A new study has ranked Ireland as the fourth most peaceful nation

RTE News:

The Global Peace Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, looked at 24 factors to determine how peaceful each country was.

The study ranked Norway as most peaceful country in the world.

Norway, which brokered the 1993 Oslo Middle East accords and has also sought to resolve fighting in Sri Lanka, is followed on the list by New Zealand in second place and Denmark in third.

121 nations, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, were assessed on factors including levels of violence, organised crime and military expenditure.

Iraq was rated as the least peaceful, with Russia, Sudan and Israel also faring poorly. The US was placed at number 96.

The authors say it is the first attempt to produce such a wide-ranging league table of how peaceful countries are.

Overall the study found that small, stable countries, which are part of regional blocs such as the EU, were most likely to be peaceful.

It was found that income and education were crucial in promoting peace, while countries which had turbulent times in the 20th century, such as Ireland and Austria, were found to have emerged as 'peace leaders'.

10 Most peaceful

1. Norway
2. New Zealand
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Japan
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Canada
9. Portugal
10. Austria

10 least peaceful

112: Angola
113. Ivory Coast
114. Lebanon
115. Pakistan
116. Colombia
117. Nigeria
118. Russia
119. Israel
120. Sudan
121. Iraq

First Global Peace Index Ranks 121 Countries