Americans feel love for Canada (highest ranked country), Gallup survey finds [View all]

[pampango]

Nearly all Americans, a full 96 per cent, have a favourable view of Canada, according to a new Gallup survey. That's the loftiest ranking for any foreign country since Gallup began the poll two decades ago.



Canada has been a subject of conversation on Capitol Hill this week as well. New York state lawmakers urged Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, to consider Buffalo's Peace Bridge as a pilot pre-inspection centre in the recently announced Beyond The Border initiatives.

With so much attention stateside, how could anyone have expected to compete against us in the Gallup survey? Australia, however, also ranks high, right behind us in second place at 93 per cent. Great Britain is in third at 90 per cent.

Iran, meantime, ranks last at 10 per cent. North Korea is in second last at 13 per and Afghanistan rounds out the bottom three at 14 per cent. China's ratings are also continuing a downward spiral evident in the last few surveys. The rank of Cuba, a country that has fared poorly in the Gallup survey in the past, is rising. It's at 37 per cent, up seven per cent from 2011's rating. Only 10 per cent gave Cuba the thumb's up in 1996, its worst year.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/02/16/canada-america-love.html

Not exactly a surprising poll result, Canada is rightfully popular in the US, but nice to see.

Egypt (+7), Cuba (+7) and Mexico (+6) were the biggest gainers in favorability ratings from 2011 to 2012, while the biggest losers were China (-6) and Pakistan (-3).

Overall it looks like Americans' view of other countries improved significantly over the past year with just a few exceptions.