World's safest countries revealed: Most peaceful places on Earth, from Latvia to Iceland
For 11th consecutive year, European nation of Iceland ranked as world's safest place
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Your support makes all the difference.The safest countries in the world have been revealed in the latest Global Peace Index, which ranks major nations by how peaceful they are.
The report, published by think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked 163 countries by 23 factors, including murder rate, political terror, and deaths from internal conflict.
For an 11th consecutive year, the northern European nation of Iceland is ranked as the world’s safest place.
Home to around 300,000 people, Iceland’s crime rate is incredibly low, with just 1.8 murders per 100,000 people annually. That’s around one-third the murder rate in the USA.
Most countries high up on the index are western, although a handful of developed economies in Asia, as well as small island nations, made the ranking.
The index ranks countries from high to low, so the lower the number, the safer the country.
Here is the list of the safest 31 countries:
31. Latvia — 1.689
30. Spain — 1.678
29. Botswana — 1.659
28. Chile — 1.649
27. Croatia — 1.639
26. Bulgaria — 1.635
25. Malaysia — 1.619
24. Romania — 1.596
23. The Netherlands — 1.574
22. Slovakia — 1.568
21. Belgium — 1.560
20. Mauritius — 1.548
19. Bhutan — 1.545
17. Hungary — 1.531
17. Germany — 1.531
16. Norway — 1.519
15. Finland — 1.506
14. Sweden — 1.502
13. Australia — 1.435
12. Switzerland — 1.407
11. Slovenia — 1.396
10. Ireland — 1.393
9. Japan — 1.391
8. Singapore — 1.382
7. Czech Republic — 1.381
6. Canada — 1.372
5. Denmark — 1.35
4. Portugal — 1.318
3. Austria — 1.274
2. New Zealand — 1.192
1. Iceland — 1.09
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Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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