The 15 most dangerous countries in the world

An elderly Syrian man and a child walk amidst debris in a residential block hit by explosives in Aleppo (Getty)

The 10th annual edition of the Global Peace Index has found the most and least peaceful countries on the planet, ranking 163 nations according to how safe they are.

The report, published on June 8 by the global think tank Institute for Economics and Peace, assessed nations across 23 indicators of peace under three categories: the level of safety and security in society, domestic and international conflict, and militarisation.

The level of peace in each country is reflected in a score out of 5; the lower the score, the more peaceful a country is. The results are also colour-coded on this interactive map.

Unsurprisingly, Syria was named the most dangerous country, with a peace score of 3.806 out of 5. The Middle Eastern country is in the fifth year of its civil war, in which more than 250,000 people have died and an estimated 9 million people have been displaced.

South Sudan is the second-most violent nation, with a score of 3.593, and Iraq ranks as third-worst, with a score of 3.57.

While the top 15 dangerous countries, which the GPI deems to have a "very low" state of peace, is dominated by Middle Eastern and north African nations, Ukraine was named the 8th least peaceful country, with a score of 3.287.

Although the index found that the world has become less peaceful, it also points out that the number of countries that have become safer since 2015 is higher than the number of countries that have become more violent (however, these nations' scores decreased by a greater number of points).

Of the 81 nations that became more peaceful, Panama, Thailand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Mauritania improved the most. Meanwhile, of the 79 countries that became less peaceful, Yemen, Ukraine, Turkey, Libya, and Bahrain deteriorated the most, due to the effect of terrorism and political instability.

Here are the 15 most dangerous nations in the world, along with the score for each:

15. Nigeria - 2.877

14. North Korea - 2.944

13. Russia - 3.079

12. Democratic Republic of the Congo - 3.112

11. Pakistan - 3.145

10. Libya - 3.2

9. Sudan - 3.269

8. Ukraine - 3.287

7. Central African Republic - 3.354

6. Yemen - 3.399

5. Somalia - 3.414

4. Afghanistan - 3.538

3. Iraq - 3.57

2. South Sudan - 3.593

1. Syria - 3.806

Read more:

• Analysts question the way Apple describes its data
• Mike Ashley has a plan to save BHS with no job losses
• Investors think central banks have lost their power

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.