The Global Peace Index, an initiative of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), recently released the 2012 Global Peace rankings. The Index compares 158 countries according to their “absence of violence” across 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators (see below). This year, Vietnam came in 34th, putting it in the first tier of the world’s most peaceful countries. Southeast Asian neighbors Malaysia (20th) and Singapore (23rd) are almost among the world’s 35 most peaceful countries.
Excerpted from the GPI’s ranking of Vietnam, found here.
Based on this index, Vietnam is more peaceful than South Korea (42nd), the U.S. (88th) and China (89th). A 34th rank is actually a drop in standing, compared to the 30th ranking for Vietnam in 2011. However, last year’s ranking also featured five less countries than this year. Considering how “Vietnam” is so often associated with past wars, it is interesting to see Vietnam ranked so highly in peace by the IEP now.
Full rankings found here. (Lower scores are better.)
How peaceful do you feel Vietnam is?
Image from Creative Commons via Flickr user rightee