List of wars and disasters by death toll

This is a list of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll. It covers the lowest estimate of death as well as the highest estimate, the name of the event, the location, and the start and end of each event. Some events overlap categories.

Wars and armed conflicts

These figures of one million or more deaths include the deaths of civilians from diseases

Infectious disease

Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...

, famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

, etc., as well as deaths of soldiers in battle and possible massacres and genocide

Genocide

Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

.

Where only one estimate is available, it appears in both the low and high estimates. This is a sortable table. Click on the column sort buttons to sort results numerically or alphabetically.

Lowest estimate	Highest estimate	Event	Location	From	| To	See also	Percentage of the world population
40,000,000	72,000,000	World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...	Worldwide	1939	1945	World War II casualties World War II casualties World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. Over 60 million people were killed, which was over 2.5% of the world population. The tables below give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses.-Total dead:...  and Second Sino-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...	1.7%–3.1%
33,000,000	36,000,000	An Lushan Rebellion	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	755	763	Medieval warfare Medieval warfare Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe, technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery...	14.0%–15.3%
30,000,000	60,000,000	Mongol Conquests Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...	East Asia East Asia East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms... , Eastern Europe Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"... , West Asia	1207	1472	Mongol invasions Mongol invasions Mongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300....  and Tatar invasions Tatar invasions The Mongol invasion of Europe from the east took place over the course of three centuries, from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.The terms Tatars or Tartars are applied to nomadic Turkic peoples who, themselves, were conquered by Mongols and incorporated into their horde...	7.5%–17.1%
25,000,000	25,000,000	Qing dynasty Qing Dynasty The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....  conquest of the Ming Dynasty Ming Dynasty The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1616	1662	Qing Dynasty Qing Dynasty The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....	4.8%
20,000,000	60,000,000	Taiping Rebellion Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...	China	1851	1864	Dungan revolt	1.6%–2.1%
15,000,000	65,000,000	World War I World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...  (High estimate includes Spanish flu Spanish flu The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...  deaths)	Worldwide	1914	1918	World War I casualties World War I casualties The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I were over 35 million. There were over 15 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history....	0.8%–3.6%
15,000,000	20,000,000	Conquests of Timur Timur Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...	West Asia, South Asia South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east... , Central Asia Central Asia Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...	1369	1405		3.4%–4.5%
8,000,000	12,000,000	Dungan revolt	China	1862	1877	Panthay Rebellion	0.6%–0.9%
5,000,000	9,000,000	Russian Civil War Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...	Russia	1917	1921	Russian Revolution (1917), List of civil wars	0.28%–0.5%
3,800,000	5,400,000	Second Congo War Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...	Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...	1998	2003	First Congo War First Congo War The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...	0.06%–0.09%
3,500,000	6,500,000	Napoleonic Wars Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...	Europe, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...	1804	1815	Napoleonic Wars casualties Napoleonic Wars casualties The casualties of the Napoleonic Wars , direct and indirect, break down as follows:Note that deaths listed include being killed in action as well as deaths from other causes, such as: from disease; from wounds; of starvation; from exposure; of drowning; from friendly fire; as a result of...	0.4%–0.7%
3,000,000	11,500,000	Thirty Years' War Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....	Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...	1618	1648	Religious war Religious war A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...	0.5%–2.1%
3,000,000	7,000,000	Yellow Turban Rebellion Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...	China	184	205	Part of Three Kingdoms War	1.3%–3.1%
3,000,000	4,000,000	Deluge	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...	1655	1660	Second Northern War Second Northern War The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...	0.6%–0.7%
2,500,000	3,500,000	Korean War Korean War The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...	Korean Peninsula Korean Peninsula The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...	1950	1953	Cold War Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...	0.1%
2,495,000	6,020,000	Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...	Southeast Asia Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...	1955	1975	Indochina War	0.08%–0.19%
2,000,000	4,000,000	French Wars of Religion French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	1562	1598	Religious war Religious war A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...	0.4%–0.8%
2,000,000	2,000,000	Shaka Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom.... 's conquests	Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...	1816	1828	Ndwandwe–Zulu War	0.2%
1,000,000	2,000,000	Second Sudanese Civil War Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....	Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...	1983	2005	Religious war Religious war A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...	0.02%
1,000,000	3,000,000	Crusades Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...	Holy Land Holy Land The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel... , Europe	1095	1291	Religious war Religious war A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...	0.3%–2.3%
500,000	2,000,000	Mexican Revolution Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...	Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	1911	1920	Pancho Villa Pancho Villa José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....  and Columbus Raid Battle of Columbus (1916) The Battle of Columbus, the Burning of Columbus or the Columbus Raid began as a raid conducted by Pancho Villa's Division of the North on the small United States border town of Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. The raid escalated into a full scale battle between Villistas and the United States Army...	0.03%–0.1%
500,000	2,000,000	Iran–Iraq War	Iran Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia... , Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....	1980	1988	Al-Anfal Campaign Al-Anfal Campaign The al-Anfal Campaign , also known as Operation Anfal or simply Anfal, was a genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq, led by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid in the final stages of Iran-Iraq War...  and Invasion of Kuwait Invasion of Kuwait The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...	0.01%–0.04%
300,000	1,200,000	War of the Triple Alliance War of the Triple Alliance The Paraguayan War , also known as War of the Triple Alliance , was a military conflict in South America fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay...	South America South America South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...	1864	1870	Military history of South America Military history of South America The military history of South America can be divided into two major periods - pre- and post-Columbian - divided by the entrance of European forces to the region. The sudden introduction of steel, gunpowder weapons and horses into the Americas would revolutionise warfare...  and Duke of Caxias	0.02%–0.08%

