New Zealand Voted Most Peaceful Country In The World
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New Zealand (Aoteoroa) has been voted most peaceful country in the world according to the 2009 Global Peace Index Report released today.
New Zealand scored top position thanks to its relatively low rate of violence, decrease in military spending and the election of a conservative coalition government last year.
“The centre-right National Party has a strong popular mandate and a robust parliamentary majority by New Zealand’s standards, putting the new Prime Minister, John Key, in a good position to push through his agenda,” according to the report.
The Kiwi nation also got top marks for its homicide rate and the level of respect for human rights.
Top 10 most peaceful nations
1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
2. Norway
4. Iceland
5. Austria
6. Sweden
7. Japan
8. Canada
9. Finland
9. Slovenia
Ten least peaceful
1. Iraq
2. Afghanistan
3. Somalia
4. Israel
5. Sudan
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo
7. Chad
8. Pakistan
9. Russia
10. Zimbabwe
You can see the full list here.
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Dear Kiwiblog,
Just to introduce myself, my name’s Ellie and I’m writing on behalf of the Global Peace Index (GPI).
First of all we would like to sincerely thank you for previously including the GPI in your blog in the past.
As you’ll be aware, the GPI is a ground-breaking piece of research in the study of peace, which not only ranks nations by their peacefulness but also seeks to identify the drivers of peace. Now in its fourth year, the Index is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank dedicated to the research and education of the relationship between economic development, business and peace. It is collated and calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
We’re getting in touch to alert you to the fact that the next Global Peace Index will be launched on June 8th 2010. We’ll be providing you with further information closer to the time – unless you tell us that you’d rather not hear from us again – but thought you might appreciate the heads-up in the meantime.
You might want to join us on Facebook too:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Global-Peace-Index/92288319748?ref=ts
and follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/GlobPeaceIndex
If you’ve got any thought or questions about the Index, our methodology, or our organisation, please get in touch. We hope you find our research interesting and informative, and look forward to sharing this year’s findings with you in a few weeks’ time.
Best Wishes,
Ellie Kirby – updates@visionofhumanity.org