Introduction:
November, 2018: Another couple of mass shootings. Nothing out of the ordinary. We have become inured to this. We hardly react any more. A short while ago it was a synagogue in Pittsburgh, then a nightclub in Southern California, next week it’ll be a school, or a shopping mall, or some other public place. The killing rages on, a dozen innocent people mowed down at a time, often more than that.
The solution is obvious, and before our eyes. It has been so for years. All you have to do is look at dozens of comparable countries, follow their example, and voila; problem solved. Thousands of American lives saved every year.
In
a separate post - Mass Murder Ad Nauseam -
I will once again go over the main aspects of this issue. But for now, I am
tired of repeating the same refrain.
Instead, today I want to give you some facts about the distribution of murder in the world at this time. I have always been a “numbers guy.” I hope that you find some of what follows as interesting as I do. I taught criminology for decades. Today, one of my sources is: List of Countries by Intentional Homicides.
My numbers are based on the United Nations’ definition of intentional homicide. So these figures include murder and manslaughter, but not acts of war and accidents. I focus on two questions:
A. The amount and distribution
of murder around the world.
B. How the US compares
internationally.
Part
One of this article presents data on and analysis of the distribution of
murders across selected countries, and
the concentration of murders among a minority of the world’s nations. In
Part Two, I will discuss the worldwide
distribution of murder, and compare the US with other parts of the world.
1.
Twenty Selected Countries Ranked by Homicide Rates, and by Absolute Numbers of
Homicides
Table 1. Twenty
Selected Countries Ranked by Annual Rates of Intentional Homicides
Rank
|
Country
|
Rate - per 100,000, per year
|
total number
|
1
|
El Salvador
|
82.84
|
5,257
|
2
|
Honduras
|
56.52
|
5,150
|
3
|
Venezuela
|
56.33
|
17,778
|
5
|
Jamaica
|
47.01
|
1,354
|
12
|
Brazil
|
29.53
|
61,283
|
20
|
Mexico
|
19,26
|
24,559
|
41
|
Russia
|
10.82
|
15,561
|
87
|
United States
|
5,35
|
17,250
|
119
|
India
|
3.22
|
42,678
|
154
|
Canada
|
1.68
|
611
|
169
|
France
|
1.23
|
792
|
170
|
United
Kingdom
|
1.20
|
791
|
184
|
Germany
|
0.88
|
716
|
190
|
Netherlands
|
0.73
|
123
|
195
|
Italy
|
0.67
|
400
|
200
|
China
|
0.62
|
8,634
|
203
|
Norway
|
0.51
|
27
|
212
|
Iceland
|
0.30
|
1
|
213
|
Japan
|
0.28
|
362
|
216
|
Monaco
|
0
|
0
|
Table 1 reveals that El Salvador is the most violent country on earth.
There, 83 people out of every 100,000
are murdered each year. This rate is sixteen
times higher than that of the US. We also see than Honduras is the
second most violent country in the world, with a murder rate that is eleven
times higher than that of the US. And
you wonder why caravans of thousands of people
flee from such countries and
desperately seek asylum in the US?
Out of the world’s 219 countries,
the US is the 87th most violent country, as measured by homicide
rates. In other words, 86 countries are more violent, and 132 less so.
Table
2. Twenty Selected Countries Ranked by Total Annual
Numbers of Intentional Homicides
Rank
|
Country
|
Total
number
|
Rate
- per 100,000
|
1
|
Brazil
|
61,283
|
29.53
|
2
|
India
|
42,678
|
3.22
|
3
|
Mexico
|
24,558
|
19.26
|
6
|
Venezuela
|
17,778
|
56.33
|
7
|
United
States
|
17,250
|
5.35
|
8
|
Russia
|
15,561
|
10.82
|
12
|
China
|
8,634
|
0.62
|
15
|
El
Salvador
|
5,257
|
82.84
|
16
|
Honduras
|
5,150
|
56.52
|
39
|
Jamaica
|
1,354
|
47.01
|
57
|
France
|
792
|
1.23
|
58
|
United
Kingdom
|
791
|
1.20
|
60
|
Germany
|
716
|
0.88
|
71
|
Canada
|
611
|
1.68
|
86
|
Italy
|
400
|
0.67
|
90
|
Japan
|
362
|
0.28
|
124
|
Netherlands
|
123
|
0.73
|
167
|
Norway
|
27
|
0.51
|
213
|
Iceland
|
1
|
9.30
|
216
|
Monaco
|
0
|
0
|
Table 2 shows that Brazil has 61,283
murders per year, by far the largest amount of any country. In absolute terms,
the United States is the 7th most violent country in the world, with
over 17,000 murders per year. Russia’s number is nearly as high, even though
its population is less than half ours.
