The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Explore In The Whole World
It can often seem like there are too many amazing places to visit for travel enthusiasts and not nearly enough time. Planning a trip usually includes choosing a place with an interesting history, culture, food, people, customs, and traditions. However, in the age of easily accessible, nearly instantaneous news, another factor should be considered: safety. While home to the incredible beauty and rich cultures, the places on this list are some of the most dangerous places to visit on the planet.
10. Nigeria
Nigeria, located on the northwestern coast of Africa along the Gulf of Guinea, is home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the breathtaking Ogbunike Caves. According to the organization, these sites have natural and extreme beauty with historical significance and should be visited as soon as possible. However, the region is also volatile. The U.S. Department of State warns tourists against travel to Nigeria because of the high risk of kidnap, robbery, and other armed attacks and, along the coast, piracy.
9. Yemen
Like most places on this list, Yemen is home to ancient cultures and world-renowned architecture and is incredibly unsafe for tourists. Due to political unrest and its suspected Al Qaeda stronghold, foreign governments began issuing travel warnings to Yemen in the late 2000s. In 2008, an attack on an American embassy killed a tourist, and there have been reports of other tourists being deliberately targeted. Yemen is absolutely worth visiting, but it may be best to wait until the region's political situation stabilizes.
8. Mount Everest
Like Antarctica (later on this list), Mount Everest, located in Nepal, is not dangerous because of crime rates or terrorist attacks but because of the desolate terrain. The world's highest mountain draws many tourists and avid mountaineers each year, and each year, the mountain claims lives. The danger is the sheer height of the mountain; once climbers pass 8,000 feet, they enter the death zone, in which oxygen is so thin that it cannot sustain life. Only the most experienced climbers are advised to even attempt the climb, even then, with utmost caution.
7. Venezuela
Venezuela has the unhappy distinction of being one of the most unsafe places in South America. Despite the draw of its beautiful beaches and rugged mountains, just begging to be hiked and explored, travelers are not advised to visit the country. Political unrest and decades of corruption and crime have escalated to the point that U.S. embassy workers are banned from even going near such places as the border with Colombia. Caracas, the capital city, has the unhappy honor of having the highest murder rate in the whole world, as of 2016 figures.
6. Mali
Mali, a landlocked nation in northwestern Africa and home to Timbuktu's infamous city, is home to multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In addition to incredible cuisine, Mali has some of the most interesting architectural structures globally, such as the Old Towns of Djinn, which continuously-inhabited structures since 250 B.C. However, since the military coup of 2012, radical Islamist terrorist groups have essentially taken the country hostage. These groups target tourists, so it's probably best not to go there right now.
5. Detroit, Michigan
No list of dangerous places to visit would be complete without an American city. Once the booming industrial town known as Motor City, Detroit has become widely known in recent decades as the most dangerous city in the United States. Rape, murder, gang violence, and other violent crimes have fallen in recent years, but the city still experiences these atrocities more than five times the national average. There are many great reasons to visit this midwestern city, but there are surely other places that are safer for tourists.
4. Brazil
Brazil is one of the most visited dangerous places on earth. Despite the extremely high murder, kidnap, rape, and all-around violent crime rates, as well as systematic class turbulence, make all of Brazil a hazardous place to go on tour. Of course, as these things often go, the country itself is wonderful. The cuisine is to die for, and the rich cultural history, seen in such celebrations as Carnival, is unmatched. One must weigh the risks and benefits or wait until security is beefed up for another major sporting event.
3. Antarctica
Antarctica, the frozen continent, boasts several breathtaking destinations for tourists: Deception Island has a volcano and hot springs; King George Island, one of the few actually populated areas, has penguins; and McMurdo Station lists chapels as one of its attractions. The famously inaccessible continent can be reached by boat (which carries its own perils) or plane. The tourism industry has grown in recent years - nearly 37,000 people visited in 2010 - but it is still dangerous, both to the traveler and the land; one of the industry's challenges is to reduce tourists; impact the land and wildlife.
2. Somalia
A land of breathtaking waterfalls, wildlife, and the longest coastline in all of Africa, not to mention a rich cultural history, Somalia, located in the horn of Africa, has a lot to offer travelers. However, since the outbreak of civil war in 1991, the unstable country has had a dearth of vacationers. In fact, in 2004, it was reported that not a single tourist had visited Somalia in fourteen years. The industry has picked up a little since 2011, but still, due to rampant terrorist attacks and general unrest, visitors are advised to hire around-the-clock guards while in-country. The Indian Ocean meets the war-ravaged Somali coast as an African Union soldier takes scenic snapshots on August 17, 2011, in Mogadishu, Somalia. After more than two decades of civil war, the UN estimates that 1.5 million Somalis are displaced within the country, and more than 100,000 of them have fled to Mogadishu in the last months due to famine and drought.
1. Syria
In 2010, tourism in Syria accounted for a full 14 percent of the country's economy, resulting from 8.5 million tourists visiting in that year alone. With the outbreak of the three-way civil war - government, Islamic State, and rebels - in 2011, the tourism industry ground to a halt. The city that has seen the most intensive bombing and destruction, Aleppo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has been reported that many of the ancient sites and artifacts have been destroyed by the fighting during the crisis.