Manama: Qatar has topped the list of the most peaceful countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the 2010 Global Peace Index (GPI).
The ranking allowed Qatar to keep the special status among Arab countries for the second consecutive year. Globally, it was ranked as the 15th most peaceful country in the world.
The index assessed 149 countries and according to the evaluation, Qatar scored 1.394 moving ahead one point on last year's ranking when it was 16th in the world, Qatari daily Gulf Times reported on Sunday.
The GPI, issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace, is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, which combine internal and external affairs of countries.
Political stability, extent of crime dissemination in society, level of respect for human rights, spread of violence between members of the community, internal conflicts, relationship with neighbouring countries, and terrorist offences happening within the country are among the indicators.
The other themes include the extent of participation in supporting the peacekeeping forces, military capabilities, size of political participation, range of corruption, availability of media freedom, women's participation in public and political life, standard of health care provided to the people, and opportunities for education.
In the indicators related to the internal situation of the state, the GPI gave Qatar the best ranks.
Qatar was ranked 30th globally in the first report issued in 2007. In 2008, its rank was 33 before improving to 16 in 2009 and 15 this year.
In the Mena ranking, Qatar came ahead of Oman (23rd globally), Tunisia (37), Kuwait (39), the UAE (44) and Egypt (49).
Internationally, New Zealand was ranked as the most peaceful nation on Earth, followed by Iceland and Japan.
"Small, stable and democratic countries are consistently ranked highest," the GPI's report said.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Israel continue to rank as the world's least peaceful nations.
Country rankings and scores
1 New Zealand: 1.188
2 Iceland: 1.212
3 Japan: 1.247
4 Austria: 1.290
5 Norway: 1.322
6 Ireland: 1.337
7 Denmark: 1.341
7 Luxembourg: 1.341
9 Finland: 1.352
10 Sweden: 1.354
11 Slovenia: 1.358
12 Czech Republic: 1.360
13 Portugal: 1.366
14 Canada: 1.392
15 Qatar: 1.394
16 Germany: 1.398
17 Belgium: 1.400
18 Switzerland: 1.424
19 Australia: 1.467
20 Hungary: 1.495
21 Slovakia: 1.536
22 Malaysia: 1.539
23 Oman: 1.561
24 Uruguay: 1.568
25 Spain: 1.588
26 Costa Rica: 1.590
27 Netherlands: 1.610
28 Chile: 1.616
29 Poland: 1.618
30 Singapore: 1.624
31 United Kingdom: 1.631
32 France: 1.636
33 Botswana: 1.641
34 Laos: 1.661
35 Taiwan: 1.664
36 Bhutan: 1.665
37 Tunisia: 1.678
38 Vietnam: 1.691
39 Kuwait: 1.693
40 Italy: 1.701
41 Croatia: 1.707
42 Lithuania: 1.713
43 South Korea: 1.715
44 United Arab Emirates: 1.739
45 Romania: 1.749
46 Estonia: 1.751
47 Mozambique: 1.779
48 Ghana: 1.781
49 Egypt: 1.784
50 Bulgaria: 1.785
51 Zambia: 1.813
51 Malawi: 1.813
53 Sierra Leone: 1.818
54 Latvia: 1.827
55 Tanzania: 1.832
56 Libya: 1.839
57 Burkina Faso: 1.852
58 Morocco: 1.861
59 Namibia: 1.864
60 Bosnia and Hercegovina: 1.873
61 Panama: 1.878
62 Greece: 1.887
63 The Gambia: 1.890
64 Nicaragua: 1.924
65 Albania: 1.925
66 Moldova: 1.938
67 Indonesia: 1.946
68 Equatorial Guinea: 1.948
68 Jordan: 1.948
70 Bahrain: 1.956
71 Argentina: 1.962
72 Cuba: 1.964
73 Swaziland: 1.966
74 Gabon: 1.981
75 Rwanda: 2.012
76 Cyprus: 2.013
77 Madagascar: 2.019
77 Paraguay: 2.019
79 Senegal: 2.031
80 China: 2.034
81 Bolivia: 2.037
82 Nepal: 2.044
83 Brazil: 2.048
83 Macedonia: 2.048
85 United States of America: 2.056
86 Angola: 2.057
87 Bangladesh: 2.058
88 Montenegro: 2.060
89 Peru: 2.067
90 Serbia: 2.071
91 Guyana: 2.095
92 Mongolia: 2.101
93 Dominican Republic: 2.103
94 Trinidad and Tobago: 2.107
95 Kazakhstan: 2.113
95 Papua New Guinea: 2.113
97 Ukraine: 2.115
98 Jamaica: 2.138
99 Liberia: 2.148
100 Uganda: 2.165
101 Ecuador: 2.185
102 Congo (Brazzaville): 2.192
103 El Salvador: 2.195
104 Iran: 2.202
105 Belarus: 2.204
106 Cameroon: 2.210
107 Mexico: 2.216
107 Saudi Arabia: 2.216
109 Mali: 2.240
110 Uzbekistan: 2.242
111 Cambodia: 2.252
112 Guatemala: 2.258
113 Armenia: 2.266
114 Haiti: 2.270
115 Syria: 2.274
116 Algeria: 2.277
117 Turkmenistan: 2.295
118 Cote d' Ivoire: 2.297
119 Azerbaijan: 2.367
120 Kenya: 2.369
121 South Africa: 2.380
122 Venezuela: 2.387
123 Mauritania: 2.389
124 Thailand: 2.393
125 Honduras: 2.395
126 Turkey: 2.420
127 Ethiopia: 2.444
128 India: 2.516
129 Yemen: 2.573
130 Philippines: 2.574
131 Burundi: 2.577
132 Myanmar: 2.580
133 Sri Lanka: 2.621
134 Lebanon: 2.639
135 Zimbabwe: 2.678
136 Central African Republic: 2.753
137 Nigeria: 2.756
138 Colombia: 2.787
139 North Korea: 2.855
140 Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2.925
141 Chad: 2.964
142 Georgia: 2.970
143 Russia: 3.013
144 Israel: 3.019
145 Pakistan: 3.050
146 Sudan: 3.125
147 Afghanistan: 3.252
148 Somalia: 3.390
149 Iraq: 3.406
