The Institute for Economics and Peace this week published the Global Peace Index 2018, which ranks major nations around the world by how safe, or unsafe, they are.
The report ranked 163 countries based on how peaceful they are. The ranking is determined by 23 factors, which include murder rate, political terror, and deaths from internal conflict.
While the safest countries tend to be highly developed nations in the west and in eastern Asia, the most dangerous places are concentrated in Africa and the Middle East – where poverty and war create a highly unstable mix.
Syria, a country plagued by a brutal seven-year-long civil war ranks as the most dangerous country on the planet, closely followed by other war ravaged nations like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Peace Index ranks countries from high to low, so the higher the number, the less safe the country. Check out the list of the world’s most dangerous countries below.
28. India — 2.504
27. Philippines — 2.512
26. Eritrea — 2.522
25. Ethiopia — 2.524
24. Mexico — 2.583
23. Palestine — 2.621
22. Egypt — 2.632
21. Venezuela — 2.642
20. Mali — 2.686
19. Colombia — 2.729
18. Israel — 2.764
17. Lebanon — 2.778
16. Nigeria — 2.873
15. Turkey — 2.898
14. North Korea — 2.950
13. Pakistan — 3.079
12. Ukraine — 3.113
11. Sudan — 3.155
10. Russia — 3.16
9. Central African Republic — 3.236
8. Democratic Republic of Congo — 3.251
7. Libya — 3.262
6. Yemen — 3.305
5. Somalia — 3.367
4. Iraq — 3.425
3. South Sudan — 3.508
2. Afghanistan — 3.585
1. Syria — 3.60
