The 10 Most Dangerous Places On Earth

Published April 7, 2014
Updated February 27, 2024

Dangerous Places: Somalia


Since the civil war began in 1990, Somalia has been divided into over two dozen warring groups. Disease, famine, and ineffective governance have contributed to the rise of terrorist factions, which have further cracked Somalia’s already fumbling foundations, embroiling it in crime and violence.

Famine is a perennially devastating issue in in Somalia, and from 2010 to 2012 it claimed the lives of over 260,000 people. According to an annual ranking by Foreign Policy and the Global Fund for Peace, Somalia is the most failed state in the world. Tourists, suffice to say, are non-existent. 


Somalia Starvation

Source: Coutausse

Dangerous Places Somalia Blood

Source: Coutausse

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Recently voted as 137th out of the 140 livable cities in the world, the capital of Papua New Guinea is not exactly a mecca for making a home. The island capital is known less for its picturesque surroundings and but for the plethora of rapes, murders, carjackings and rampant cases of HIV. In 2003, it was in Port Morseby that an injured woman was dragged away from a car crash only to be gang raped. Those meant to provide protection, the police, are often cited as just as corrupt as the raskol gangs themselves.

Poverty, of course, is a great contributor to Moresby’s malaise. The country lacks a welfare state, and sky high unemployment rates have effectively forced the country’s most vulnerable into violent means of “empowerment”. Said one raskol to the BBC, “We never mean to kill people. We’re just trying to scare them and get what we want to get”.

Dangerous Places Port Moresby Trash

Source: Blogspot

author
Mamta Bhatt
author
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.