Portugal is the fifth most peaceful country in the world, according to this year’s Global Peace Index (GPI).
The report alerts that the world became “less peaceful in 2016” due to “increased levels of terrorism and political instability”, but this is not the case in Portugal.
While the country placed 14th in last year’s ranking, it is now among the world’s peaceful elite alongside Iceland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd) and New Zealand (4th).
Portugal is also the best placed Portuguese-speaking country on the list.
Equatorial Guinea – which only joined the Portuguese-speaking community (CPLP) in 2014 – is 62nd, followed by Mozambique (68th), Angola (98th), Brazil (105th) and Guinea-Bissau (116th).
Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe are not included in the ranking.
Unsurprisingly, war-torn Syria is named the world’s least peaceful country.
The report, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace based in Sydney, Australia, found that while peace improved in 81 countries between 2015 and 2016, it deteriorated in 79 others. These outweighed the gains, and thus global peace dropped at a faster rate than the previous year.
In fact, the global economic impact of violence was the equivalent of 13% of the gross world product.
Meantime, UK’s The Telegraph has provided descriptions of the world’s top-10 peaceful countries, saying that “while golfers and sun-seekers flood to the southerly Algarve, swathes of the rest of Portugal remain unexplored”.
“Regions vary enormously in their weather, cuisine, architecture and wines, so a journey from north to south yields a rich bounty of different experiences,” says Telegraph Travel’s Portugal expert Mary Lussiana.
(click here) to view the full Global Peace Index.
