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See www.peaceworks.com for details.

  
PEACE MONITOR

There are various measures of peace, please select one of the following for more details.

Countries

US States

Major US Metropolitan Areas

Large US Cities

Selected California Cities

Battle-Related Deaths

Billion Dollar Club of Defense Spending

Nations with Nuclear Weapons

Armed Conflicts Around the World

Selected Countries

The best source of information we can find on comparative violence levels across countries is from the World Health Organization (WHO) Mortality Statistics. The agency collects data on causes of death from 77 countries and regions. Among the more than 100 causes listed, three are pertinent to our study: "Homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons," "Other violence," and "Other external causes." We add these three numbers together and combine them with the WHO Estimated Mortality Coverage (Table 4) data to produce the "Deaths by Violence" statistics reported below.

Following the rankings/data listed below, we provide more details about measuring violence levels including the limitations of our approach, the validity of our measure, its correlates, and suggestions for future improvements. Please contact John Graham (jgraham@uci.edu or 949-824-8468) if you have questions.

Rank Country Violent Deaths (per 100,000)   Rank Country Violent Deaths (per 100,000)
1
2
2
4
4
6
6
8
9
10
11
11
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
19
21
22
23
24
25
26
26
28
29
29
31
32
32
34
35
36
37
38
38		 Norway
Greece
Spain
Austria
Netherlands
Japan
New Zealand
Australia
Luxembourg
Ireland
Iceland
Malta
Canada
Italy
Mauritus
U.K. Northern Ireland
Macedonia
Kuwait
France
Germany
Hungary
U.K. England, Wales
Belgium
Croatia
San Marino
Sweden
U.K. (total)
Tajikistan
Finland
Romania
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Denmark
South Korea
Bulgaria
Uruguay
Albania
Slovenia
Switzerland
 1
1.3
1.3
1.7
1.7
2
2
2.1
2.2
2.5
2.6
2.5
2.7
2.8
3.1
3.5
3.6
3.8
3.9
3.9
4
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.6
4.9
5.1
5.1
5.2
5.5
5.5
5.8
5.9
6.1
6.2
7.1
7.1
   40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
47
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
 U.K. Scotland
Cuba
United States
Poland
Israel
Costa Rica
Singapore
Azerbaijan
Uzbekistan
Thailand
Turkmenistan
Peru
Mexico
Panama
Armenia
Portugal
Argentina
Nicaragua
Lithuania
Paraguay
Chile
Kyrgyzstan
Georgia
Latvia
Belize
Estonia
Republic of Moldova
Belarus
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
Brazil
Venezuela
El Salvador
Philippines
Russian Federation**
Columbia
 7.3
7.6
7.9
8.1
8.3
8.5
8.8
9.2
9.2
10.2
10.4
12.9
13.3
13.8
15.2
15.6
16.8
18.5
19.1
19.3
19.6
22.1
22.5
23.4
23.5
25.3
25.4
31.3
32.8
33.2
36.1
36.5
36.7
44.9
50.8
58.1
76.8
77.1
          ** Chechnya not included

Limitations. The WHO Mortality Statistics include data from only 77 of some 200 countries around the world. The data are collected from hospitals and compiled by government entities. So, the majority of countries, e.g., populous countries such as India, Indonesia, and China are not included in the data - those countries do not systematically collect this information and/or do not choose to report it to the WHO. Please go to www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm for more details and descriptions of the data - click on "Causes of Death" and then "Table 1" for the data details.

The most recent year for which "Causes of Death" are reported to the WHO depends on the country. For example, Argentina's latest reported estimate is for 1997 statistics while the United States currently reports year 2000 data. In all cases, the data ranges from 1997 to 2000 so we are looking back in time at violence levels. And we know that in the United States, for example, homicide rates have declined substantially between 1997 and 2001, 7.3(/100,000) to about 5.5. These data do not include the deaths resulting from the September 11th events in 2001. However, the data used for ranking the 66 countries are collected contemporaneously, so the comparisons are appropriate in that respect. And, these are the best data we can find for our purposes.

We appreciate that arguments can be made to include other categories of violence including rape, suicide, torture, permanent injury, or even automobile accidents. However, we feel our approach appropriately focuses on "violence" as it can best be measured.

