No. 8

No. 8

Canada
GDP per capita: $45,220
Life Expectancy: 80.4
Mean Years of Schooling: 16.9
Unemployment: 6.2%

Canada’s internal safety and security levels are similar to the Scandinavian countries, and it jumped three spots to No. 8 this year thanks to an improvement in its respect for human rights. Conservative political leaders won approval from Parliament in 2008 to continue the country's mission in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. As of April 2009, 116 troops of Canada's more than 2,500-member force have been killed in Afghanistan.