Chances are you live in a relatively safe and secure place, but there are some places
out there where life expectancy is irrelevant as it could be taken from you any day.
If you’re planning your next holiday, you should strongly consider skipping all of these
places.
From drug gangs to homicides to terrorism, we count 10 of the most dangerous cities in
the world.
10.
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Mexico is well known for drug trafficking,
and Ciudad Juarez has been one of the nation’s most violent cities.
Police are often employed or paid off by drug gangs resulting in hundreds if not thousand
crimes going unsolved every year.
However this has been improving in recent years and murders are down from 3,111 in 2010
to 730 in 2012.
While these numbers are still very scary, hopefully it shows a road to recovery for
the city.
9.
Caracas, Venezuela The capital of Venezuela, Caracas is currently
facing a very serious crisis involving drug gangs.
Crime rate in general including muggings and theft is also very high, making this an undesirable
location for tourism.
Since the election of current president Hugo Chavez in 1998, murder rates have more than
doubled and in 2008 Caracas won the award for “Murder Capital of the World” by Foreign
Policy.
I’m not so sure there should be an award for such a thing myself, but this shows how
serious the problem in Caracas really is.
8.
Cape Town, South Africa While South Africa is a tourism magnet due
to it’s natural beauty and close proximity to nature preserves and other attractions,
Cape Town can be a very dangerous city at the moment.
A high level of poverty around some sections is responsible for an extremely high crime
rate, and many tourists go there and never return.
However, it is possible to visit Cape Town as long as you avoid the more dangerous sections
and don’t travel alone at night.
7.
Guatemala City, Guatemala Guatemala is a nation located in the Caribbean
and it has many tourist attractions, Guatemala City is unfortunately not one of them.
The city is plagued with drug violence and has a high murder rate, along with many robberies,
carjackings and bus holdups.
It’s advisable to stay away from this city if you’re thinking of visiting Guatemala,
or if you must visit, precautions should be taken such as not travelling in the dark,
keeping valuables to a minimum and avoiding buses if possible.
6.
Acapulco, Mexico Not long ago this city was considered a safe
and luxurious resort area.
However, since then drug violence has transformed this into a very dangerous area indeed.
Statistically, Acapulco holds one of the world’s highest murder rates with 142 murders per
100,000 people.
Visitors of this city are advised to stay on the property of the resorts they’re visiting,
as a majority of the crime occurs in the surrounding areas.
5.
Baghdad, Iraq Iraq has been on the “Do Not Travel” list
for Americans for many years now, and it’s not looking like that’s going to change
any time soon.
Bombings, gunfire and unpredictable outbreaks of terrorism make this one of the most dangerous
cities in the world.
The future of Iraq as a nation is currently very uncertain, with US troops departing from
the country, and for the foreseeable future, this is not a city anyone should visit without
a good reason.
4.
Kabul, Afghanistan Kabul is in a very similar situation to Baghdad
at the moment.
Violence and terrorism can occur at any time, and this is likely to be a dangerous place
for quite a while.
Currently it’s still a war zone, though US troops are slowly being removed from the
country.
Terrorist attacks, including bombings are still very common.
If you’re looking to visit Afghanistan in the near future, Kabul may be a city to avoid.
3.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras A mortician from San Pedro told The Guardian
“Satan Himself lives here in San Pedro” With a murder rate of 187 per 100,000 people,
San Pedro Sula was named the world’s most violent city by a study made in Mexico in
2014.
Arms and drug trafficking have flooded the country, contributing to an increasingly high
level of gang violence.
This is further made worse by civilians being able to legally own up to five personal firearms,
along with corruption and poverty throughout the city this doesn’t make for a peaceful
life.
Furthermore, inmates have controlled all 24 prisons in Honduras since the government gave
up on rehabilitating convicts. 2.
Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan is experiencing a great deal of political
unrest, with assassinations, suicide bombings and gang warfare, Karachi is one of the centres
of the violence in the country and tourists are advised to avoid this city.
Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and is home to around 23 million people making
it the second largest city by population in the world.
While its murder rate is not as high as many of the other spots on this list, Karachi is
the most dangerous of the world’s largest cities, none of the other 13 largest cities
in the world come close to Karachi’s murder rate.
1.
Mosul - Iraq In June 2014, Mosul was overtaken by the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Since then, Mosul has been arguably the most dangerous city in the world, with car bombings,
suicide bombings, assassinations and random shootings.
In August 2014 the Mosul Dam was captured by ISIS militants, which became a serious
concern as the destruction of the Dam would result in a 66ft wave of water which would’ve
destroyed Mosul and other towns nearby.
Fortunately the Dam was re-captured by Iraqi and Kurdish forces and is now back in safe
hands, but regardless, Mosul in its current state is a place you definitely don’t want
to visit.