Genocides and Alleged Genocides

The United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951. It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of...

 (CPPCG) defines genocide in part as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

Determining what historical events constitute a genocide and which are merely criminal or inhuman behavior is not a clear-cut matter. In nearly every case where accusations of genocide have circulated, partisans of various sides have fiercely disputed the interpretation and details of the event, often to the point of promoting wildly different versions of the facts. An accusation of genocide, therefore, will almost always be controversial. Determining the number of persons killed in each genocide can be just as difficult, with political, religious and ethnic biases or prejudices often leading to downplayed or exaggerated figures.

The following list of genocides and alleged genocides should be understood in this context and not necessarily regarded as the final word on the events in question.

Lowest estimate	Highest estimate	Event	Location	From	| To	Notes
10,000,000	40,000,000	European colonization of the Americas European colonization of the Americas The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...	The Americas	1492	1900	The European conquest of the Americas led to the deaths caused by disease, violence, and displacement of Native American populations during European settlement of North and South America as constituting an act of genocide (or series of genocides). The genocidal aspects of this event are entwined with loss of life caused by the lack of immunity of Native Americans to diseases Infectious disease Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...  carried by European settlers and their livestock (see Population history of American indigenous peoples Population history of American indigenous peoples The population figures for Indigenous peoples in the Americas before the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus have proven difficult to establish and rely on archaeological data and written records from European settlers... ).
4,194,200	17,000,000	Holocaust	Europe	1941	1945	With around 6 million Jews murdered as well as the genocide of the Romani: most estimates of Romani deaths are in the 200,000–500,000 range but some estimate more than a million. A broader definition includes political and religious dissenters, 200,000 handicapped Disability A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped... , 2 to 3 million Soviet POWs Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs The Nazi crimes against Soviet Prisoners of War relate to the deliberately genocidal policies taken towards the captured soldiers of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany... , 5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual... , 15,000 homosexuals and small numbers of mixed-race children (known as the Rhineland bastard Rhineland Bastard Rhineland Bastard was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe Afro-German children of mixed German and African parentage who were fathered by Africans serving as French colonial troops occupying the Rhineland after World War I... s), and millions of Polish and Soviet civilians, bringing the death toll to around 17 million. See Holocaust, Porajmos Porajmos The Porajmos was the attempt made by Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe during World War II... , Consequences of German Nazism Consequences of German Nazism Nazism and the acts of the Nazi German state profoundly affected many countries, communities and peoples before, during and after World War II. While the attempt of Germany to exterminate several nations viewed as subhuman by Nazi ideology was eventually stopped by the Allies, Nazi aggression...
2,582,000	8,000,000.	Holodomor Holodomor The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...  (and Soviet famine of 1932-1933 Soviet famine of 1932-1933 The Soviet famine of 1932–1933 killed many millions in the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union. These areas included Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region and Kazakhstan, the South Urals, and West Siberia... )	Ukrainian SSR	1932	1933	Holodomor was a famine in Ukraine caused by the government of Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee... , a part of Soviet famine of 1932–1933. Holodomor is claimed by contemporary Ukrainian government to be a genocide of the Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... . , Ukraine and nineteen other governments have recognized the actions of the Soviet government as an act of genocide. The joint statement at the United Nations United Nations The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...  in 2003 has defined the famine as the result of cruel actions and policies of the totalitarian regime that caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... , Kazakhs Kazakhs The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....  and other nationalities in the USSR. On 23 October 2008 the European Parliament European Parliament The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...  adopted a resolution that recognized the Holodomor as a crime against humanity Crime against humanity Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings... . On January 12, 2010, the court of appeals in Kiev Kiev Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....  opened hearings into the "fact of genocide-famine Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932–33", in May 2009 the Security Service of Ukraine had started a criminal case "in relation to the genocide in Ukraine in 1932–33". In a ruling on January 13, 2010 the court found Stalin and other Bolshevik Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....  leaders guilty of genocide against the Ukrainians.
	3,000,000	Cambodian Genocide	Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...	1975	1979	, no one has been found guilty of participating in this genocide, but on 16 September 2010 Nuon Chea Nuon Chea Nuon Chea , also known as Long Bunruot , is a Cambodian former communist politician and former chief ideologist of Khmer Rouge. He was commonly known as "Brother Number Two" second in command to Pol Pot who was leader during the Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979... , second in command of the Khmer Rouge Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...  and its most senior surviving member, was indicted on charges of war crime War crime War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility... s and crimes against humanity. He will face Cambodian and United Nations appointed foreign judges at the special genocide tribunal.
