The Mexican government has released a database it says covers all murders presumed to have a link to the country's drug wars in which at least seven different cartels are fighting each other and federal forces deployed in a massive offensive against them launched in December 2006.

The number of deaths has risen rapidly since then to total 34,612 up until the end of 2010, by far the most violent year so far with 15,273 people killed.

The database is the most detailed official picture of the drug wars yet made public, showing the geographical distribution of the violence down to the municipal level.

While no region has escaped, the killing is seen as particularly intense in northern and Pacific coastal states.

Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from Texas, has been the most violent city since 2008 despite also have the heaviest federal presence.

The figures released do not specify how many of those killed are presumed to be related to the cartels, how many belonged to the security forces, or how many were innocent civilians dragged into the horror.

The data is very detailed - download the attached sheet for a breakdown by different types of murders and for each town.

What can you do with it?

Data summary

Murders in Mexico's drug wars Click heading to sort table. Download this data Region Total 2009 deaths 2010 deaths % change Aguascalientes 152 31 46 48 Baja California 2,019 484 540 12 Baja California Sur 19 1 10 900 Campeche 31 6 10 67 Chiapas 304 88 77 -12 Chihuahua 10,135 3,345 4,427 32 Coahuila 659 179 384 115 Colima 148 33 101 206 Distrito Federal 653 135 191 41 Durango 1,892 674 834 24 Guanajuato 516 234 152 -35 Guerrero 2,739 879 1,137 29 Hidalgo 167 34 52 53 Jalisco 1,073 261 593 127 México 1,538 440 623 42 Michoacán 1,751 590 520 -12 Morelos 529 114 335 194 Nayarit 453 37 377 919 Nuevo León 971 112 620 454 Oaxaca 438 87 167 92 Puebla 107 28 51 82 Querétaro 37 13 13 0 Quintana Roo 151 32 64 100 San Luis Potosí 187 8 135 1,588 Sinaloa 4,387 1,059 1,815 71 Sonora 1,258 365 495 36 Tabasco 201 65 73 12 Tamaulipas 1,475 90 1,209 1,243 Tlaxcala 13 6 4 -33 Veracruz 453 133 179 35 Yucatán 26 1 2 100 Zacatecas 130 50 37 -26 Total 34,612 9,614 15,273 59

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• DATA: google fusion table version of the data

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