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.