Latin America Dominates 50 Most Violent Cities List, but You Might Be Surprised How Many Are in the US.

Travel Safety News
by Simeon Tegel Feb 1, 2016

Overall, Latin America confirmed its statistical reputation as the world’s most violent region. According to a new study by Mexican think-tank the Citizens Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, 41 of the 50 most-violent cities are in Latin America.

San Pedro Sula’s murder rate was 111 per 100,000, putting it at No. 2 in 2015, while the third ranked city was San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, with 109. Worryingly for tourists, the Mexican beach town of Acapulco came in fourth, with 105, although the victims are overwhelmingly locals rather than visitors.

But US residents have reason to worry, too. Theirs is the only developed nation to have cities featured in the top-50 list, and several of those cities are worse-off this year: St. Louis (No. 15, up four places from 2014), Baltimore (No. 19, up 21 places), Detroit (No. 28, up six) and New Orleans (No. 32, down eight).

Twenty-one of the 50 most murderous cities were in Brazil, while eight were in Venezuela, five in Mexico, three in Colombia and two in Honduras. Another four of the cities on the list are in South Africa.

The world’s 50 most-violent cities

Position City Country Homicide Rate
1 Caracas Venezuela 119.87
2 San Pedro Sula Honduras 111.03
3 San Salvador El Salvador 108.54
4 Acapulco Mexico 104.73
5 Maturín Venezuela 86.45
6 Distrito Central Honduras 73.51
7 Valencia Venezuela 72.31
8 Palmira Colombia 70.88
9 Cape Town South Africa 65.53
10 Cali Colombia 64.27
11 Ciudad Guayana Venezuela 62.33
12 Fortaleza Brazil 60.77
13 Natal Brazil 60.66
14 Salvador (y RMS) Brazil 60.63
15 ST. Louis U.S.A. 59.23
16 João Pessoa Brazil 58.4
17 Culiacán Mexico 56.09
18 Maceió Brazil 55.63
19 Baltimore U.S.A. 54.98
20 Barquisimeto Venezuela 54.96
21 São Luís Brazil 53.05
22 Cuiabá Brazil 48.52
23 Manaus Brazil 47.87
24 Cumaná Venezuela 47.77
25 Guatemala Guatemala 47.17
26 Belém Brazil 45.83
27 Feira de Santana Brazil 45.5
28 Detroit U.S.A. 43.89
29 Goiânia y Aparecida de Goiânia Brazil 43.38
30 Teresina Brazil 42.64
31 Vitoria Brazil 41.99
32 New Orleans U.S.A. 41.44
33 Kingston Jamaica 41.14
34 Gran Barcelona Venezuela 40.08
35 Tijuana Mexico 39.09
36 Vitória da Conquista Brazil 38.46
37 Recife Brazil 38.12
38 Aracaju Brazil 37.7
39 Campos dos Goytacazes Brazil 36.16
40 Campina Grande Brazil 36.04
41 Durban South Africa 35.93
42 Nelson Mandela Bay South Africa 35.85
43 Porto Alegre Brazil 34.73
44 Curitiba Brazil 34.71
45 Pereira Colombia 32.58
46 Victoria Mexico 30.5
47 Johanesburgo South Africa 30.31
48 Macapá Brazil 30.25
49 Maracaibo Venezuela 28.85
50 Obregón Mexico 28.29

By Simeon Tegel, GlobalPost
This article is syndicated from GlobalPost.

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