500,000	3,000,000	Expulsion of Germans after World War II Expulsion of Germans after World War II The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...	Europe	1945	1950	With at least 12 million Germans directly involved, it was the largest movement or transfer of any single ethnic population in modern history and largest among the post-war expulsions World War II evacuation and expulsion Forced deportation, mass evacuation and displacement of peoples took place in many of the countries involved in World War II. These were caused both by the direct hostilities between Axis and Allied powers, and the border changes enacted in the pre-war settlement...  in Central Central Europe Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...  and Eastern Europe Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...  (which displaced more than twenty million people in total). The events have been usually classified as population transfer Population transfer Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion... , or as ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas.... . Martin Shaw (2007) and W.D. Rubinstein (2004) describe the expulsions as genocide. Felix Ermacora Felix Ermacora Felix Ermacora was the leading human rights expert of Austria and a member of the Austrian People's Party...  writing in 1991, (in line with a minority of legal scholars) considered ethnic cleansing to be genocide and stated that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was genocide.
500,000	1,000,000	Rwandan genocide Rwandan Genocide The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...	Rwanda Rwanda Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...	1994	1994	Hutu killed unarmed men, women and children. Some 50 perpetrators of the genocide have been found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan... , but most others have not been charged due to no witness accounts. Another 120 000 were arrested by Rwanda, of these 60 000 were tried and convicted in the gacaca court system. Genocidaires who fled into Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world... ) were used as a justification when Rwanda and Uganda Uganda Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...  invaded Zaire (First First Congo War The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...  and Second Congo War Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this... s).
480,000	600,000	Massacres in Zunghar Khanate Zunghar Khanate The Zunghar Khanate was a nomadic power on the Eurasian steppe. It covered the area called Dzungaria and stretched from the west end of the Great Wall of China to present-day eastern Kazakhstan, and from present-day northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia .In 1678 Galdan received from the Dalai...	Western China, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... , northern Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east... , southern Siberia Siberia Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...	1755	1758	Qianlong emperor Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...  moved the remaining Zunghar people to the mainland and ordered the generals to kill all the men in Barkol or Suzhou Suzhou District The Suzhou District is an administrative district in Gansu, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 17 districts of Gansu.Suzhou District is part of the Jiuquan prefecture, and the seat of the prefecture government. Therefore, less-detailed modern maps typically mark Suzhou's location... , and divided their wives and children to Qing soldiers. Qing officials wrote about 30–50% of the Dzungar people were massacred, 30–40% killed by smallpox Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"... , and 20–30% ran to Russia or Kazakh Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... . and no people in the several thousands li area. Clarke wrote 80%, or between 480,000 and 600,000 people, were killed between 1755 and 1758 in what "amounted to the complete destruction of not only the Zunghar state but of the Zunghars as a people." Historian Peter Perdue has shown that the decimation of the Dzungars was the result of an explicit policy of extermination launched by Qianlong. Although this "deliberate use of massacre" has been largely ignored by modern scholars,
400,000	400,000	Russian conquest of the Caucasus	Caucasus Caucasus The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...	1817	1864	During the last decade or so, especially after the two First First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...  and Second Chechen War Second Chechen War The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade .... s, pro-Chechen groups started to investigate the history of the Caucasian War and came to label the Caucasian exodus as a "Circassian ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas.... ", although the term had not been in use in the 19th century. They point out that the exodus was not really voluntary but rather was a matter of what is today called ethnic cleansing – the systematic emptying of villages by Russian soldiers and was accompanied by Russian colonisation Colonisation Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the... . They estimate that some 90 percent of the Circassians estimated at more than three million had relocated from the territories conquered by Russia. During these events, and the preceding Caucasian War, at least tens of thousands of Circassians perished in a "programme of forced expulsion, deportation and massacre at the hands of the Russian government". See also: Muhajir (Caucasus) Muhajir (Caucasus) Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...
