The United Nations and the World Health Organization have released their 2014 Global Status Report on Violence Prevention, which paints a bleak and detailed picture of murder and violence around the world.
Worldwide in 2012, there were 475,000 murder victims, 60% of whom were males between 15 and 44 years old. Half of all homicide victims are killed by a firearm, and Latin America is the world's most murderous region.
The global homicide rate for 2012 stood at 6.7 per 100,000 inhabitants — slightly lower than the 2011 rate of 6.9.
20. Zimbabwe
15.1 murders per 100,000 people
33% killed by firearms
Political violence has become a fact of life in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe has ruled with a heavy hand for over 30 years.
Mugabe ordered the takeover of white-owned farms in 2000, causing an economic collapse that still has lingering effects. Unemployment hit 90% by 2008.
19. Iraq
18.6 murders per 100,000 people
45% killed by firearms
Close to 8,000 civilians were killed in the first two months of the Iraq war, according to Iraq Body Count. Since 2003, the number of civilians killed every month has lowered significantly, but this war-torn nation remains one of the most homicidal on earth.
The civilian death rate remained relatively low from 2008 through 2012 but has crept back up since 2013 and the rise of the Islamic State. Roughly 1,351 Iraqi civilians were killed every month in 2014.
18. Panama
19.3 murders per 100,000 people
80% killed by firearms
Panama's gangs and drug traffickers are responsible for roughly 23% of its homicides each year, according to a 2013 Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) Crime and Safety report. The country is still safer than some other central American countries, like Honduras and Guatemala.
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