We are very interested in any and all suggestions for improvements - please contact John Graham at jgraham@uci.edu. All your comments and criticisms are most welcome. Our goal is to improve our methods for the 2004 Peace Monitor that will be published in March of that year and annually thereafter.

Validity. We checked the WHO data against two other sources of data for the United States - the Center for Disease Control (CDC at webapp.cdc.gov) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI at www.fbi.gov). For the year 1997 the numbers of homicides reported (one aspect of our "Deaths by Violence" scores) for the three agencies are roughly comparable: WHO - 19,491; CDC - 19,846; and FBI - 18,210. Or, on a per 100,000 basis the numbers are: WHO - 7.3; CDC - 7.4; and FBI - 6.8. The FBI count is lower because they are taken from crime reports data while both the CDC and the WHO gather data from medical records. The FBI Uniform Crime Reporting measure of homicide is narrower than the CDC and WHO. For example, felons killed by police officers in the line of duty are not included in the FBI numbers.

In any case, the FBI statistic is within 10% of the highest CDC statistic, and the WHO number falls nicely between the other two. When we make these same comparisons for 1995 and 1996 we see the same relationships.

Correlates. Perusal of the Peace Monitor scores begs the question of why the variation across countries. Indeed, our hope is that these rankings will prove useful in the study of the causes and consequences of violence and peace.

We have taken a quick look at a variety of other country-level variables and their correlations with the Peace Monitor scores. We found higher violence levels to be associated with higher poverty levels (r = .571), higher levels of corruption (r = .548), lower levels of income per capita (r = -.505), higher values for social hierarchy (r = .423), and lower levels of trade with other countries (r = -.353), all statistically significant (p < 0.01). Of course, many of these comparison variables are themselves highly correlated, and we certainly make no claims about causality. Moreover, we have not carefully considered theory, previous work, and explanations. Indeed, we hope our brief report here will stimulate more careful research in the area.

The measures for poverty levels ("population below the poverty line"), income ("GDP - per capita"), and trade ("Imports" plus "Exports" divided by population) were taken from the CIA World Factbook 2001 at www.cia.gov/publications/factbook/. The measure of values for social hierarchy was taken from Geert Hofstede's Power Distance Index (PDI), see Cultures Consequences, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002. The measure of levels of corruption was taken from the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI), see www.transparency.org for details.

Future Research. We intend to further verify the validity of our measure of violence by comparisons across other data sources in other countries. The relationship of our measure to other kinds of violence - e.g., rape and suicide - should also be determined. The causal relationships among exogenous and other endogenous constructs should be considered. Finally, as we will be reporting these statistics annually, longitudinal approaches to study a variety of research questions will be facilitated.

US States*

The most useful (e.g., accessible and recent) measure for ranking states by level of violence is the FBI Uniform Crime Reports data on murders. The per 100,000 rate of murders has fallen dramatically in the United States overall during the 1990s.

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000

2001
9.4
9.8
9.3
9.5
9.0
8.2
7.4
6.8
6.3
5.7
5.5

5.6

Based on 2001 FBI statistics, all 50 U.S. States are presented below by rank.

RANK

 State

 Deaths byViolenceper 100,000
1 North Dakota 0.8
2 New Hampshire 0.9
3 Maine 1.1
4 South Dakota 1.4
5 Iowa 1.5
6 Montana 1.8
7 Hawaii 1.9
8 Oregon 2.0
8 Utah 2.0
10 Vermont 2.1
11 Minnesota 2.2
12 Connecticut 2.3
13 Massachusetts 2.7
14 Nebraska 2.8
14 Wisconsin 2.8
16 Idaho 2.9
16 Kansas 2.9
18 Wyoming 3.0
18 Washington 3.0
20 Delaware 3.2
20 West Virginia 3.2
22 Rhode Island 3.8
23 New Jersey 3.9
24 Colorado 4.0
25 Kentucky 4.5
26 Ohio 4.6
RANK