300,000	1,500,000	Armenian Genocide Armenian Genocide The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...	Anatolia Anatolia Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...	1915	1923	Usually called the first genocide of the 20th century. Despite recognition by some twenty one countries as a genocidal act Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Armenian Genocide recognition refers to the formal acceptance that the massacre and forced deportation of Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923 constitute genocide... , the accused, Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... , disputes allegations of genocide by the Ottoman Empire
300,000	500,000	Decossackization Decossackization Decossackization is a term used to describe the Bolsheviks' policy of the systematic elimination of the Cossacks of the Don and the Kuban as a social and ethnic group...	Don River Don River (Russia) The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....  area, Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	1919	1920	In the Russian Civil War Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...  that followed the October Revolution October Revolution The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917... , the Cossacks found themselves on both sides of the conflict. Many officers and experienced Cossacks fought for the White Army White movement The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought... , and some for the Red Army Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to... . Following the defeat of the White Army, a policy of Decossackization Decossackization Decossackization is a term used to describe the Bolsheviks' policy of the systematic elimination of the Cossacks of the Don and the Kuban as a social and ethnic group...  (Raskazachivaniye) took place on the surviving Cossacks and their homelands since they were viewed as a potential threat to the new regime. This mostly involved dividing their territory amongst other divisions and giving it to new autonomous republics of minorities, and then actively encouraging settlement of these territories with those peoples. This was especially true for the Terek Cossacks land. According to Michael Kort Michael Kort Michael Kort is an American historian, academic, and author who studies and has written extensively about the history of the Soviet Union. He teaches at Boston University.-Biography:... , "During 1919 and 1920, out of a population of approximately 3 million, the Bolshevik regime killed or deported an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Cossacks".
275,000	750,000	Assyrian genocide Assyrian genocide The Assyrian Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s, the First World War, and the period of 1922-1925...	Anatolia Anatolia Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...	1915	1918	Disputed, but some consider it a genocide.
270,000	655,000	Ustashe massacres of Serbs Serbs The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in... , Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation... , Roma and Croats Croats Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...	Croatia Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...	1941	1945	Genocide during period of Independent State of Croatia Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts... , with official policy of extermination similar to that of Nazi Germany. See also The Holocaust in Croatia The Holocaust in Croatia The Holocaust in Croatia refers to the genocide of Jews during World War II within the modern borders of the Republic of Croatia, and in a wider sense the World War II-era Independent State of Croatia.- Background :... .
200,000	1,000,000	Greek genocide	Anatolia Anatolia Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...	1915	1918	Disputed, but some consider it a genocide.
178,258	400,000	Darfur conflict Darfur conflict The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...	Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...	2003	2010	See International response to the Darfur conflict International response to the Darfur conflict While there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place...
		Nanking Massacre Nanking Massacre The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second...	Nanking, China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1937	1938	The Nanking Massacre Nanking Massacre The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second... , commonly known as the Rape of Nanking, was an infamous genocidal war crime committed by the Japanese military in Nanjing, then capital of the Republic of China, after it fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on 13 December 1937.
100,000	250,000	War in the Vendée	France	1793	1796	Described as genocide by some historians but this claim has been widely discounted. See also French Revolution French Revolution The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
100,000	200,000	Massacres of Mayan Maya civilization The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...  Indians	Guatemala Guatemala Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...	1962	1996	Genocide according to the Historical Clarification Commission Historical Clarification Commission The Historical Clarification Commission was Guatemala's truth and reconciliation commission.The creation of the CEH was ordered by the Oslo Accords of 1994 that sought to bring an end to the Central American nation's three-decade-long Civil War, during which an estimated 200,000 people lost their... .
		Manila Massacre Manila massacre The Manila massacre refers to the February 1945 atrocities conducted against Filipino civilians in Manila, Philippines by Japanese troops during World War II.-Description:...	Manila Manila Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,... , Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...	1945	1945	During the Battle of Manila, at least 100,000 civilians were killed.
50,000	200,000	Al-Anfal Campaign Al-Anfal Campaign The al-Anfal Campaign , also known as Operation Anfal or simply Anfal, was a genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq, led by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid in the final stages of Iran-Iraq War...	Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....	1986	1989	Ba'athist Iraq destroys over 2,000 villages and commits genocide on their Kurdish population.
