Vietnam Ranks 37th Most Peaceful Nation
The Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace has announced the 2009 Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of the world's nations on their peacefulness, in which Vietnam is ranked the 37th position.
The index is composed of 23 indicators, including foreign wars, internal and external conflicts, and respect for human rights, the number of murders, and the number of people in jail, the arms trade, and degrees of democracy.
In the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam is followed by Malaysia (38th), Indonesia (68th), the Philippines (113th), Thailand (118th) and Myanmar (126th).
This year, New Zealand beat Iceland to top the list of five most peaceful countries.
Meanwhile Iraq remained at the bottom of the list below Afghanistan and Somalia.
The United States and China respectively ranked 83rd and 67th of the 144-nation list. (The People, Young People)
Vietnamese
