The world is becoming more violent - here are the most and least peaceful countries
Europe is home to the majority of the world's most peaceful nations
Nations like Vietnam and Kosovo that were mired in ugly conflicts years ago have bounced back and become relatively peaceful.
Meanwhile, the US ranked 94th out of 162 nations.
The US sits in the middle tier of the ranking due to long-running international military campaigns, unparalleled levels of incarceration, homicide, and colossal military spending.
The least peaceful nations are almost all in Africa and the Middle East
Over the last year, 69 countries have reported a combined total of 20,000 deaths from terrorism, which is an 60% increase from last year.
Of those 20,000 deaths, 85% percent occurred in Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Hands down, Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world
Iceland has held the top spot on the list of most peaceful nations since 2008, except for a hiatus in 2014, where Iceland was ranked second on the list.
Syria remains the least peaceful country
The bloody civil war in Syria propelled the nation into knocking Afghanistan from the top spot of least peaceful countries in 2014.
A year later, Syria still holds the disreputable top spot.
Syria had the worst scores in the following categories: security officers and police, perceptions of criminality, access to weapons, intensity of internal conflict, violent demonstrations, violent crime, political instability, political terror, deaths from internal conflict, displaced people, and neighboring countries relations.
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