countries are majority in the group of the ten most peaceful and safe countries. The list is led by the 'usual suspects' in the statistics, first comes Norway, together with the Scandinavian countries with Ireland, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. Belgium comes at 11, Spain at 21, Italy at 33 and France at 34. The U.S. ranks at 96, just beating out Iran which came in at 97. Iraq understandably appears in the last position (121), while Sudan, Israel, Russia, Nigeria, Colombia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ivory Coast and Angola complete the list of the ten last. Some countries were noticeably absent from the list, namely Afghanistan and North Korea. That was due to the inability to get data.
The Global Peace Index, was elaborated by Australian philanthropist Steve Killelea for the Economist Intelligence Unit, part of British magazine “The Economist”. A team of international peace experts also provided valuable input, including HH Dalai Lama, President James Carter, Sir Richard Branson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy. He considered that the effort proves "peace can and has and will continue to be measured."
The Global Peace Index, was elaborated by Australian philanthropist Steve Killelea for the Economist Intelligence Unit, part of British magazine “The Economist”. A team of international peace experts also provided valuable input, including HH Dalai Lama, President James Carter, Sir Richard Branson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy. He considered that the effort proves "peace can and has and will continue to be measured."
The index has been tested against a range of potential 'drivers' or determinants of peace - including levels of democracy and transparency, education and material wellbeing. The index table was calculated on the basis of 24 factors, which were weighted by the importance the analysts attached to them, included the levels of violence and of organized crime, the number of internal and external conflicts fought between 2000 to 2005; the number of deaths from organized internal conflict; the number of homicides, jailed people, internal security personnel, and military expenditure per 100,000 people of the population. The income level of the citizens and the education level are also important factors to determine the position of each country in this 'ranking'.
For more information on the Global Peace Index, including more detail on the results, methodology and potential uses, please visit www.visionofhumanity.com.
For more information on the Global Peace Index, including more detail on the results, methodology and potential uses, please visit www.visionofhumanity.com.
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