 State

 Deaths byViolenceper 100,000
27 New York 4.7
27 Oklahoma 4.7
29 Alaska 5.1
29 Pennsylvania 5.1
31 Arkansas 5.2
32 Virginia 5.3
33 Florida 5.5
34 Missouri 5.8
35 Indiana 5.9
36 Texas 6.0
37 North Carolina 6.6
38 Michigan 6.7
39 Alabama 6.8
39 California 6.8
41 Arizona 7.1
41 Georgia 7.1
43 Tennessee 7.2
44 South Carolina 7.3
45 Illinois 7.5
46 New Mexico 8.2
47 Nevada 8.3
48 Mississippi 9.2
49 Maryland 9.4
50 Louisiana 13.2
  Washington DC 46.2

*Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Major US Metropolitan Areas*

The most useful (e.g., accessible and recent) measure for ranking cities by level of violence is the FBI Uniform Crime Reports data on murders. The per 100,000 rate of murders has fallen dramatically in the United States overall during the 1990s.

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
9.4
9.8
9.3
9.5
9.0
8.2
7.4
6.8
6.3
5.7
5.5

Below are ranked major U.S. cities based on the most recently available FBI statistics.

RANK

 CITY

 RATE
1 Bangor, ME 0.0
1 Bismarck, ND 0.0
1 Corvallis, OR 0.0
1 Enid, OK 0.0
1 Glens Falls, NY 0.0
1 Kenosha, WI 0.0
1 Lafayette, IN 0.0
1 Lewiston-Auburn, ME 0.0
1 Pittsfield, MA 0.0
1 Sheboygan, WI 0.0
1 St. Joesph, MO 0.0
1 Wausau, WI 0.0
13 Binghamton, NY 0.4
14 Cedar Rapids, IA 0.5
14 Provo-Orem, UT 0.5
16 Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 0.6
18 Dover, DE 0.7
18 Fitchburg-Leominster, MA 0.7
20 Abilene, TX 0.8
20 Brockton, MA 0.8
20 Portland, ME 0.8
23 Boise, ID 0.9
23 Green Bay, WI 0.9
23 Iowa City, IA 0.9
23 San Angelo, TX 0.9
27 Olympia, WA 1.0
27 Manchester, NH 1.0
27 New London-Norwich, CT-RI 1.0
27 Newburgh, NY-PA 1.0
27 York, PA 1.0
32 Dubuque, IA 1.1
32 Lawrence, MA-NH 1.1
32 Rapid City, SD 1.1
35 Fargo-Moorehead, ND-MN 1.2
35 Lincoln, NE 1.2
35 Madison, WI 1.2
35 San Luis Obispo-Atascadero, CA 1.2
35 Sioux Falls, SD 1.2
35 Worcester, MA-CT 1.2
41 Barnstable-Yanmouth, MA 1.3
41 Johnstown, PA 1.3
41 Middlsex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ 1.3
44 Eau Clare, WI 1.4
44 Florence, AL 1.4
46 Altoona, PA 1.5
46 Houma, LA 1.5
46 State College, PA 1.5
49 Flagstaff, AZ-UT 1.6
49 Fort Collins-Loveland, CO 1.6
49 La Crosse, WI-MN 1.6
49 Monmouth-Ocean, NJ 1.6
53 Bloomington, IN 1.7
53 Danbury, CT 1.7
53 Mansfield, OH 1.7
53 Springfield, MO 1.7
53 Tyler, TX 1.7
58 Ann Arbor, MI 1.8
58 Portsmouth-Rochester, NH-ME 1.8
58 Redding, CA 1.8
58 St. Cloud, MN 1.8
62 Jackson, MI 1.9
