A new index ranking nations by peacefulness puts the United States at number 131 — deeming it less safe than places like Haiti and South Africa.

The Global Peace Index was released on June 28 by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a think tank based in Australia.

The US was ranked as the 131st most peaceful country out of 163 nations analyzed for the report, falling behind numerous nations like Kuwait, Botswana, and the Sierra Leone.

The U.S. placed far behind Canada, which came in 11th place. The states were also ranked as less peaceful than every country in western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and much of Africa. The next five countries after the U.S. in the rankings were Brazil, Eritrea, Palestine, Lebanon and Mexico. 

The rankings are determined based on 23 metrics, including external conflicts, political stability and incarceration rate. This is the 17th time that the Global Peace Index conducted the assessment and the 15th time that there was an overall global increase in violence. 

There was a slight decline in the U.S.’s score, in […]