World’s most violent cities

are in Latin America,

South Africa and the USA

13 May 2016: Latin America's cities are the most dangerous in the world. Drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, corruption, and poverty are the main causes of the continent’s extreme urban violence. Residents of cities in Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are particularly at risk of being caught up in battles between warring gangs. Outside Latin America, US cities like St Louis and Baltimore as well as the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg have also witnessed an increased number of homicides.



With almost 4,000 murders in 2015, the Venezuelan capital Caracas is the most violent city in the world. San Pedro Sula (Honduras), which occupied the top spot in 2014, drops one place, while San Salvador (El Salvador) moves up from 27th to 3rd place. Overall, out of the 50 most violent cities in the world, 41 are located in Latin America. Four (St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans) are from the US. The South African cities of Cape Town, Durban, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg complete the top 50.



Violent deaths in Venezuela may actually be considerably higher. Extrajudicial killings by the police and indeed any deaths involving police shootouts are not included in the government's homicide count for 2016, which also excludes deaths of unknown intent. The NGOs Venezuelan Violence Observatory and Human Rights Watch allege that attempts by the police to break down powerful gangs have led to extrajudicial killings and a steady stream of complaints about human rights abuses. Analysts from Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights also suggest that criminal gangs may have become more organised and ruthless in the face of repressing policing.



While violence in Venezuela’s urban areas has increased considerably in recent years, some Latin American cities have been able to reduce violent crime. Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Medellin and Cucuta (Colombia); Chihuahua, Cuernavaca, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Torreon (Mexico) are no longer among the 50 most violent cities in the world. The success of Juarez on the US-Mexican border is particularly remarkable. Featured in the documentary ‘8 Murders a Day’, the city, which between 2008 and 2010 became infamous as the murder capital of the world and whose annual murder rate per 100,000 residents regularly surpassed 220, is now considered a relatively safe city which is attracting increasing numbers of tourists.



The 50 most violent

cities in the world

Rank (2014 rankings in brackets) City Country No of homicides City population Murder rate (HTIs*) 1 (2) Caracas Venezuela 3,946 3,292,000 120 2 (1) San Pedro Sula Honduras 885 797,000 111 3 (27) San Salvador El Salvador 1,918 1,767,000 109 4 (3) Acapulco Mexico 903 862,000 105 5 (-) Maturín Venezuela 505 584,000 86 6 (6) Distrito Central Honduras 882 1,200,000 74 7 (50) Valencia Venezuela 1,125 1,556,000 72 8 (11) Palmira Colombia 216 305,000 71 9 (20) Cape Town South Africa 2,451 3,740,000 66 10 (4) Cali Colombia 1,523 2,370,000 64 11 (17) Ciudad Guayana Venezuela 547 878,000 62 12 (7) Fortaleza Brazil 2,422 3,985,000 61 13 (12) Natal Brazil 921 1,518,000 61 14 (13) Salvador Brazil 1,996 3,292,000 61 15 (45) St Louis USA 188 317,000 59 16 (9) João Pessoa Brazil 643 1,101,000 58 17 (16) Culiacán Mexico 518 924,000 56 18 (5) Maceió Brazil 564 1,014,000 56 19 (36) Baltimore USA 343 624,000 55 20 (10) Barquisimeto Venezuela 719 1,308,000 55 21 (15) São Luís Brazil 802 1,512,000 53 22 (29) Cuiabá Brazil 412 849,000 49 23 (31) Manaus Brazil 985 2,058,000 48 24 (-) Cumaná Venezuela 199 417,000 48 25 (8) Guatemala City Guatemala 1,528 3,239,000 47 26 (23) Belém Brazil 1,101 2,402,000 46 27 (-) Feira de Santana Brazil 281 618,000 45 28 (24) Detroit USA 295 672,000 44 29 (-) Aparecida (Goiânia) Brazil 847 1,953,000 43 30 (-) Teresina Brazil 360 844,000 41 31 (14) Vitoria Brazil 802 1,910,000 42 32 (26) New Orleans USA 164 395,710 41 33 (19) Kingston Jamaica 492 1,196,000 41 34 (-) Gran Barcelona Venezuela 334 833,000 40 35 (47) Tijuana Mexico 668 1,709,000 39 36 (14) Vitória da Conquista Brazil 132 343,000 38 37 (39) Recife Brazil 1,492 3,914,000 38 38 (46) Aracaju Brazil 349 926,000 38 39 (-) Campos dos Goytacazes Brazil 175 484,000 36 40 (25) Campina Grande Brazil 146 405,000 36 41 (48) Durban South Africa 1,237 3,442,000 36 42 (41) Nelson Mandela Bay South Africa 413 1,152,000 36 43 (-) Porto Alegre Brazil 1,479 4,259,000 35 44 (-) Curitiba Brazil 1,121 3,230,000 35 45 (34) Pereira Colombia 153 470,000 33 46 (22) Victoria Mexico 107 351,000 31 47 (-) Johannesburg South Africa 1,344 4,435,000 30 48 (40) Macapá Brazil 138 456,000 30 49 (42) Maracaibo Venezuela 477 1,653,000 29 50 (-) Obregón Mexico 90 318,000 28

*The Mexican NGO Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Publica y la Justicia (CCSP) researches murder rates in the world. The rate of murder (homicidio doloso) is expressed as a figure per 100,000 inhabitants (of a city or country) in a year (abbreviated here as HTI): i.e. 50/100,000 or 50/HTI.





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