A military police officer gestures while stopping a vehicle at a checkpoint in the neighbourhood of Flor del Campo in Tegucigalpa October 14, 2013. Jorge Cabrera / REUTERS Drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, corruption, and poverty have combined to make Latin America by far the most homicidal region of the world.

Despite having around 9% of the world's population, the region is home to 28% of the world's murders, according to the United Nations. (Note: This article previously cited data from a few years ago showing that 42% of global homicides were in the region.)

The highest murder rate of all is in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with 169 homicides per 100,000 people, according to a study published earlier this year by Mexico's Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice. The ranking is based on 2012 data, except for San Pedro Sula and Distrito Central in Honduras, where authorities would not cooperate and 2011 data was used.

The study does not count deaths in a war zone or cities where data was not available.

Forty-one of the top 50 dangerous cities are located in Latin America. U.S. cities also made the list, lead by New Orleans at 17th, along with Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Oakland.