Friday 18 January 2013

BiH in 65th place for most peaceful nations

Global Peace Index Rankings map, 2012.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Here's an interesting statistic that was brought to my attention by Bosnian portal Klix earlier this afternoon.

According to the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2012, which was published in June last year by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ranks as the 65th most peaceful nation in the world.

Iceland came in at first place out of the 158 countries surveyed, followed closely by Denmark and New Zealand in equal-second, with the most dangerous nation on the planet deemed to be Somalia.


Developed Western nations such as Australia and the United States found themselves positioned 22nd and 88th respectively.

Back to the Balkans, though, and BiH's position in 65th places them five spots lower than the previous year, and down fifteen from their best position of 50th in 2009.

Serbia and Croatia, on the other hand, have been on the rise, with the Serbs claiming their best ranking yet, pipping BiH by one spot into 64th place, whilst Croatia ranked ahead of other European countries such as Italy and France as they took out 35th position.

It signifies a sharp turnaround for the Croats -- who were placed 67th when the first GPI was published in 2007 -- with such vast improvements across society undoubtedly reflected in the European Union's decision to grant Croatia entry to the alliance in 2013.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, Montenegro was determined the least stable nation in the region, coming in at 81.

The Institute for Economics and Peace base their GPI findings on obtained data concerning specific social factors, including the crime rate, the number of murders, the prevalence of organised crime, relations with neighbouring countries, terrorist attacks, the quantity of arms and ammunition as well as other security parameters.

A full breakdown of the rankings can be viewed on the Guardian's website, whilst an interactive data map has been made available courtesy of those at Vision of Humanity.

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