63 Bergen-Passaic, NJ 2.0
63 Lowell, MA-NH 2.0
63 Orange County, CA 2.0
63 San Jose, CA 2.0
67 Boston, MA-NH 2.1
67 Brazonia, TX 2.1
67 Dutches County, NY 2.1
67 Erie, PA 2.1
67 Grand Forks ND-MN 2.1
67 Jamestown, NY 2.1
67 Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA 2.1
67 Punta Gorda, FL 2.1
67 Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ 2.1
76 Eugene-Springfield, OR 2.2
76 Medford-Ashland, OR 2.2
76 New Bedford, MA 2.2
79 Greely, CO 2.3
79 Honolulu, HI 2.3
79 Toledo, OH 2.3
82 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI 2.4
82 Rochester, MN 2.4
82 Santa Rosa, CA 2.4
82 Sioux City, IA-NE 2.4
86 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 2.5
86 Great Falls, MT 2.5
86 Jonesboro, AR 2.5
86 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA 2.5
86 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 2.5
91 Huntsville, LA 2.6
91 Jamesville-Beloit, WI 2.6
91 Jolin, MO 2.6
91 Lancaster, PA 2.6
91 Richland-Kenevick-Pasco, WA 2.6
91 Pocatello, ID 2.6
91 Salem, OR 2.6
98 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA 2.8
98 Elkhart-Goshen, IN 2.8
98 Fort Walton Beach, FL 2.8
98 Hartford, CT 2.8
102 Merced, CA 2.9
102 Spokane, WA 2.9
104 Bellingham, WA 3.0
104 Cumberland, MD-WV 3.0
104 Hamilton-Middletown, OH 3.0
104 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA 3.0
104 Ventura, CA 3.0
109 Asheville, NC 3.1
109 Lafayette, LA 3.1
111 Charlottesville, VA 3.2
111 Racine, WI 3.2
111 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 3.2
114 Bremerton, WA 3.3
114 Jacksonville, NC 3.3
114 Syracuse, NY 3.3
114 Utica-Rome, NY 3.3
118 Austin-San Marcos, TX 3.4
118 Pittsburg, PA 3.4
118 Reno, NV 3.4
118 San Diego, CA 3.4
122 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI 3.5
122 Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT 3.5
122 Victoria, TX 3.5
122 Yuba City, CA 3.5
126 Colorado Springs, CO 3.6
126 El Paso, TX 3.6
126 Modesto, CA 3.6
126 Odessa-Midland, TX 3.6
130 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 3.7
130 Cheyenne, WY 3.7
130 Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, MI 3.7
130 Springfield, MA 3.7
130 Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD 3.7
135 Anchorage, AK 3.8
135 Denver, CO 3.8
135 Des Moines, LA 3.8
135 Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL 3.8
135 Ocala, FL 3.8
135 Panama City, FL 3.8
135 Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 3.8
135 Yolo, CA 3.8
RANK

