The American magazine Forbes has ranked Croatia as the 20th-cleanest country in the world with 84.6 points.

Forbes has published a list of the world’s cleanest countries based on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) set up by Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy.

Switzerland tops the list with an overall EPI score of 95.5 out of 100 points. There are 14 European countries among the top 20.

Researchers have said the information used to develop the scale often comes from local sources and can be of less-than-ideal quality, especially in developing countries. They ranked 149 countries and left 50 off the list because of insufficient data.

In the report about Croatia, Forbes says: “Croatia recognizes the value of tourism and makes clean beaches a priority. The country, which lies across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, offers visitors ample, healthy fishing stocks and freedom from water-borne disease.”