50,000	100,000	Massacres of Hutus Burundi genocide Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International...	Burundi Burundi Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...	1972	1972	Tutsi Tutsi The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....  government massacres of Hutu, part of the Burundi genocide Burundi genocide Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International... .
50,000	50,000	Massacres of Tutsis Burundi genocide Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International...	Burundi	1993	1993	Hutu government massacres of Tutsi, part of the Burundi genocide Burundi genocide Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International... .
26,000Chowdury, Bose comments – Dawn Newspapers Online. Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, chapter 2, paragraph 33 (official 1974 Pakistani report). Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the 20th Century: Bangladesh – Matthew White's website Virtual Bangladesh: History: The Bangali Genocide, 1971	3,000,000	1971 Bangladesh atrocities 1971 Bangladesh atrocities Beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 and continuing throughout the Bangladesh Liberation War, there were widespread violations of human rights in East Pakistan perpetrated by the Pakistan Army, with support from local political and religious militias, especially...	East Pakistan East Pakistan East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...  (now Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... )	1971	1971	Atrocities in East Pakistan by the Pakistani Armed Forces, leading to the Bangladesh Liberation War Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....  and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases... , are widely regarded as a genocide against Bengali people Bengali people The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী... , but to date no one has yet been indicted for such a crime.
24,000	75,000	Herero and Namaqua genocide Herero and Namaqua Genocide The Herero and Namaqua Genocide is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century. It took place between 1904 and 1907 in German South-West Africa , during the scramble for Africa...	Namibia Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...	1904	1908	Generally accepted. See also Imperial Germany
20,000	80,000	Dictatorship and political repression in Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...	Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...	1969	1979	Francisco Macías Nguema Francisco Macías Nguema Francisco Macías Nguema was the first President of Equatorial Guinea, from 1968 until his overthrow in 1979.-Rise to power:...  led a brutal dictatorship in his country, most notably against the minority of Bubi. It is estimated that his regime killed at least 20,000 people, while around 100,000 (one third of the population) fled the country. On a trial, Nguemu was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. He was executed in 1979.
18,600	183,000	Political repression of East Timorese Indonesian occupation of East Timor Indonesia occupied East Timor from December 1975 to October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, a 1974 coup in Portugal led to decolonization among its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain...	East Timor East Timor The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...	1975	1990s	Referred to as genocide by some scholars.
13,160	70,000	Dersim Massacre Dersim Massacre The Dersim Massacre took place in 1937 and 1938 in Dersim, now called Tunceli Province, in Turkey. It was the outcome of a Turkish military campaign against the Dersim Rebellion by local ethnic minority groups against Turkey's Resettlement Law of 1934...	Dersim, Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...	1937	1938	Tens of thousands of Kurds were killed and thousands more forced into exile, depopulating the province.
9,000	30,000	Dirty War Dirty War The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...	Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...	1976	1983	At least 9,000 people were tortured and killed in Argentina from 1976 to 1983, carried out primarily by Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón... 's military dictatorship.
8,000	17,000	Massacres during Zanzibar Revolution Zanzibar Revolution The Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963...	Zanzibar Zanzibar Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...  (now Tanzania Tanzania The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state... )	1964	1964	Thousands of Arabs and Indians were massacred during the revolution.
7,500	8,000	Srebrenica massacre Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...	Srebrenica Srebrenica Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,... , Bosnia	1995	1995	A genocidal massacre according to the ICTY. Currently, it is the last genocide committed in modern Europe after World War II. On 31 March 2010, the Serbian Parliament National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly of Serbia is the unicameral parliament of Serbia. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies elected in general elections by secret ballot, on 4 years term. The National Assembly elects the President of the National Assembly who presides over the sessions...  passed a resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre and apologizing to the families of Srebrenica for the deaths of Bosniaks. See also: War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian genocide Bosnian Genocide The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War.... .
2,000		Persecution of Falun Gong Persecution of Falun Gong The persecution of Falun Gong refers to the campaign initiated by the Chinese Communist Party against practitioners of Falun Gong since July 1999, aimed at eliminating the practice in the People's Republic of China...	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1999	ongoing	A campaign initiated by the Chinese Communist Party against practitioners of Falun Gong Falun Gong Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...  since July 1999, aimed at eliminating the practice in the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... . It is estimated that since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained in "re-education through labor" camps for refusing to renounce the spiritual practice, while at least 2,000 Falun Gong adherents have been tortured to death amidst the persecution campaign.