 CITY

 RATE
143 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3.9
143 Santa Fe, NM 3.9
145 Chico-Paradise, CA 4.0
146 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 4.1
146 Pueblo, CO 4.1
148 Daytona Beach, FL 4.2
148 Dayton-Springfield, OH 4.2
148 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 4.2
151 Gainesville, FL 4.3
151 Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA 4.3
151 San Francisco, CA 4.3
154 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR 4.4
154 Hickory-Morganton-Lenior, NC 4.4
156 Bridgeport, CT 4.5
157 Casper, WY 4.6
157 Hagerstown, MD 4.6
157 Jersey City, NJ 4.6
157 Lawton, OK 4.6
157 Lynchburg, VA 4.6
157 Sherman-Denison, TX 4.6
157 Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, CA 4.6
157 Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA 4.6
165 Athens, GA 4.7
165 Oklahoma City, OK 4.7
165 Tacoma, WA 4.7
165 Tallahasee, FL 4.7
169 Rochester, NY 4.8
170 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX 4.9
170 Grand Junction, CO 4.9
170 Kokomo, IN 4.9
170 Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 4.9
170 Trenton, NJ 4.9
170 Wichita Falls, TX 4.9
176 Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, TX 5.0
176 Bryan-College Station, TX 5.0
176 Corpus Christi, TX 5.0
176 Fort Wayne, IN 5.0
180 Laredo, TX 5.1
181 Chattanooga, TN-GA 5.1
181 Goldsboro, NC 5.1
181 Lima, OH 5.1
181 Orlando, FL 5.1
181 Sacramento, CA 5.1
186 Atlantic City-Cape May, NJ 5.2
186 Killeen-Temple, TX 5.2
186 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 5.2
189 Fresno, CA 5.3
189 Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI 5.3
189 New Haven-Meriden, CT 5.3
192 Amarillo, TX 5.5
192 Lubbock, TX 5.5
194 Bakersfield, CA 5.6
194 Benton Harbor, MI 5.6
196 Knoxville, TN 5.6
196 Tulsa, OK 5.6
198 Albany, GA 5.7
198 Jackson, TN 5.7
200 Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 5.8
200 Yakima, WA 5.8
202 Greensboro-Winston-Salem High Pt., NC 5.9
202 Naples, FL 5.9
204 Newark, NJ 6.0
205 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL 6.1
206 Columbia, SC 6.2
206 Macon, GA 6.2
206 Texarkana, TX-AR 6.2
209 San Antonio, TX 6.4
209 South Bend, IN 6.4
209 Wilmington, NC 6.4
212 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 6.5
213 Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, MS 6.6
213 Salinas, CA 6.6
215 Omaha, NE-IA 6.7
216 Stockon-Lodi, CA 6.8
217 Oakland, CA 6.9
217 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 6.9
219 Florence, SC 7.0
220 Waco, TX 7.1
221 Phoenix-Mesa, AZ 7.2
222 Washington DC-MD-VA-WV 7.4
223 Albuquerque, NM 7.7
223 Houston, TX 7.7
225 New York, NY 7.8
226 Nashville, TN 7.9
227 Lake Charles, LA 8.1
227 Philadelphia, PA-NJ 8.1
229 Las Vegas, NV-AZ 8.2
230 Anniston, AL 8.4
231 Alexandria, LA 8.5
231 Dallas, TX 8.5
231 Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie, FL 8.5
231 Tuscaloosa, AL 8.5
235 Miami, FL 8.6
235 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 8.6
237 Jacksonville, FL 8.9
237 Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR 8.9
239 Columbia, MO 9.0
239 Mobile, AL 9.0
241 Longview-Marshall, TX 9.1
242 Reading, PA 9.3
243 Monroe, LA 10.0
244 Rocky Mount, NC 10.3
245 Fayetteville, NC 10.4
246 Auburn-Opelika, AL 10.6
246 Detroit, MI 10.6
246 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 10.6
249 Flint, MI 10.7
249 Tuscon, AZ 10.7
251 Dothan, AL 11.0
252 Richmond-Petersburg, VA 11.1
253 Greenville, NC 11.3
254 Columbus, GA-AL 11.5
255 Birmingham, AL 11.8
256 Baltimore, MD 12.2
256 Montgomery, AL 12.2
258 Savannah, GA 13.9
259 Memphis, TN-AR-MS 14.6
260 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 15.8
261 Pine Bluff, AR 16.5
262 New Orleans, LA 20.4
NA Atlanta, GA** NA
NA Baton Rouge, LA** NA
NA Charleston-North Charleston, SC** NA
NA Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC** NA
NA Chicago, IL** NA
NA Cincinnati-OH-KY** NA
NA Cleveland, OH-KY-IN** NA
NA Columbus, OH** NA
NA Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA** NA
NA Indianapolis, IN** NA
NA Kansas City, MO-KS** NA
NA Louisville, KY-IN** NA
NA Norfolk-Va Bch-Newprt News, VA-NC** NA
NA St. Louis, MO-IL** NA

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Crime in the United States 2000" (Uniform Crime Report, October 22, 2001)
* Murder rate, includes non-negligent manslaughter
** Not available

Large Cities*

The most useful (e.g., accessible and recent) measure for ranking cities by level of violence is the FBI Uniform Crime Reports data on murders. The per 100,000 rate of murders has fallen dramatically in the United States overall during the 1990s.

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
9.4
9.8
9.3
9.5
9.0
8.2
7.4
6.8
6.3
5.7
5.5

Below are ranked major U.S. cities based on the most recently available FBI statistics.

RANK

 CITY

 RATE
1 Honolulu, HI 2.0
2 Portland, OR 3.7
2 San Diego, CA 3.7
4 Seattle, WA 4.5
5 Salt Lake City, UT 5.9
6 Omaha, NE 6.6
7 New York, NY 7.3
8 San Antonio, TX 8.3
9 San Francisco, CA 8.4
10 Denver,CO 8.8
11 Boston,MA 10.1
12 Albuquerque, NM 11.1
13 Indianapolis, IN 11.2
14 Las Vegas, NV 11.9
15 Minneapolis, MN 12.1
16 Cleveland, OH 12.2
17 Houston, TX 12.5
RANK

