World peace is declining day by day due to major unresolved issues by the world leaders. Here, in this piece, you will explore the most peaceful countries of the world today as ranked in the year 2018 along with the least peaceful countries.
-
Which Organization Prepare the Ranking?
This ranking is presented by GPI- Global Peace Index and is a measure of peacefulness of 163 independent states and other territories (total of both makes 99.7% of the whole world's population). A comprehensive report is prepared by the highly notable international panel that consists of peace experts working in peace institution from all around the world, along with think tanks. They analyze the data collected by the EIU- Economist Intelligence Unit. This GPI report is published by IEP- Institute of Economics and Peace.
-
When was the First GPI Published?
Ranking the countries according to the level of peace the nation is harboring, economic growth, and absence of terrorist groups started about more than a decade ago. The first such report was published in 2007, May and then these started publishing on an annual basis. After a decade of its launch, the report published in 2017 ranked 163 countries, a huge numerical up gradation from 121 countries being ranked in the first year.
-
What is the criterion of ranking countries?
This is one of the frequently asked questions, and most of the people do not know the answer. But if you are reading this you are in luck with giving a boost to your general knowledge. Most importantly, the GPI investigates the conflicts a country is facing on a domestic level and internationally. This is the most important gauge that helps to evaluate the sense of peace and harmony in the nation. A report published in 2017 gauged nations on 23 indicators that are listed below,
- Number and duration of internal conflicts
- Number of deaths from external organized conflict
- Number of deaths from internal organized conflict
- Number, duration, and role in external conflicts
- The intensity of organized internal conflict
- Relations with neighboring countries
- Level of perceived criminality in society
- Number of refugees and displaced persons as a percentage of the population
- Political instability
- Impact of terrorism
- political terror
- Number of homicides per 100,000 people
- Level of violent crime
- Likelihood of violent demonstrations
- Number of jailed persons per 100,000 people
- Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people
- Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP
- Number of armed services personnel per 100,000
- The volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as the recipient (imports) per 100,000 people
- The volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as a supplier (exports) per 100,000 people
- Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions
- Nuclear and heavy weapons capability
- Ease of access to small arms and light weapons
The expert panel of the GPI suggested that to be included in the analysis exercise of the GPI, the countries must be populated with 1 million people and if not then must cover the land of at least 20,000 square kilometers. By analyzing all the countries as per these rules, experts enlist the countries as per the lowest to the highest order of the Global Peace Index.
-
List of Countries Ranked Most Peaceful
According to the reports, the world has become less peaceful overall, and this is because of the increased acts of terrorism, elevation in domestic conflicts, loss of tolerance, and humanity. According to the global peace rankings, in the last year alone, the overall score dropped by 0.27% that mainly resulted because of the unresolved conflicts in the Middle Eastern countries.
Nevertheless, on a brighter side, there are 13 countries that hold the pride of being "very high" peace level.
Fascinatingly, Iceland is again on top in 2018, and it is enjoying this place for many years.
Here is the least of the top 15 most peaceful countries of the world today that have the highest peace level within their own country and great international relations as well.
GPI (Global Peace Index) Ranking of the Year 2018
Rank
|
Name
|
Population
|
Area (km2)
|
Global Peace Index
|
1
|
Iceland
|
357,050
|
102,775
|
1.096
|
2
|
New Zealand
|
4,953,450
|
268,021
|
1.192
|
3
|
Republic of Austria
|
8,857,960
|
83,879
|
1.274
|
4
|
Portuguese Republic
|
10,291,027
|
92,212
|
1.318
|
5
|
Kingdom of Denmark
|
5,806,015
|
42,933
|
1.353
|
6
|
Canada
|
37,314,442
|
9,984,670
|
1.372
|
7
|
Czech Republic
|
10,610,947
|
78,866
|
1.381
|
8
|
Republic of Singapore
|
5,638,700
|
722.5
|
1.382
|
9
|
Japan
|
126,440,000
|
377,973
|
1.391
|
10
|
Republic of Ireland
|
4,857,000
|
70,273
|
1.393
|
11
|
Republic of Slovenia
|
2,076,598
|
20,273
|
1.396
|
12
|
Switzerland
|
8,508,898
|
41,285
|
1.407
|
13
|
Australia
|
25,317,500
|
7,692,024
|
1.435
|
14
|
Kingdom of Sweden
|
10,223,505
|
450,295
|
1.502
|
15
|
Republic of Finland
|
5,513,000
|
338,424
|
1.506
|
Note: The population of the countries is as per last official record.
-
List of Countries Ranked as Least Peaceful
While taking into account the most peaceful countries, it is also important to see which countries are residing on the bottom. In the list of the most peaceful countries of the world today, the least peaceful countries that are sitting at the bottom of the chart are the following. When you'll take a look at these names, you'll observe a coherent pattern of a deteriorating economy, immense terrorism, crazy internal conflicts, and poverty, except in Russia. The trend of all these goes higher and higher down the chart, as the peace ranking goes from lower to the lowest.
GPI (Global Peace Index) Ranking of the Year 2018
Rank
|
Name
|
Population
|
Area (km2)
|
Global Peace Index
|
154
|
Russian Federation
|
146,793,744
|
17,125,191
|
3.160
|
155
|
Central African Republic
|
4,594,621
|
622,984
|
3.236
|
156
|
Democratic Republic of Congo
|
91,931,000
|
2,345,409
|
3.251
|
157
|
State of Libya
|
6,653,210
|
1,759,541
|
3.262
|
158
|
Republic of Yemen
|
27,584,213
|
527,968
|
3.305
|
159
|
Federal Republic of Somalia
|
11,031,386
|
637,657
|
3.367
|
160
|
Republic of Iraq
|
37,202,572
|
437,072
|
3.425
|
161
|
Republic of South Sudan
|
12,230,730
|
619,745
|
3.508
|
162
|
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
|
31,575,018
|
652,230
|
3.585
|
163
|
Syrian Arab Republic
|
18,284,407
|
185,180
|
3.600
|
|