The World’s Most and Least Peaceful Countries

Article written by guest writer Rin Mitchell

What’s the Latest Development?

According to the recently released Global Peace Index, Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world. Denmark and New Zealand are tied for second; Canada is third, with Japan coming in right behind in fourth place. The scale of peace was measured by the amount of internal and external conflict in a country, as well as how easily a country could access small firearms. The easier the access, the more violent the country tended to be. Internal examines criminality, violent demonstrations and terrorism; external looks at military capabilities, weaponry imports and exports, and diplomatic relations with bordering nations. All 158 countries examined were measured on a scale of one to five, with five being the least peaceful and one being the most peaceful. Although socioeconomic factors in a country were not part of the rank and did not measure to have a direct impact on peace—based on the data adult literacy and unemployment—it seems to be directly related for some. Also according to the report, “the presence of civil liberties and freedom of the press have much closer relationships to peace.” The least peaceful countries are Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq.

What’s the Big Idea?

According to the Global Peace Index, Europe houses some of the most peaceful countries. The criteria for peace is “those countries that can avoid Military or diplomatic conflict with other nations and maintain stability and safety within their own borders are peaceful.” The countries that were ranked the least peaceful had a high ranking in access to weapons and political terror.