 CITY

 RATE
18 Phoenix, AZ 12.6
19 Pittsburgh, PA 13.7
20 Memphis, TN 15.7
21 Dallas, TX 15.8
22 Los Angeles, CA 17.1
22 Miami, FL 17.1
24 Philadelphia, PA 18.9
25 Cincinnati, OH 19.2
26 Milwaukee, WI 20.5
27 Chicago, IL 22.8
28 St. Louis, MO 32.8
29 Atlanta, GA 34.9
30 Baltimore, MD 37.7
31 Detroit, MI 41.8
32 Washington, DC 46.3
33 New Orleans, LA 53.1

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Crime in the United States 2000" (Uniform Crime Report, October 22, 2001)
* Murder rate, includes non-negligent manslaughter
** Not available

Selected California Cities*

The most useful (e.g., accessible and recent) measure for ranking cities by level of violence is the FBI Uniform Crime Reports data on murders. The per 100,000 rate of murders has fallen dramatically in the United States overall during the 1990s.

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
9.4
9.8
9.3
9.5
9.0
8.2
7.4
6.8
6.3
5.7
5.5

Below are ranked California cities (with populations greater than 100,000) based on the most recently available FBI statistics.

RANK

 CITY

 RATE
1 Huntington Beach 0.0
1 Mission Viejo 0.0
1 Monterey 0.0
1 Santa Clarita 0.0
1 Simi Valley 0.0
1 Burbank 0.0
1 Daly City 0.0
1 Freemont 0.0
1 Orange 0.0
1 Fullerton 0.0
1 El Monte 0.0
12 Moreno Valley 0.3
13 Torrance 0.5
14 Irvine 0.7
15 Rancho Cucamonga 1.0
16 Glendale 1.1
17 Sunnyvale 1.5
18 Costa Mesa 1.9
18 Ventura 1.9
20 West Covina 2.0
20 Concord 2.0
22 Pasadena 2.2
23 Thousand Oaks 2.4
23 Corona 2.4
25 Modesto 2.6
26 Oceanside 2.7
27 San Jose 2.8
28 Escondido 2.9
29 Norwalk 3.0
RANK

 CITY

 RATE
30 Hayward 3.4
31 Chula Vista 3.6
32 San Diego 3.7
33 Santa Clara 3.8
33 Garden Grove 3.8
35 Santa Rosa 3.9
36 Anaheim 5.0
37 Vallejo 5.8
38 Berkeley 6.6
38 Santa Ana 6.6
40 Riverside 7.6
41 San Francisco 8.4
42 Bakersfield 8.6
43 Fresno 9.4
44 Lancaster 9.8
45 Ontario 9.9
46 Sacramentio 11.2
47 Los Angeles 11.8
48 Salinas 12.8
49 Pomona 13.1
50 Long Beach 14.0
51 Stockton 14.3
52 Inglewood 16.2
53 Palmdale 18.6
54 Fontana 19.4
55 Oxnard 19.6
56 San Bernardino 21.9
57 Oakland 26.1

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Crime in the United States 2000" (Uniform Crime Report, October 22, 2001)
* Murder rate, includes non-negligent manslaughter
** Not available

Battle-Related Deaths*

Estimates of deaths caused by wars, particularly civil wars, in developing countries are hard to come by. Herein we report those listed in the Stockholm International Peace Research (SIPRI) Yearbook 2001 (see www.sipri.se). Please notice that SIPRI reports "battle-related deaths" which does not represent the usually much larger number of "war zone deaths." We have also included our preliminary estimates of war-related deaths in 2001 based on the Human Rights Watch World Reports 2002 (see www.hrw.org) and various press reports on each area. We will update the numbers for 2001 as we receive more information - your criticisms and comments are welcome.

The largest changes from 2000 to 2001 are the fighting in Afghanistan, the September 11th violence in the United States, the escalation of violence in Israel and Indonesia; and thankfully, the peace agreed to in the Eritrea/Ethiopia war, and the slowdown in violence in Chechnya, Russia.

Obviously our "body count" approach does not take into account such disasters as lost limbs from land mines, rapes, torture, and mass starvations caused by economic disruptions associated with warfare. However, our purpose here is to focus attention on the worst places, and this metric does a reasonable job at that.

Relatedly, the numbers of armed conflicts during 1989-2000 are reported at www.pcr.uu.se/research/data.htm. Thirty-three, the number for the year 2000, is the lowest recorded since 1989.

