A huge set of new figures showing levels of peace and violence around the world has been released by major think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace.
Figures based on 23 different metrics, including factors like murder levels, perceptions of criminality, violent crime and military expenditure, have been collated to form a single figure, the Global Peace Index (GPI).
This figure reveals which countries are the most and least peaceful.
According to the Institutes's findings, the small Nordic nation of Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world.
It has a GPI score of 1.148, the lowest in the world, due to its low level of militarisation and domestic and international conflict, and its high level of security and societal stability. When it comes to GPI scores, a lower number means a country is more peaceful, and a higher one indicates it is more violent.
Iceland is one of the few countries in the world (and the only Nato member) with no standing army. Instead, its military consists of the Icelandic Coast Guard, a pseudo-military force which consists of a small number of ships and aircraft which guard the island's waters and airspace.
It spends 0.13 per cent of its annual GDP on its military, the second lowest figure in the world. By comparison, the UK spends 2.49 per cent, and the USA spends 4.35 per cent, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Iceland's very low levels of political instability, murder, weapons exports and problems with neighbouring countries also contribute to its first place ranking as the world's most peaceful countries.
Nordic countries, along with Alpine nations like Austria and Switzerland, are represented highly in the top 10 most peaceful countries - Denmark is just behind Iceland, in second place, and Finland is in sixth.
The UK was ranked as the 39th most peaceful country - behind its European neighbours mostly due to its higher perception of criminality, threat of terrorism and military spending
Sweden and Norway are in 13th and 17th place respectively, classed as less peaceful than their neighbours due to their slightly higher crime levels, and much higher levels of weapons exports - despite Sweden's neutrality and peaceful reputation, it is the world's 12th biggest exporter of weapons.
The UK comes in as the 39th most peaceful, out of 162 countries. Compared to other leading countries, perceptions of criminality and the threat of terrorism are higher in the UK. The fact it is a nuclear-armed state also hurts its ranking amongst peaceful countries.
By contrast, the Middle East and Africa makes up most of the bottom 10 on the list. Right at the bottom is Syria, which is unsurprising due to the sheer levels of war, terrorism and instability it has been experiencing since the beginning of 2011.
To compare, in 2008 Syria was classed as the 88th most peaceful country, almost right in the middle of the global list.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, has been towards the bottom of the rankings for some time, due to the chaos of the War on Terror.
Central African countries are similarly war-torn - both Sudan and South Sudan, which split following a referendum in 2011, make it into the bottom 10, as do the Central African Republic, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have experienced civil wars and unrest in recent years.
The secretive and totalitarian state of North Korea also makes it into the top 10 least peaceful countries, due to the high levels of political terror and militarisation that its citizens suffer from.
Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border
These recent figures comprise the ninth edition of the GPI rankings. While the figures remained mostly stable in the previous edition, this year substantial changes have occurred in the Middle East and North Africa, where sectarian strife and civil wars have raged on.
Over the last eight editions of the index, the average country score has fallen by 2.4 per cent, indicating that the world has become less peaceful.
Read more: Half of public think Army is not able to defend the UK
Three charts that show how Iceland recovered after not bailing out banks
Defence Secretary hints that UK will take military action against Iceland
However, 76 countries on the list improved, mostly in Europe, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Central America and the Caribbean.
Worldwide, the Institute found that the cost of violence, in the way it affects GDP through military spending and violent crime, can be estimated at $14.3 trillion (£9.2 trillion), or 13.4 per cent of the world's GDP.
Through studying the prevalence and impact of peace and violence around the world, the Institute hopes to bring about positive changes to help peace spread worldwide.
