One of the best ways to enrich life and live new experiences is undoubtedly to travel. This activity is usually done both for pleasure and for work, so it is important to know the most dangerous countries in the world.
However, if you are thinking of taking a trip soon, for your own safety , we advise you to take into account the countries on this list as they are some of the most dangerous in the world.
Dangerous countries where not to travel
This list has been compiled taking into account different variables, among them: the Social Progress Index, the presence of civil or international wars, government instability, the level of oppression, among others. In addition, more specific data has also been gathered, such as: the number of kidnappings in each country or the number of homicides.
There have been countries that deserved to appear on this list, but we have decided to show different types of situations. That is, more dangerous countries like Afghanistan, Libya or Chad (which are at war), have not appeared to make room for countries that are almost as dangerous, but which are not at war, such as North Korea or Mexico.
10. South Africa South
Africa opens our list of the most dangerous countries in the world. It has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, being 31 of every 100,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, South Africa isone of the countries where more women are raped per year, around 500,000 .
In the big cities of this country, such as Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, it is totally inadvisable to go at night, either alone or accompanied.
9. North Korea
This country is a particular case, although we will all agree that it is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It appears to be a place of relative stability (compared to some on this list), has decent security and sanitation, no terrorism, no civil war, and not officially at war with any other country (for now at least). .
However, Korea has an extremely strict regime, which can put you in a real bind if you don’t abide by all their behavior patterns. This may seem silly, but to give an example:
In mid-2017, a 22-year-old American was sentenced in North Korea for stealing a propaganda poster from a hotel. The sentence consisted of 15 years of hard labor. He was imprisoned for 17 months, the time of the negotiations between the North Korean and American governments. When he finally arrived in the United States, he died a short time later from neurological injuries of “unknown origin.”
8. Dominican Republic
Apart from the high crime rate in the country, especially for drug trafficking reasons, there are other facts that make it appear on this list. The border area with Haiti is especially dangerous and it is not recommended to travel freely.
The American Center for Disease Prevention (CDC) advises against the use of certain hospitals in the country due to the terrible conditions in which they are found. Added to this, receiving a blood transfusion carries serious risks of contracting HIV.
The roads are also dangerous due to the high accident rate that is registered; more than 40 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants . For example, in Spain the rate is around 3.6.
Last but not least, UNICEF warns that the Dominican Republic is a place with a high rate of child sex tourism. For this reason, it becomes one of the most dangerous countries in the world, especially if you go with children.
7. Venezuela
The homicide rate in this country is 53.7 people per 100,000 inhabitants. This high rate is due, above all, to problems of political rivalry between different sides and government conflicts .
In addition to this, Venezuela is the second country with the most kidnappings in the world, only below Peru. To give a specific example, in 2014, in this country there were 599 kidnappings .
Anyway, Venezuela has specific areas that are quite safe for tourists. As long as he doesn’t go off on his own, security will be acceptable.
6. Mexico
The case of Mexico is somewhat exceptional . This is because in this country there are certain areas where access for tourists is extremely dangerous. Whether due to drug cartels, shootings, gangs, kidnappings and many other variables, we are talking about some of the most dangerous areas in the world, such as: Sonora, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Durango and Jalisco among others.
In fact, it is estimated that in this country, the war on drugs has claimed around 60,000 lives and more than 20,000 disappearances .
Compared to the rest of the world, the homicide rate is 3 times higher than the global average .
5. Honduras
Being Hoduras the country with the most homicides per inhabitant makes it a destination for which very few daring are willing to go. The number of homicides amounts to 90.4 people per 100,000 inhabitants (three times that of South Africa).
The truly sad thing is that this rate has not stopped rising since 2010, due to the instability in which a country awash in corruption, drugs and government conflicts is submerged. With Honduras we reach the middle of the list of the most dangerous countries in the world.
4. Central African Republic
Traveling to this republic is a fairly high risk within our ranking. To give an example, the Spanish Embassy in Cameroon advises against traveling unless it is strictly necessary, largely due to internal and international clashes. In fact, if you have to travel, you must notify the embassy itself about the route and stay to be followed.
The areas close to the borders with neighboring countries are extremely dangerous (with Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon; countries that could also be on this list).
As if that were not enough, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) continues to cause terror among the civilian population, especially in the southern zone. At the same time, in the north, robberies, armed gangs and altercations with rebels, mostly from Chad, are very frequent.
In addition, after the coup d’etat that took place in 2013 , the government situation has worsened, affecting all levels, reducing security and health.
3. Yemen
Yemen was a perfect destination to travel until the image of this country changed. The change probably started in 2007 when 6 Spanish tourists died in a suicide attack. Since then the situation has only gotten worse.
It is currently one of the strongholds of Al Qaeda; organization that is found throughout the territory including the capital, Sana. In contrast, the territories not controlled by this group are controlled by the Houthi rebels . As expected, the rivalry between the two sides is extreme, which makes the idea of visiting this country a crazy proposal to say the least.
2. Syria
This beautiful country had great reasons to be visited until a few years ago. Now the picture is completely the opposite. Places of maximum cultural interest such as Palmyra, Bosra and Aleppo have been destroyed by the Jihad terrorists . Cultural heritage is being reduced to ashes with the passage of time.
The civil war has engaged most of the country in a self-destructive war. The Spanish embassy located in Damascus, for example, is blunt in stating that all tourists leave the country immediately, since no area is exempt from being able to suffer combat, bombing, kidnapping or terrorist attacks.
1. Iraq
The situation in Iraq is quite special. This country has a small region to the south, quite autonomous from the rest of the country, where they have their own army and have not suffered any attack since 2014 and have not killed a single foreigner since 2003. Totally opposite figures to the rest Of the territory.
If we remove this region, the country automatically falls into our number one ranking. The rest of the country is simply a territory in war. Considering tourism in Iraq is simply absurd. Bombings and attacks are the order of the day, where practically every week (if not days) something happens.
The amount of altercations that there are make it impossible to have exact data. Cities like Bagdak, Mosul, Kirkuk and Fallujah are among the 10 most dangerous cities in the world . The four located in this country.
Another country at the same level as Iraq, as far as danger is concerned, is Afghanistan.
