The Fragile States Index (FSI), published on Tuesday, suggests that Finland is the world's most stable country.
The ranking is published annually by the Washington-based NGO Fund for Peace in conjunction with Foreign Policy magazine. The index rates 177 countries using 12 indicators.
Ranked at the top of the list in the Very High Alert category (with 110-114 points) are half a dozen African countries, with Somalia seen as most fragile. Also in this most critical category are Syria and Yemen.
At the other extreme, the "Sustainable" group (21-30 points) includes 13 European countries – including the other four Nordics – as well as New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Standing alone in a separate "Very Sustainable" category with 18.8 points is Finland. The United States barely makes it into the top most 20 nations, a few notches behind Britain.
The 12 criteria include demographic pressures, economic decline and inequality, public services, the rule of law and external intervention.
However Finland's rosy ratings may underestimate the county's clear challenges and vulnerabilities. These range from a shrinking workforce coupled with a growing retired population, the crippling effects of EU and Russian sanctions and counter-sanctions, and its energy dependence on its large, unpredictable eastern neighbour.
Human Capital Index salutes Finnish education
In a separate report also issued on Tuesday, Finland is rated as the country that's best at maximising and leveraging its human capital potential. It also topped the list last year.
The Human Capital Index (HCI) is issued by the Geneva-based pro-business World Economic Forum (WEF), which analyses learning and employment figures in 130 countries.
Finland was ranked best across most age groups, with lower ratings based on people 55 and over. The HCI praises Finland for its "well-educated young population with a near-universal basic education survival rate and the highest score for the quality of primary schools" along with Europe highest tertiary educational attainment rate among the core working population.
The WEF’s Executive Opinion Survey claimed that "Finland has the greatest ease of finding skilled employees in the world".
Fellow Nordic countries Norway and Sweden also made it into the index’s top five along with Japan and the WEF's home base of Switzerland. The rest of the top 10 are European states, along with New Zealand and Canada. The UK is 19th with the US 24th.
The countries seen as having the most work to do in order to make effective use of their human potential are Chad, Yemen and Mauritania. Overall, sub-Saharan Africa was the lowest-ranked region although it boasts the world's highest proportion of young people.