2. Over Half of all the Murders
in the World are Committed/Experienced by a Minority of Countries and People
Table
3. The 9 Countries with the Largest Absolute Numbers of Murders, Compared to
their Populations
Country
|
number
of homicides
|
rank
|
population
|
% of
world
murders
|
rate
per 100,000
|
rank
|
World
|
430,000
|
-
|
7.5
billion
|
100%
|
6
|
-
|
Brazil
|
61,283
|
1
|
207.7 million
|
14%
|
29.5
|
12
|
India
|
42,678
|
2
|
1.32
billion
|
9.9%
|
3.2
|
119
|
Mexico
|
24,559
|
3
|
125.5 million
|
5.7%
|
19.2
|
20
|
South
Africa
|
19,016
|
4
|
56.7
million
|
4.4%
|
34
|
10
|
Nigeria
|
17,843
|
5
|
190.9 million
|
4.1%
|
9.85
|
47
|
Venezuela
|
!7,778
|
6
|
31.6
million
|
4.1%
|
56.33
|
3
|
United
States
|
17,250
|
7
|
323.4 million
|
4%
|
5.35
|
87
|
Russia
|
15,561
|
8
|
144.3 million
|
3.6%
|
10.82
|
41
|
Colombia
|
12,402
|
9
|
48.7
million
|
2.9%
|
25.5
|
16
|
Total, 9 countries
|
218,370
|
33% of
world’s pop- ulation
|
52%
of world’s murders
|
Table 3 indicates that the top 9
countries of the world together account
for over half of all murders - 218,370 per year - while their collective
population is 2.45 billion people, i.e. less than one third of the world. One gains an even starker picture of the
uneven distribution of murder around the world by looking at the countries
which have the highest murder RATES, rather than their absolute numbers. This
is done in table 4.
Table
4. Over Half of the World’s Murders Are
Committed by the Top 47 Countries of the World, Ranked by Rates.
Country
|
region
|
absolute
murders
|
population
|
per
100,000
|
rank,
by rate
|
World
|
-
|
430,000
|
7.5
billion
|
6
|
-
|
El
Salvador
|
Latin
Am.
|
5257
|
6.345
|
82.84
|
1
|
Honduras
|
Latin
Am.
|
5150
|
9.1
|
56.52
|
2
|
Venezuela
|
Latin
Am.
|
17778
|
31.6
|
56.33
|
3
|
Jamaica
|
Caribbean
|
1354
|
2.9
|
47.01
|
5
|
Lesotho
|
Africa
|
897
|
2.2
|
41.25
|
6
|
Belize,
St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Trinidad
|
7,
8, 9, 11
|
||||
South
Africa
|
Africa
|
19016
|
56.7
|
33.97
|
10
|
Brazil
|
Latin
Am.
|
61283
|
207.7
|
29.53
|
12
|
Bahamas,
Anguilla, Guatemala, Colombia, Montserrat, Central Afr. Rep., St. Lucia,
Tuvalu
|
13,14,15,16,17,
18,19,21
|
||||
Mexico
|
Latin
Am.
|
24559
|
125.5
|
19.26
|
20
|
Puerto
Rico
|
Latin
Am.
|
679
|
3.4
|
18.51
|
22
|
Guyana,
Swaziland, Namibia, St. Pierre, Dom. Rep., Botswana, S. Sudan, Congo, Fr.
Guiana, Bermuda, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cape Verde
|
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31,
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37
|
||||
Philippines
|
Asia
|
11,385
|
104.9
|
11.02
|
38
|
Barbados,
Mali
|
39,40
|
||||
Russia
|
Europe
|
15561
|
144,3
|
10.82
|
41
|
Papua
New Guinea, Antigua, Grenada,
Haiti, Mauritania
|
42,
43, 44, 45, 46
|
||||
Nigeria
|
Africa
|
17847
|
190.9
|
9.85
|
47
|
grand
total
|
225,957
= 52.5%
of
all murders
|
1.043
billion = 14% of all pop.
|
|||
Over half (52%) of the world’s
murders are committed /suffered in the
top 47 countries, as ranked by murder rates. While these make up one fifth of the world’s
countries, their combined population is only 14% that of the world!
The remaining 172 countries together - which make up 86% of the world’s population - are only responsible for 48% of all murders.
In Part Two of this article, I will discuss the worldwide distribution of murder, and compare the US with other parts of the world. leave comment here
© Tom Kando 2018;All Rights Reserved
