[Vienna Austria]Brian Kinney/Shutterstock Haiti, Bolivia, Chile, and Latvia all have something in common: they're more peaceful than the United States. The analysis comes from the the 2017 Global Peace Index (GPI), a project put together by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) that analyzes 162 nations and ranks them on their levels of peacefulness every year. To compile the ranking, the IEP looked at 23 indicators — like violent demonstrations and weapons imports — across three categories: societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarization. Collectively, the countries represented make up 99.7% of the world's population. Overall, the world became more peaceful in 2017 compared to 2016. In the past year, 93 countries became more peaceful, while 68 countries became less peaceful, according to the index. However, global peacefulness has deteriorated by 2.14% since 2008. Some 52% of GPI countries reported a deterioration, while 48% improved. The US, which ranks at 114 this year, dropped 11 spots from 2016 — the ninth largest drop in the index (and fourth largest since 2005, after Syria, Greece and Hungary). The countries that ranked highest, with the most peaceful country at #1, are below. 12. AUSTRALIA Reuters 11. JAPAN Thomson Reuters 10. IRELAND Thomson Reuters SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER
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