Iceland Is Officially the Most Peaceful Country on Earth

It’s easy to feel like the world is becoming ever more dangerous, with terrorism and war constantly in the news. But violence doesn’t affect all countries equally. A new report from the Global Peace Index (as covered by Thrillist) finds that over the last decade, 77 of the 163 countries analyzed have actually become more peaceful.

At the top of the list? Iceland, officially the No. 1 most peaceful country on Earth. However, if you’re looking for an extremely safe vacation, most of Europe makes it into the “high” or “very high” levels of measured peace, and New Zealand, Japan, and Canada also make it into the top 10.

People in the U.S. don’t tend to think of their own country as one of the world’s more dangerous locales (though reading through some of the world’s travel warnings for the U.S. might give them an idea), but compared to many countries, the U.S. is a war zone. It comes in at No. 103 on the list, which takes into account incarceration rates, violent crime, international and domestic conflicts, military expenditure, and more.

You can read the full report here [PDF], after which you should probably just go ahead and book your flight to Reykjavik.

[h/t Thrillist]