Top 10 most peaceful countries of 2011
According to the Global Peace Index 2011 published on May 25, Iceland, New Zealand and Japan are the most peaceful countries around the world.
Published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the Global Peace Index is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness. It gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarisation in 153 countries.
It's made up of 23 indicators, ranging from a nation's level of military expenditure to its relations with neighboring countries.
The data also comes from various sources, including the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the World Bank, various bits of the UN offices and Peace Institutes and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
In this year, the list has seen the world become less peaceful for the third year in a row - and highlights what it says is a continuing threat of terrorism.
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- Austria
- Finland
- Canada
- Norway
- Slovenia