The Most Violent Cities in the World

Out of the world's 50 most violent cities, 38 are in Latin America including 17 in Mexico. The Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice releases its findings on the homicide rate in cities with populations over 300,000 around the world every year. This infographic shows the world's top 10 most violent cities, with Mexican city Colima in first place and New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana ranking eighths. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, had ranked first in previous editions, but due to the situation in the country, data is no longer available. The majority of the violence in Latin America can be attributed to drug trafficking, gang warfare and political instability.

Another country that appears among the top 50 is Brazil at ten cities, the highest ranked being Mossoró in the country's North in the 11th spot. Also featured on the list frequently are Colombia (six cities starting from Cali in rank 32) and South Africa (four cities, including Cape Town and two more ranked in the top 20). The continental United States racks up seven mentions in total. Other than New Orleans, Baltimore (rank 17), Detroit (rank 23), Memphis (rank 25), Cleveland (rank 27), Milwaukee (rank 39) and Philadelphia (rank 46) make the list. San Juan in Puerto Rico can be found in rank 41.