The Ungoverned World

The violence and chaos inside Syria, where Islamic State terrorists and other rebel groups control large portions of the country, is so dire that millions of people have fled and the U.N. has stopped trying to keep count of the dead. Yet Syria is just one of many places across the globe where warlords, separatists, drug cartels, or terror groups have seized territory within a sovereign nation, leaving the government with little or no power—and the people to fend for themselves.

170,805 Killed in 2014 4,194,203 Killed since start of conflicts 30,847,773 Internally displaced persons Select a Metric

Kabul Kandahar Herat Afghanistan HINDU-KUSH Islamabad Peshawar Kunduz Quetta Turkmenistan Iran India Tajikistan Pakistan Armed attack Border Poppy cultivation Ungoverned region

Bossangoa Ndele Bangui Central African Republic Sudan Chad Cameroon South Sudan Democratic Republic of Congo Ungoverned region Instability Diamond mine

Cali Medellin Barranquilla Bogota Panama Venezuela Peru Brazil Ecuador Colombia Armed attack Ungoverned region Land mine explosions, 2013-2015 Instability Coca cultivation

Kinshasa Brazzaville Bumba Kisangani Lake Victoria Lake Tanganyika Mbandaka Tanzania Angola Uganda Burundi Rwanda Congo Dem. Rep. of Congo Armed attack Ungoverned region

Port Said Suez Alexandria Cairo Egypt Jordan Saudi Arabia Israel Red Sea SINAI PENINSULA Armed attack Ungoverned region

Calcutta Patna New Delhi India China Nepal Pakistan Bangladesh Ganges Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal Hyderabad Armed attack Ungoverned region Instability

Mosul Aleppo Baghdad Damascus Turkey Jordan Syria Iraq Iran Saudi Arabia Armed attack Ungoverned region Oil fields

Tobruk Sirte Bayda Benghazi Misratah Tripoli Niger Libya Tunisia Chad Algeria Egypt Mediterranean Sea Armed attack Ungoverned region Migrant route Instability

Mexico City Chihuahua Hermosillo Guadalajara Mexico Guatemala United States Gulf of Mexico Ungoverned region Drug trade Instability Armed attack

Mandalay Sittwe Naypyitaw China India Myanmar Thailand Laos Bangladesh Andaman Sea Bay of Bengal Armed attack Instability Ungoverned region Opium cultivation

Maiduguri Lagos Abuja Niger Nigeria Chad Benin Cameroon L. Chad Niger R. Armed attack Ungoverned region Instability

Zamboanga Davao Philippines Mindanao Celebes Sea PACIFIC OCEAN Armed attack Ungoverned region

Kuala Lumpur Singapore South China Sea Thailand Malaysia Malaysia Indonesia Indonesia Strait of Malacca Armed attack Ungoverned region 2015 Hijackings/ boardings

Chisimayu Mogadishu Kenya Ethiopia Somalia Armed attack Ungoverned region Instability

Juba Kenya Ethiopia Sudan South Sudan Central African Republic Uganda Ungoverned region Instability

Al Fashir Atbarah Khartoum Ethiopia Eritrea Sudan Libya Chad South Sudan Red Sea Armed attack Ungoverned region Instability

Chumphon Songkhla Yala City Myanmar Thailand Cambodia Malaysia Strait of Malacca Gulf of Thailand Samui Armed attack Ungoverned region

Donetsk Luhansk Ukraine Russia Black Sea Crimea Sea of Azov Rostov-on-Don Luhansk Donetsk Mariupol Armed attack Ungoverned region Instability Airliner shootdown Border