Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report to be released by the World Economic Forum.
It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report.
The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health.
Sweden is in fourth place, with New Zealand fifth.
The United States jumped 12 spots — just ahead of Canada but behind Latvia — to enter the top 20 for the first time since the forum began tracking the progress of women in 2005.
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The higher ranking reflected the larger number of women in top positions in the administration of President Barack Obama and a diminishing of gender disparities in wages, the authors of the report said.
Gender disparities were found to be widest in Pakistan, Chad and Yemen — unchanged from a year ago.
Australia didn't ranked in the top 15 countries, but as the report has not been released yet, its position it's unknown.
