Maybe we don’t blame Canada after all

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Blame Canada? Maybe not. Americans feel better about Canada than ever, according to a Gallup poll on how people in the United States view other countries that stretches back to 1987.

A Gallup poll this month found that 96% of Americans surveyed had a good opinion of the northern neighbor, higher than any other country included in the poll. Gallup dubbed that rating ‘the highest Gallup has measured for any country in more than 20 years of asking this question.’

The lowest-ranked country is Iran, which has been at loggerheads with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Second-to-last is North Korea, which saw a slight bump in popularity this year.

Egypt and Cuba jumped the most in popularity, though they’re still behind long-standing U.S. allies such as Britain and Germany. China, which has faced a tougher stance on trade issues from President Obama this year, had the biggest drop in favor among the countries included on the survey.

Pakistan fell to the lowest point that Gallup has measured since 2000. Gallup speculated that could be tied to the discovery that Osama bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan, raising suspicion that some Pakistani officials knew or even helped the late Al Qaeda leader.

Pollsters surveyed more than 1,000 adults across the country, asking about countries in random order. Here is a chart from Gallup listing the full rankings for this year and how they’ve changed:

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-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles