
There is a brand new ranking of the world’s most violent cities from Mexico’s Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.
A full one-third of global homicides occur in Latin America even though the region has just 8% of the world’s population, according to United Nations data.
Drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, corruption, and poverty combine to cause the region’s elevated violence.
The council’s ranking includes cities with a population of more than 300,000 and doesn’t count deaths in combat zones or cities with unavailable data, so some dangerous cities might not be represented on the list.

A police officer stands next to various body parts in black plastic bags in Cuernavaca October 14, 2012.

Members of the anti-kidnapping unit of the Colombian police train in hostage rescue in Medellin, Colombia.

Soldiers patrol outside TSM Corona stadium in Torreon September 10, 2011.

A taxi with a bomb is detonated by anti-explosives officers in Santiago near of Cucuta, Norte de Santander province, 400 kms northeast of Bogota August, 11, 2001.

Mexican soldiers look as 134 tonnes of marijuana are incinerated at Morelos military base in Tijuana October 20, 2010.

Detained members of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) are escorted by Brazilian military riot police in the town of Campo Largo, near the city of Curitiba, southern Brazil on Tuesday, May 2, 2000.

Chihuahua State officials released a statement Tuesday June 8, demanding a full investigation into the death of the boy who was allegedly shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

A demonstrator is detained by the police during a protest on the streets of Belo Horizonte June 26, 2013.

A soldier stands guard at the site of a car bomb attack outside broadcaster Televisa in Ciudad Victoria

Police move in from a parking lot to the Mall in Columbia after reports of a multiple shooting, Saturday Jan. 25, 2014 Howard County, Md.

A prisoners stand on the roof of the Advogado Antonio Jacinto Filho state prison as military police stand gathered nearby, in Aracaju, Brazil, Monday April 16, 2012.

Police hold up shields in South Africa.

Riot policemen stand on a street in front of a torn Brazlian flag during a protest against the 2014 World Cup in Porto Alegre June 12, 2014.

Pedro Pablo Montoya (C), rebel of the FARC known as 'Rojas', is escorted by soldiers after a news conference at a military base in Pereira March 8, 2008.

South African soldiers march to formation before welcoming the funeral cortege carrying the coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela to the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria on December 12, 2013.

A man talks to soldiers guarding a crime scene in the municipality of Cienega de Flores, on the outskirts of Monterrey September 21, 2011.

Police evict a group of squatters consisting of Amazon Indians and non-Indian settlers, from a plot of privately-owned forest they have been occupying for three months in Iranduba, near Manaus, September 25, 2013.

A soldier stands guard alongside explosives confiscated by army troops during a raid close Palmira city in Valle del Cauca province March 11, 2010.

Federal policemen arrest men on suspicion of possessing drugs during an anti-narcotics operation in the Alvaro Obregon district in Mexico City May 3, 2007.

Residents carry an injured man after a store was looted during a police strike in Recife, May 15, 2014.

Police officers patrol the streets of the University neighbourhood of New Orleans September 8, 2005

Riot police walk through a cloud of smoke from a fire extinguisher during a protest over the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students, near the Benito Juarez International airport in Mexico City November 20, 2014.

A pick-up truck loaded with Jamaican police patrol a market area near the Tivoli Gardens neighbourhood of Kingston, Jamaica May 26, 2010.

A prison guard gestures on the roof of Fraijanes II, a maximum security prison in the township of Fraijanes, outskirts of Guatemala City November 19, 2012.

Mexican federal policemen prepare to fly to Culiacan from Mexico City's airport May 28, 2008

Demonstrators burn a Brazilian flag while protesting against the 2014 World Cup in Goiania

Detroit Police officers remove the crime tape from the scene of a brutal murder of a mother and four children, April 1, 2004 in Detroit, Michigan.

Venezuelan police officers stand guard outside the morgue where the bodies of prisoners killed in a riot were taken in Barquisimeto,Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.

A police car burns on the street after a grand jury returned no indictment in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri November 24, 2014.

Soldiers prepare to travel to different towns ahead of Brazil's presidential election runoff, at the Pratinha neighbourhood in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010.

A Brazilian drug gang member nicknamed Poison, 18, poses with a gun atop a hill overlooking a slum in Salvador, Bahia State, April 11, 2013.

Brazilian soldiers stand guard near where the South Korean team was attending a training session at the stadium of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso in Cuiaba, June 15, 2014.

Police stand near Amazon Indians blocking the main entrance to the construction site of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Vitoria do Xingu, near Altamira in Para State.

A child runs towards a burning barricade during a strike by farm workers at De Doorns on the N1 highway, linking Cape Town and Johannesburg, in this January 9, 2013 file photo.

Salvadoran gang members participate in an event with mediators including a Catholic bishop at Cojutepeque prison, east of San Salvador.

In this May 15, 2013 photo, National Guard soldiers frisk a man at a checkpoint as part of the 'Secure Homeland' initiative in Petare, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Caracas, Venezuela.

A soldier stands outside at the Maria Lamas Farache-Frasqueirao stadium before the Mexico's national soccer team's training session in Natal, June 14, 2014.

In this April 23, 2012 file photo, the body of Brazilian journalist Decio Sa, center, lies on the ground after being shot at a restaurant and bar in Sao Luis, Maranhao state, Brazil.

Colombian special investigators inspect the body of a car bomb victim in a street of Cali city September 1, 2008.

Riot police fire at demonstrators as they control access to the Estadio Castelao, where the Confederations Cup semi-final match between Spain and Italy is being played, during a protest in Fortaleza June 27, 2013.

Battle tanks of the Venezuelan Army take part in a military parade to celebrate the 188th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo in Valencia, some 180 km (112 miles) west of Caracas June 24, 2009.

Brazil's drug lord Luiz Fernando Costa, also know as 'Fernandinho Beira Mar' (Freddy Seashore), arrives at Federal Police Headquarter in Brasilia March 24, 2006.

Members of the military police march during a parade commemorating Independence Day in Tegucigalpa September 15, 2014.

A soldier walks by the body of a municipal policeman who was gunned down by unidentified assailants in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, Mexico Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010.

Opposition demonstrators hold a Venezuelan flag in front of a burning barricade during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas February 15, 2014.

Members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, offer a press conference at a prison in San Pedro Sula, 240 km north of Tegucigalpa, on May 28, 2013.

Riot police officers charge toward students during a protest outside the National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa November 26, 2013.
San Pedro Sula Is Terrifying Place To Live »
Business Insider Emails & Alerts
Site highlights each day to your inbox.
Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.