In 2024, the highest homicide rate among 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed was in Haiti, with around 62 murders committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Trinidad and Tobago came in second, with a homicide rate of 46, while Honduras ranked seventh, with 25. In the same year, the lowest rate was recorded in El Salvador, with a homicide rate of 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. A violence-ridden region Violence and crime are some of the most pressing problems affecting Latin American society nowadays. More than 40 of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world are located in this region, as well as one of the twenty countries with the least peace in the world according to the Global Peace Index. Despite governments’ large spending on security and high imprisonment rates, drug and weapon trafficking, organized crime, and gangs have turned violence into an epidemic that affects the whole region and a solution to this issue appears to be hardly attainable. The cost of violence in Mexico Mexico stands out as an example of the great cost that violence inflicts upon a country, since beyond claiming human lives, it also affects everyday life and has a negative impact on the economy. Mexicans have a high perceived level of insecurity, as they do not only fear becoming victims of homicide, but also of other common crimes, such as assault or rape. Such fear prevents people from performing everyday activities, for instance, going out at night, taking a taxi or going to the movies or the theater. Furthermore, the economic toll of violence in Mexico is more than considerable. For example, the cost of homicide and violent crime amounted to 2099.8 and 1778.1 billion Mexican pesos in 2023, respectively.

Several countries located in Central America and the Caribbean registered some of the highest homicide rates in the Latin American region in 2023. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ranked first, with around 51.32 homicides committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Jamaica came in second with 49.44 homicides per 100,000 people. The source defines intentional homicide as the unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury. When it comes to the total case count, Brazil was the Latin American country with the largest number of homicide victims. Central America and the falling rates El Salvador was commonly named the murder capital of the world for a few years. The inability of previous governments to control organized crime and gangs resulted in the highest homicide rate in the world for a couple of years. Nonetheless, the current administration and the measures applied during the emergency state had an incredibly positive impact in terms of the security of the Salvadorean citizens. But not only El Salvador has seen a considerable reduction in its murder rate in Central America. Honduras and Guatemala are also two great examples of crime reduction, introducing new policies, institutions, and changes to their judicial system to achieve better results. The Caribbean is still ridden by crime Some islands in the Caribbean are not only known as tax heavens, as some nations in the region are considered the main enablers of tax evasion in the world, but also for being ridden by crime. Haiti is one example of the still-rising levels of criminality. As a country with precarious conditions and extreme food insecurity, the homicide rate has been on the rise for almost four consecutive years. Another one is Jamaica, at the top of the Latin American ranking, that has also seen an increase in the youth involved in organized crime due to lack of employment and economic conditions.

Turks and Caicos Islands saw a murder rate of ***** per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2024. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 29 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Colima in Mexico was the most dangerous city for murders. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also, noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.

In 2025, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa ranked as the world's most dangerous city with a crime rate of 82 per 100,000 inhabitants. Five of the 10 cities with the highest crime rates worldwide are found in South Africa. The list does not include countries where war and conflict exist. South Africa dominates crime statistics When looking at crime rates, among the 10 most dangerous cities in the world, half of them are found in South Africa. The country is struggling with extremely high levels of inequality, and is struggling with high levels of crime and power outages, harming the country's economy and driving more people into unemployment and poverty. Crime in Latin America On the other hand, when looking at murder rates, Latin America dominates the list of the world's most dangerous countries. Violence in Latin America is caused in great part by drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and gang wars.

ABSTRACT Background : The Covid-19 pandemic associated with the SARS-CoV-2 has caused very high death tolls in many countries, while it has had less prevalence in other countries of Africa and Asia. Climate and geographic conditions, as well as other epidemiologic and demographic conditions, were a matter of debate on whether or not they could have an effect on the prevalence of Covid-19. Objective : In the present work, we sought a possible relevance of the geographic location of a given country on its Covid-19 prevalence. On the other hand, we sought a possible relation between the history of epidemiologic and demographic conditions of the populations and the prevalence of Covid-19 across four continents (America, Europe, Africa, and Asia). We also searched for a possible impact of pre-pandemic alcohol consumption in each country on the two year death tolls across the four continents. Methods : We have sought the death toll caused by Covid-19 in 39 countries and obtained the registered deaths from specialized web pages. For every country in the study, we have analysed the correlation of the Covid-19 death numbers with its geographic latitude, and its associated climate conditions, such as the mean annual temperature, the average annual sunshine hours, and the average annual UV index. We also analyzed the correlation of the Covid-19 death numbers with epidemiologic conditions such as cancer score and Alzheimer score, and with demographic parameters such as birth rate, mortality rate, fertility rate, and the percentage of people aged 65 and above. In regard to consumption habits, we searched for a possible relation between alcohol intake levels per capita and the Covid-19 death numbers in each country. Correlation factors and determination factors, as well as analyses by simple linear regression and polynomial regression, were calculated or obtained by Microsoft Exell software (2016). Results : In the present study, higher numbers of deaths related to Covid-19 pandemic were registered in many countries in Europe and America compared to other countries in Africa and Asia. The analysis by polynomial regression generated an inverted bell-shaped curve and a significant correlation between the Covid-19 death numbers and the geographic latitude of each country in our study. Higher death numbers were registered in the higher geographic latitudes of both hemispheres, while lower scores of deaths were registered in countries located around the equator line. In a bell shaped curve, the latitude levels were negatively correlated to the average annual levels (last 10 years) of temperatures, sunshine hours, and UV index of each country, with the highest scores of each climate parameter being registered around the equator line, while lower levels of temperature, sunshine hours, and UV index were registered in higher latitude countries. In addition, the linear regression analysis showed that the Covid-19 death numbers registered in the 39 countries of our study were negatively correlated with the three climate factors of our study, with the temperature as the main negatively correlated factor with Covid-19 deaths. On the other hand, cancer and Alzheimer's disease scores, as well as advanced age and alcohol intake, were positively correlated to Covid-19 deaths, and inverted bell-shaped curves were obtained when expressing the above parameters against a country’s latitude. Instead, the (birth rate/mortality rate) ratio and fertility rate were negatively correlated to Covid-19 deaths, and their values gave bell-shaped curves when expressed against a country’s latitude. Conclusion : The results of the present study prove that the climate parameters and history of epidemiologic and demographic conditions as well as nutrition habits are very correlated with Covid-19 prevalence. The results of the present study prove that low levels of temperature, sunshine hours, and UV index, as well as negative epidemiologic and demographic conditions and high scores of alcohol intake may worsen Covid-19 prevalence in many countries of the northern hemisphere, and this phenomenon could explain their high Covid-19 death tolls. Keywords : Covid-19, Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, climate, temperature, sunshine hours, UV index, cancer, Alzheimer disease, alcohol.

In 2025, approximately 23 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sixth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.75 million inhabitants. Brazil's cities Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 11.45 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.21 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 88 percent of inhabitants living in cities. Mexico City Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks sevenths in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2023, the city registered a crime incidence of 52,723 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 24 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.