Qatar ranks 33rd in global peace index

QATAR has been ranked the
33rd most peaceful country in the world – easily beating Western
nations like France, the UK and America.
The country received a favourable score for its “level of violent crime”, but moved down one place compared to the Global Peace Index (GPI) of 2007.

GPI, now in its second year, covered 140 countries which make up 98% of the world’s population. The 2007 Index, made up of 121 countries, is
compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit and its worldwide network of country analysts.

In relation to its neighbours, Qatar came in second place out of 18 countries in the Middle East.

Oman came first, ranked at 25, the UAE 42, Kuwait 45, Bahrain 74 and Saudi Arabia 108. Iraq was at the bottom at 140, just below Israel’s 136.
The other key findings of the index revealed that small, stable and
democratic countries are the most peaceful – 16 of the top 20 are
Western or central European democracies.

However, the G8 fared very differently: Japan was ranked fifth, Canada 11th, Germany 14th, Italy 28th, France 36th, the UK 49th, the United States 97th and Russia 131th.

Iceland, making its first appearance in the index, topped
the rankings. Countries in Scandinavia have also emerged as among the
most peaceful countries with Denmark at 2 and Norway at 3 scoring very
highly.

New Zealand (4) and Japan (5) – the only member of the G8 in the top 10 – complete the highest ranked.

Other nations, including Angola (110), Indonesia (68) and India (107), have demonstrated the greatest improvements compared to last year’s Index.
GPI founder, Steve Killelea, said: “The world appears to be a marginally
more peaceful place this year. This is encouraging, but it takes small
steps by individual countries for the world to make greater strides on
the road to peace.”