Egyptians feel safer than Americans: Gallup poll

People living in Egypt feel safer than folks residing in the United States, according to new data from a worldwide poll.

Gallup, a U.S.-based research and polling firm, conducted more than 148,000 interviews in 142 countries and areas around the globe last year for its annual gauge on how secure people feel. Egypt scored 88 out of 100 on Gallup's latest Law and Order Index, placing the North African nation in 16th place and on the same level as countries like Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria and the Netherlands, which have reputations for being among the safest in the world.

Egypt ranked the highest out of any African country and placed ahead of the United States, which came in 35th place and scored 84, as well as the United Kingdom, which ranked 21st and scored 86.

The survey excluded Egypt's five frontier governorates, which cover the restive Sinai Peninsula -- the epicenter of an ongoing insurgency by ISIS-affiliated militants -- as well as the vast deserts situated west and east of the Nile river, because the areas are remote and represent less than 2 percent of the country's total population, according to Gallup's country data set.

The samples for the United States and the United Kingdom are nationally representative.

Scores worldwide ranged from a high of 97 in Singapore to a low of 44 in Venezuela, which was consumed by a wave of street protests and violent riots last year calling for then-President Nicolas Maduro to resign.

The scores were based on how participants in the global survey answered four questions via telephone or in person last year: Do you have confidence in your local police force? Do you feel safe walking alone at night where you live? Have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member within the past 12 months? Have you been assaulted or mugged within the past 12 months? The questions were posed to adults, defined by the survey as 15 years-of-age and older.

The results, which were published this month, have a margin of sampling error ranging from plus or minus 2.1 to 5.6 percentage points.

More than two in three adults worldwide said last year they have confidence in their local police and they feel safe walking alone at night where they live. One in eight said they had property stolen from them or another household member in the past year, and 5 percent said they were assaulted or mugged, according to the poll.

The answers varied significantly by region. In the United States and Canada, 82 percent of adults said they have confidence in their local police, compared to 68 percent in the Middle East and North Africa and 60 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.

When it came to feeling safe walking alone at night, the results seemed to flip. Rwanda ranked fifth overall with 88 percent of residents responding positively -- the highest percentage on the African continent. The United States, however, was considerably farther down the list at 72 percent.