Mexico drugs war murders data mapped

Murders in Mexico's drug wars have been detailed in a huge new release of crime data - see how they look
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Mexico's Drug War
Mexico drug war murders: Federal police officers take suspects into custody after a shooting in Tijuana. Photograph: Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images

The Mexican government has released a database it says covers all murders presumed to have a link to the country's drug wars in which at least seven different cartels are fighting each other and federal forces deployed in a massive offensive against them launched in December 2006.

The number of deaths has risen rapidly since then to total 34,612 up until the end of 2010, by far the most violent year so far with 15,273 people killed.

Roll over the line to see the number. Download the data

The database is the most detailed official picture of the drug wars yet made public, showing the geographical distribution of the violence down to the municipal level.

While no region has escaped, the killing is seen as particularly intense in northern and Pacific coastal states.

Drugs war murders mapped: every dot represents a town where a drugs war murder has taken place. The large red markers show places with over 70 deaths. Click on each dot to get the details - with captions for the worst places. You can go to the fullscreen version

Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from Texas, has been the most violent city since 2008 despite also have the heaviest federal presence.

The figures released do not specify how many of those killed are presumed to be related to the cartels, how many belonged to the security forces, or how many were innocent civilians dragged into the horror.

The data is very detailed - download the attached sheet for a breakdown by different types of murders and for each town.

What can you do with it?

Data summary

Murders in Mexico's drug wars

Click heading to sort table. Download this data

Region
Total
2009 deaths
2010 deaths
% change
Aguascalientes 152 31 46 48
Baja California 2,019 484 540 12
Baja California Sur 19 1 10 900
Campeche 31 6 10 67
Chiapas 304 88 77 -12
Chihuahua 10,135 3,345 4,427 32
Coahuila 659 179 384 115
Colima 148 33 101 206
Distrito Federal 653 135 191 41
Durango 1,892 674 834 24
Guanajuato 516 234 152 -35
Guerrero 2,739 879 1,137 29
Hidalgo 167 34 52 53
Jalisco 1,073 261 593 127
México 1,538 440 623 42
Michoacán 1,751 590 520 -12
Morelos 529 114 335 194
Nayarit 453 37 377 919
Nuevo León 971 112 620 454
Oaxaca 438 87 167 92
Puebla 107 28 51 82
Querétaro 37 13 13 0
Quintana Roo 151 32 64 100
San Luis Potosí 187 8 135 1,588
Sinaloa 4,387 1,059 1,815 71
Sonora 1,258 365 495 36
Tabasco 201 65 73 12
Tamaulipas 1,475 90 1,209 1,243
Tlaxcala 13 6 4 -33
Veracruz 453 133 179 35
Yucatán 26 1 2 100
Zacatecas 130 50 37 -26
Total 34,612 9,614 15,273 59

Download the data

DATA: download the full spreadsheet
DATA: google fusion table version of the data

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More from Mexico drug war

Rory Carroll reports from Mexico, at the epicentre of drug cartel violence that has claimed 28,000 lives