America ranks as the 16th least corrupt nation

The United States is tied with Austria for the 16th least corrupt nation worldwide, according to a new annual report from Transparency International. The top ten list is dominated by Scandinavian countries — Denmark, Finland, and Sweden take first, second, and third, respectively — and New Zealand, Singapore, and Canada are the only non-European nations included there.

The United States' score of 76 percent for 2015 marks a small improvement over the previous three years, when it earned 74 or 73 percent.

At the bottom of the list, "five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world," the report notes, including Somalia and Afghanistan, both theaters of the war on terror.

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