Individual extermination camps and concentration camps

• 800,000-1,500,000 Auschwitz-Birkenau, by Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
  
  , located in Oświęcim
  Oswiecim
  Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :...
  
  , Poland, 1940–1945
• 700,000-1,000,000 Treblinka
  Treblinka extermination camp
  Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
  
  , by Nazi Germany, located in Treblinka, Poland, 1942–1943
• 480,000–600,000 Bełżec, by Nazi Germany, located in Bełżec, Poland, 1942–1943
• 350,000 Majdanek, by Nazi Germany, located in Lublin
  Lublin
  Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
  
   Poland, 1942–1944
• 300,000 Chełmno, by Nazi Germany, located in Chełmno Poland, 1941–1943
• 260,000 Sobibór
  Sobibór extermination camp
  Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
  
  , by Nazi Germany, located in Sobibor
  Sobibór
  Sobibór is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Włodawa, within Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies close to the Bug River, which forms the border with Belarus and Ukraine. Sobibór is approximately south-east of Włodawa and east of the regional capital...
  
   Poland, 1942–1943
• 100,000 Bergen-Belsen
  Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
  Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
  
  , by Nazi Germany, located by Belsen
  Belsen (Bergen)
  Belsen is a village within the German borough of Bergen in the northern part of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. It lies about southwest of Bergen and has 331 inhabitants . The Belsen concentration camp was named after it...
  
  , Germany, 1942–1945
• 55,000 – Neuengamme concentration camp, (by Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
  
  , located by Hamburg
  Hamburg
  -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
  
  , Germany, 1938–1945)
• 53,000-100,000 – Jasenovac extermination camp
  Jasenovac
  Jasenovac is a village and a municipality in Croatian Slavonia, in the southern part of the Sisak-Moslavina county at the confluence of the river Una into Sava.The name means "ash tree" or "ash forest" in Croatian, the area being ringed by such a forest....
  
   – (by NDH Ustaše
  Ustaše
  The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
  
   Nazi regime in Croatia
  Croatia
  Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
  
  .)
• 35,000 – Jadovno concentration camp
  Jadovno concentration camp
  Jadovno concentration camp was founded and controlled by Croatian Ustaše in 1941 and was used as the place where the victims were taken away to be executed...
  
  , (by NDH Ustaše
  Ustaše
  The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
  
   Nazi regime in Croatia
  Croatia
  Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
  
  , located by Gospić
  Gospic
  Gospić is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj county. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field....
  
  , Croatia
  Croatia
  Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
  
  , 1941 May–August)
• 12,790-75,000 – Stara Gradiška extermination camp
  Stara Gradiška concentration camp
  Stara Gradiška was the most notorious concentration and extermination camp in Croatia during World War II, mainly due to the crimes which were committed against women and children. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jew, and Romani ethnicity...
  
  , (by NDH Ustaše
  Ustaše
  The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
  
   Nazi regime in Croatia
  Croatia
  Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
  
  , primarily for women and children, 1941–1945)
• 12,000 Crveni Krst
  Crveni Krst concentration camp
  Crveni Krst concentration camp , also known as logor Crveni Krst or Lager Niš , was a concentration camp located in Crveni Krst, in the industrial zone of the Serbian city of Niš, and operated by the Nazis during the Second World War.It is estimated that around 30,000 persons went through this...
  
  , by Nazi regime in Nedić's Serbia
  Nedic's Serbia
  Serbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...
  
  , located in Niš
  Niš
  Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
  
  , 1941
• 8,500 **Gakovo
  Gakovo
  Gakovo is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Sombor municipality, in the West Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population is 2,201 .-Name:...
  
  , by yougoslavia located in northern Serbia 1944
• 4,000–5,000. Omarska camp
  Omarska camp
  Omarska camp was a concentration camp run by Bosnian Serb forces, in Omarska, a mining town near Prijedor in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, set up during the Prijedor massacre for Bosniak and Croat men and women. Functioning in the first months of the Bosnian War in 1992, it was one of 677...
  
  , by Bosnian Serb forces, located in Omarska
  Omarska
  Omarska is a small town near Prijedor in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It includes an old iron mine and ore processing plant...
  
  , Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
  
  , 1992
• 2,000 Rab concentration camp
  Rab concentration camp
  The Rab concentration camp was an Italian concentration and internment camp on the Adriatic island of Rab, now part of the Republic of Croatia, during World War II. The camp was located at...
  
   , by Italy on the island of Rab
  Rab
  Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...
  
   1942

Famine

Note: Some of these famines may be caused or partially caused by nature.

This section includes famines that were caused or exacerbated by the policies of the ruling regime.