Country

 

Total Deaths*(incl. 2002)

 

Deaths*in 2001

 

Deaths*in 2002

 
Algeria
40,000 - 10,000
> 1,500
> 150 - 350
Angola
---
> 1,500
> 400 - 550
Burundi
> 6,000
< 500
< 1,100
Sudan
> 37,000 - 40,000 (miltary)
> 1,000
> 2,000
Columbia
> 31,000
> 1,000
> 2,000
Afghanistan
---
> 5,000
India
> 25,000
> 100
> 1,500 - 3,000
Indonesia
> 2,000
> 1,300
> 100 - 200
Myanmar
1948-50: 8,000; 1981-88: 5,000-8,000
< 50
< 50 - 150
Nepal
> 4,000
> ----
> 2,500 - 3,000
Philippines - Government
21,000 - 27,000
> 1,200
> 225 - 400
Sri Lanka
> 60,000
> 4,000
< 25
Russia (Chechnya)
40,000 - 70,000
> 100
> 1,000
Israel
1948: > 14,000
> 100
> 1,000
Turkey
> 30,000
< 200
< 25 - 300
United States of America
 
> 3,000 (Sept. 11th)
> 400 - 800

* Source: Information from the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2001.
** Estimate based on Human Rights Watch, World Report 2002 (see www.hrw.org) and various press reports.

Billion Dollar Club of Defense Expenditures*

The best source of information on global defense expenditures is the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2001 (see www.sipri.se). Only insignificant discrepancies appear between their data and those published in the CIA World Factbook 2001 (see www.cia.gov). Both sources provide data on a more extensive list of countries - here we only list those countries with budgets greater than $1 billion/year. The SIPRI Yearbook also provides extensive explanations and details regarding other aspects of expenditures including weapons systems and troop strengths.

RANK

 COUNTRY

 Dollars in
Billions

$/Capita
1 USA 335.7 1158
2 Japan 46.7 368
3 United Kingdom 36.0 600
4 France 33.6 558
5 China [31.1] 24
6 Germany 22.7 336
7 Saudi Arabia 21.6 889
8 Italy 21.1 364
9 Iran 16.4 240
10 S. Korea 13.5 280
11 India 12.8 12
12 Russia 11.4 79
13 Turkey 10.1 148
14 Brazil 10.0 55
15 Israel 9.8 1607
16 Canada 8.2 256
17 Taiwan 7.3 323
18 Spain 7.1 176
19 Australia [6.7] 340
20 Netherlands 6.2 383
21 Syria [5.5] 312
22 Greece 5.3 495
23 Singapore 4.7 1021
24 Sweden 4.6 517
25 Kuwait 3.8 1727
RANK

 COUNTRY

 Dollars in
Billions

$/Capita
26 Norway 3.2 711
26 Pakistan 3.2 21
28 Poland 3.1 80
28 Columbia 3.1 74
30 Belgium 3.0 291
30 Mexico 3.0 29
32 Argentina 2.9 75
33 Egypt [2.7] 36
33 Oman [2.7] 964
35 Switzerland 2.6 356
36 Denmark 2.5 462
36 Portugal 2.5 248
38 Chile [2.3] 146
39 S. Africa 2.2 51
40 Algeria 2.1 51
41 Malaysia 1.9 82
42 Thailand 1.8 28
43 U.A.E. [1.6] 640
44 Austria 1.5 183
44 Finland 1.5 288
44 N. Korea 1.5 67
47 Venezuela 1.4 57
48 Czech Republic 1.2 118
       
  NATO 507.0 643

*Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2001.
**Estimates for Defense Department and Homeland Defense are greater than $400 billion for 2002.
[ ] : Estimates
Bold : NATO Members

Nations with Nuclear Weapons*

As of this writing, there are eight known nations with nuclear weapons. Both the United States and Russia continue to reduce the numbers of weapons stockpiled. Most recently President Bush and President Putin have agreed to reduce active arsenals by two-thirds. Below are the best estimates available from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2001 (see www.sipri.se). Great detail regarding age, delivery capabilities, and future reductions/production is provided in that reference.

Country

 

Warheads

 
United States 7068
Russia 8232
China ~402
France 348
Israel ~200
United Kingdom 185
India <30 - 40
Pakistan <30 - 50