Bermuda has been ranked in the top quarter of a league table assessing the most stable countries in the world.

The review — which evaluates each nation's political structure, social and economic trends, military and security risks and external relations — pitched the Island joint 52nd, along with Chile and Tunisia.

Out of 233 countries, the top ten were Vatican, Sweden, Luxembourg, Monaco, Gibraltar, San Marino, Liechtenstein, UK, Netherlands and Ireland.

Cyprus is 37th, Cayman Islands 44th, UK Virgin Islands 46th and St. Lucia 48th.

At the other end of the scale, the bottom ten were Gaza and the West Bank, followed by Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

It came after a one-year investigation and analysis of United Nations-recognised states and territories by Jane's Country Risk by Jane's Information Group.

Jane's said nobody was available for an interview about how Bermuda came to be joint 52nd.

Explaining the thinking behind the survey, Christian Le Miere, managing editor of Jane's Country Risk, said: "Today's global climate of insecurity and terrorism requires an in-depth, independent analysis of stability around the world.

"These ratings assess stability and allow comparisons on an entity-by-entity or regional basis, which is valuable for business and defence organisations' decision making."

Gaza and the West Bank has been divided between two rival governments for more than a year.

It scored badly due to a lack of control over its borders, frequent incursions of its territory by Israel, low levels of law and order, poor domestic security and worsening public health combine.

Jane's has said Vatican claimed top spot partly because it does not face the sort of threats and economic pressures of other countries.

The US is lower than might be expected at joint 22nd partly because of the proliferation of small arms owned by Americans and the threat to the population posed by the flow of drugs from across the Mexican border.

Iraq did not feature in the bottom ten because, despite extremely high levels of violence, it had what Jane's described as a "relatively stable Government" that controlled a significant area of the country and had good economic prospects.

Jane's Country Risk Ratings will be reviewed each month and updated as necessary. Major news events, with either global or specifically domestic implications, will prompt extra ratings changes.