Wikipedia:Today's featured list/December 5, 2014
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is an attempt to measure the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. It is the product of the Institute for Economics and Peace (logo pictured) and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected and collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The list was launched in May 2007 and updates have been made on an annual basis since then. It ranks 162 countries. The study is the brainchild of Australian technology entrepreneur Steve Killelea, founder of Integrated Research, and is endorsed by individuals such as the Dalai Lama, archbishop Desmond Tutu, and economist Jeffrey Sachs. Factors examined by the authors include internal factors such as levels of violence and crime within the country and factors in a country's external relations such as military expenditure and wars. The GPI has been criticised for not including indicators specifically relating to violence against women and children. The GPI currently indicates Iceland, Denmark, and Austria to be the most peaceful countries and Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan to be the least peaceful. (Full list...)