The most dangerous places to travel

IT doesn't take an international relations expert to compile a list of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Even someone with a limited knowledge of world news would be able to guess that because of civil unrest, war or maniacal dictatorships, nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan - and the UK at the present time – should be avoided.

That’s not to say a bit of ‘danger’ puts off the average traveller. Thousands of tourists travel safely to places like South Africa, Colombia and Brazil every year despite some pretty damning statistics about your chances of returning untouched by some type of crime.

But the most dangerous places to travel become more interesting when you scratch under the surface of “Top Ten” lists or “My mate was robbed there so I’m not going” hearsay.




There are some pretty compelling statistics to show that many ‘safe’ tourist destinations can be just as fraught with danger.
Here are just a few facts that throw conventional wisdom on its head:

There are more kidnappings in the UK than in South Africa
While South Africa has a reputation for being a dangerous country, the UK actually has a higher kidnap rate (just) – 22.3 per cent compared to South Africa’s 22 per cent.
Spain has had more terrorist attacks than Pakistan or Israel
Between 2000 and 2006, Spain recoded 732 acts of terrorism on home soil - compared to Pakistan (504) and Israel (463).

The Cook Islands is a more dangerous place to drive than Libya and Iraq
According to MSN Cars, the Cook Islands is the second most dangerous place to drive in the world, with a fatality rate per 100,000 of 45. Libya’s rate is 40.5, with Iraq a relatively safe 38.1.
 

Asia is the most dangerous place for natural disasters
Natural disaster statistics compiled between 1979-2008 by EM-DAT.org show Asia is the most dangerous region by far. Over 380,000 people died due to earthquakes, 230,000 from tsunami and 429,000 through storms.

Europe’s biggest killer? Extreme temperature, killing 103,000 people in that 21 year period.

Millions of us travel to the most dangerous country in the world every year - the US
200 million. No, that figure is not the number of tourists to America, but the number of guns in circulation in the US. With around 50 murders a day and a robbery recorded every minute, America might be the land of the free but it’s also the home of the depraved.

Of course, statistics can be skewered to meet any purpose – personally I’d take my chances when driving on the roads of Raratonga over Baghdad and I’d head to Berlin before Bogota.

But what these statistics do tell you is that danger can find you in any country.

Look at the events taking place in London at the moment. Many areas in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations are effectively no-go zones after dark. Images of burning buildings and lootings in the English capital look eerily like those in Egypt and Syria over the last year. It makes you think which destination is more dangerous?

One observer of the riots summed up the situation in relation to travel quite nicely by tweeting: “Travel Advisory for Pakistanis headed to the UK: high levels of violence, arson and lawlessness. Please proceed with extreme caution.”

The bottom line is every country you visit is dangerous to some degree. I’ve yet to visit a place where there are no criminals, accidents or natural disasters. But if you’re sensible and vigilant – as well as having good travel insurance – there’s no reason to be put off going somewhere just because you’ve heard it’s dangerous.

Having said that, don’t expect me to be blogging about a working holiday in a Sierra Leone diamond mine anytime soon...