List of wars and anthropogenic 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, famine, etc., as well as deaths of soldiers in battle and massacres and genocide. 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.

Genocides and alleged genocides
Genocides with at least a million fatalities in the high estimate category are shown here. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (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 disputed the interpretation and details of the event, often to the point of promoting different versions of the facts. An accusation of genocide 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. Some of accounts below may include ancillary causes of death such as malnutrition and disease, which may or may not have been intentionally inflicted.

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.

Famine
Note: Some of these famines were partially caused by nature. This section includes famines that were caused or exacerbated by the policies or actions of the ruling regime.

Floods and landslides
Note: These floods and landslides will have been partially caused by humans, for example by failure of dams, levees, seawalls or retaining walls.

Human sacrifice and ritual suicide
''This section lists deaths from the systematic practice of human sacrifice or suicide. For notable individual episodes, see Human sacrifice and mass suicide.''

Other deadly events
''Events with a large anthropogenic death toll not fitting any of the above classifications. May include deaths caused by famine, genocide, etc. as a portion of the total.''

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 events named massacres
 * List of genocides by death toll
 * List of murderers by number of victims
 * List of natural disasters by death toll
 * List of ongoing conflicts
 * List of Australian disaster 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
 * Famine
 * Genocide
 * Genocide in history
 * Infectious disease
 * Mass murder
 * Most lethal battles in world history
 * United States casualties of war