Lowest estimate	Highest estimate	Event	Location	From	| To	Notes
15,000,000 20,000,000	43,000,000	Great Chinese Famine	People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...	1959	1961	Great Leap Forward Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...  famine under the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong Mao Zedong Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution... . Between the spring of 1959 and the end of 1961 some 30 million Chinese starved to death and about the same number of births were lost or postponed. State violence during this period further exacerbated the death toll, and some 2.5 million people were beaten or tortured to death in connection with Great Leap policies.
9,000,000	13,000,000	Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–79	China	1876	1879
6,000,000	17,000,000	Soviet famine of 1932–1933, including Holodomor Holodomor The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...	Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	1932	1939	, the Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...  government was trying to get this mass starvation recognised by the United Nations United Nations The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...  as an act of genocide, with Russian government and many members of the Ukrainian parliament opposing such a move.
5,250,000	10,300,000	Great Famine of 1876–78 Great Famine of 1876–78 The Great Famine of 1876–1878 was a famine in India that began in 1876 and affected south and southwestern India for a period of two years...	British-ruled India British Raj British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...	1876	1878	See also: Famine in India Famine in India Famine has been a recurrent feature of life in the Indian sub-continental countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and reached its numerically deadliest peak in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Historical and legendary evidence names some 90 famines in 2,500 years of history. There...
5,000,000	10,000,000	Russian famine of 1921 Russian famine of 1921 The Russian famine of 1921, also known as Povolzhye famine, which began in the early spring of that year, and lasted through 1922, was a severe famine that occurred in Bolshevik Russia...	Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	1921	1922	See also: Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union
4,000,000	4,000,000	Bengal famine of 1943 Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal. Province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943 As...	British-ruled India British Raj British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...	1943	1943
1,250,000	10,000,000	Indian famine of 1899–1900 Indian famine of 1899–1900 The Indian famine of 1899–1900 began with the failure of the summer monsoons in 1899 over west and Central India and, during the next year, affected an area of and a population of 59.5 million...	British-ruled India British Raj British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...	1899	1900
750,000	1,500,000	Great Irish Famine	British-ruled Ireland	1846	1849	Although blight ravaged potato Potato The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...  crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland—where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food—was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.

Floods and landslides

Note: Some of these floods and landslides may be partially caused by humans, for example, the dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s, levee

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

s, seawall

Seawall

A seawall is a form of coastal defence constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides and waves...

s and retaining wall

Retaining wall

Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...

s failure.

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	2,500,000–3,700,000	1931 China floods	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1931
2.	900,000–2,000,000	1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood 1887 Yellow River flood The 1887 Yellow River flood was a devastating flood on the Yellow River in China. This river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, running between dykes above the broad plains surrounding it. The flood that began in September 1887 stated the area, killing some 900,000 people...	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1887
3.	500,000–700,000	1938 Yellow River (Huang He) flood 1938 Yellow River flood The 1938 Yellow River flood was a flood created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of the Japanese forces...	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1938
4.	231,000	Banqiao Dam Banqiao Dam The Banqiao Reservoir Dam is a dam on the River Ru in Zhumadian Prefecture, Henan province, China. It infamously failed in 1975, causing more casualties than any other dam failure in history, and was subsequently rebuilt....  failure, result of Typhoon Nina Typhoon Nina (1975) Super Typhoon Nina was a short-lived but intense super typhoon that caused catastrophic damage and loss of life in China after causing the Banqiao Dam to collapse... . Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease.	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1975
5.	145,000	1935 Yangtze river flood	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1935
6.	more than 100,000	St. Felix's Flood St. Felix's Flood The St. Felix's Flood happened on Saturday 5 November 1530, the name day of St. Felix. This day was later known as Evil Saturday . Large parts of Flanders and Zeeland were washed away, including the Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal. According to Audrey M... , storm surge	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...	1530
7.	100,000	Hanoi Hanoi Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...  and Red River Delta Red River Delta The Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...  flood	North Vietnam North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...	1971
8.	100,000	1911 Yangtze river flood	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	1911
9.	50,000–80,000	St. Lucia's flood St. Lucia's flood St. Lucia's flood was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287 when a dike broke during a storm, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in the fifth largest flood in recorded history. Much land was permanently flooded in what is now the Waddenzee... , storm surge	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	1287
10.	10,000–50,000	Vargas Tragedy, landslide	Venezuela Venezuela Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...	1999
11.	2,400	North Sea flood, storm surge North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... , Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	31 January 1953

Human sacrifice and ritual suicide

This section lists deaths from the systematic practice of human sacrifice

Human sacrifice

Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...

 or suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

. For notable individual episodes, see Human sacrifice and mass suicide.

Lowest estimate	Highest estimate	Description	Location	From	| To	Notes
300,000	1,500,000	Human sacrifice in Aztec culture Human sacrifice in Aztec culture Human sacrifice was a religious practice characteristic of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization, as well as of other mesoamerican civilizations such as the Maya and the Zapotec. The extent of the practice is debated by modern scholars...	Aztecs	Mexico	14th century	1521	Up to 250,000 sacrificed yearly
13,000	13,000	Human sacrifice	Shang dynasty Shang Dynasty The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...	China	BC1300	BC1050	Last 250 years of rule
7,941	7,941	Ritual suicides	Sati Sati (practice) For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...	Bengal Bengal Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous... , India	1815	1828
3,912	3,912	Kamikaze Kamikaze The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....  suicide pilots, see note	Imperial Japanese air forces	Pacific theatre Pacific War The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...	1944	1945
913	913	Jonestown Jonestown Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...  murder-suicide	Followers of The Peoples Temple Peoples Temple Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco...  cult	Jonestown Jonestown Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...	November 18, 1978	November 19, 1978	The event was the largest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks.

