DUSHANBE, December 30, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The tenth annual Fragile States Index, Fragile States Index-2014, ranks Tajikistan 55th among 178 nations.

The Fragile States Index (FSI) focuses on the indicators of risk and is based on thousands of articles and reports.  It is useful to observe a country''s performance over time.  The Fund for Peace has assembled trend analysis charts for 178 countries.  These charts include analysis on: overall country trend; indicator trends, year-on-year and long-term; and comparable and relative indicator performance.

The Fragile States Index is an annual report published by the United States think-tank Fund for Peace and the magazine Foreign Policy since 2005.  The list only assesses sovereign states (as determined by membership in the United Nations).  Several territories are excluded until their political status and UN membership is ratified in international law.

Ranking is based on the total scores of the 12 indicators.  For each indicator, the ratings are placed on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest intensity (most stable) and 10 being the highest intensity (least stable).  The total score is the sum of the 12 indicators and is on a scale of 0-120

On the Fragile States Index-2014, countries are divided into the following categories: Very High Alert (110-120); High Alert (100-110); Alert (90-100); Very High Warning (80-90); High Waning (70-80); Warning (60-70); Less Stable (50-60); Stable (40-50); Very Stable (30-40); Sustainable (20-30); Very Sustainable (0-20).

Together with Uzbekistan (ranked 48th) and Kyrgyzstan (58th) Tajikistan with 84.6 scores is listed in the Very High Warning category.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan (78th) is listed in the High Warning category and Kazakhstan (111st) is listed in the Warning category.

Most CIS countries are listed in the High Warning category.

Finland with 18.7 scores is listed in the Very Sustainable category.  It is followed by Sweden (177th), Denmark (176th), Norway (175th), and Switzerland (174th) that are listed in the Sustainable category alongside New Zealand (173rd), Luxembourg (172nd), Iceland (171st), Ireland (170th), Australia (169th), Canada (168th), Austria (167th), and the Netherlands (166th).

The top five states on the 2014 Fragile States Index are Sudan, Somali, Central African Republic, Congo (D.R.), and Sudan.  These states are listed in the Very High Alert category.