Iceland has fallen from first to fourth place on Vision of Humanity’s list of the world’s most peaceful countries.
According to their website, New Zealand now holds the honor of being the world’s most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Norway. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Israel, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq are the world’s least peaceful countries. The United States ranked in 83rd place out of a possible 144, the United Kingdom ranked 35th, and Canada ranked 8th.
Vision of Humanity’s methodology, according to their website, factors in 23 different indicators, among them military engagement, the percentage of the population jailed, and civil unrest among others, and different countries are reviewed for these factors by a panel of experts. The chairperson of the panel this year, Professor Kevin P. Clements, is Foundation Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies and Director, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand.
Iceland presumably lost its position as most peaceful country due to the January Revolution, but strangely, Denmark held a higher ranking despite violent clashes between police and students in that country over the past year.