African genocides

Including the African Holocaust

Lowest estimate	Highest estimate	Description	Location	From	| To	Notes
8,000,000	10,000,000	Tropical disease Tropical disease Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forcing hibernation. Insects such as mosquitoes and... s, including sleeping sickness and smallpox Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"... , and the exploitation of the Congo Free State Congo Free State The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Its origins lay in Leopold's attracting scientific, and humanitarian backing for a non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine...  under the rule of King Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...	Congo Free State Congo Free State The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Its origins lay in Leopold's attracting scientific, and humanitarian backing for a non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine...	1885	1908	In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium created his own privately owned state that included today's Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world... . His goal was to enrich himself by exploiting the country's natural resources like ivory and rubber Rubber Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined... . Adam Hochschild Adam Hochschild Adam Hochschild is an American author and journalist.-Biography:Hochschild was born in New York City. As a college student, he spent a summer working on an anti-government newspaper in South Africa and subsequently worked briefly as a civil rights worker in Mississippi in 1964...  estimates that the population of the Congo region had been halved during Leopold’s rule, but determining precisely how many people died is next to impossible as no accurate records exist. Louis Eugène Jungers Eugène Jacques Pierre Louis Jungers was Governor-General of the League of Nations Mandate of Ruanda-Urundi from 1932 to 1946, and of the Belgian Congo from 1946 to 1951.- Early life :...  and Stengers Jean Stengers Jean Stengers was a Belgian historian.A precocious and brilliant student, Stengers entered the Free University of Brussels in 1939, at the age of 17. He published his first scholarly article two years later in the Belgian Review of Philology and History...  state that population figures at the start of Leopold's control are only "wild guesses", while E.D. Morel's attempt and others at coming to a figure for population losses were "but figments of the imagination".
1,200,000	2,400,000	African Holocaust African Holocaust African Holocaust is a reggae album released by Steel Pulse in July 2004. It is Steel Pulse's most recent studio album and their eleventh overall. At the time of this album, the band was down to only two founding members, lead guitarist and vocalist David Hinds and keyboardist and backup vocalist...	Atlantic Ocean	16th century	19th century	African slaves died in large numbers during transportation from Africa. The number could more accurate if it included deaths during the acquisition of slaves in Africa and subsequent deaths in America. Before the 16th century the principal market for the warring African tribes that enslaved each other's populations was the Islamic world to the east. Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal was a German explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His mission as commissioner resulted in Togoland and Kamerun becoming the first colonies of a German colonial empire... , an eye-witness, believed that for every slave who arrived at a market three or four died on the way.

Other lists organized by death toll

• List of accidents and disasters by death toll
• List of battles and other violent events by death toll
• List of murderers by number of victims
• List of natural disasters by death toll
• List of ongoing conflicts
• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• List of Canadian disasters by death toll
• List of New Zealand disasters by death toll
• List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll
• List of United States disasters by death toll

Other lists with similar topics

• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
• List of battles
• List of disasters
• List of earthquakes
• List of famines
• List of historic fires
• List of invasions
• List of massacres
• List of notable tropical cyclones
• List of riots
• List of terrorist incidents
• List of wars
• Lists of rail accidents

Topics dealing with similar themes

• Casualties of the Iraq War
• Democide
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  Democide is a term revived and redefined by the political scientist R. J. Rummel as "the murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder." Rummel created the term as an extended concept to include forms of government murder that are not covered by the...
  
  
• Famine
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  A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
  
  
• Genocide
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• Genocide in history
• Infectious disease
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  Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
  
  
• Mass murder
  Mass murder
  Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...
  
  
• Most lethal battles in world history
  Most lethal battles in world history
  The following is a list of the casualty count in battles in world history. The list includes both sieges and civilian casualties during the battles. Large battle casualty counts are almost impossible to calculate precisely...
  
  
• United States casualties of war
  United States casualties of war
  Military casualties suffered by the United States of America in war or deployments-Overview:- Wars ranked by total American deaths :"Deaths per day" are the total number of US military deaths, divided by the number of days between the dates of the commencement and end of hostilities, or until 25...
  
  

External links

• The worst genocides of the 20th century
• Bloodiest Battles of the 20th Century
• Death Tolls for Battles of the 16th, 17th, 18th & 19th Centuries
• Wars of the 20th Century
• The world's worst massacres Whole Earth Review
• War Disaster and Genocide
• Killers of the 20th Century
• Soviet Prisoners of War: Forgotten Nazi Victims of World War II
• Top 100 aviation disasters on AirDisaster.com
  Airdisaster.com
  AirDisaster.com is a website devoted to accidents and incidents on commercial airliners. It includes voice recordings, accident videos, reports and articles about a number of airliner crashes. It also includes crash statistics by company, plane model and year...