These were the world's 25 most fragile states in 2014

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south sudan

Flickr/Steve Evans

A South Sudanese man holds a gun in his village.

Foreign Policy magazine has released its annual ranking of the world's least-stable countries, now known as the Fragile State Index.

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The rankings are based on 12 metrics, including access to public services, the prevalence of refugees and internally displaced persons, human rights conditions, and the legitimacy of the state.

Scandinavian countries round out the bottom of the ranking. Surprisingly, Syria - which has suffered four years of a brutal civil war that's displaced 12 million people - isn't the most fragile state in the world, according to the survey.

Here are the countries Foreign Policy says are the most fragile in the world.