An infographic titled 'Combatant deaths in conventional wars, 1800-2011' from Our World in Data, showing a timeline of interstate and civil wars with circles representing death tolls and colored by region.
Infographic charting combatant deaths in conventional wars from 1800 to 2011, separating interstate and civil conflicts, with circle sizes indicating death estimates and colors denoting regions.
Combatant deaths in conventional wars, 1800-2011 Number of combatants who died due to fighting in interstate and civil wars. This excludes civilian deaths, which can make the death tolls much larger. Our World in Data Multiple regions Americas Asia Europe North Africa & Middle East Sub-Saharan Africa INTERSTATE WARS Napoleonic Wars 570-598k Crimean War 142-172k World War II 21-30.8m deaths Persian Gulf War 20.2-40.2k Yom Kippur War 11.5-18.8k Suez Crisis 1.1-2.6k Iran-Iraq War 228-578k World War I 7.1-8.9m deaths Korean War 543-718k Second Sino-Japanese War 1.6-3.3m Ethiopian-Eritrean War 53-121.5k Vietnam War 1-1.2m 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2011 CIVIL WARS Venezuelan War of Independence 12-14.8k American Civil War 166-229k Russian Civil War 379-858k Spanish Civil War 203-288k Angolan Civil War 59.6-68.1k Warlord Era Wars 193-280k Chinese Civil War 1.2-2m Bosnian War 60.6-89.8k Note: Each circle is sized according to the war's lower death estimate. A conventional war is defined here as an armed conflict fought with differentiated militaries and clear frontlines that caused at least 500 combatant deaths due to fighting over its duration. A civil war is a conflict between combatants that were previously part of the same state, with at least one group now seeking control or secession. Sources: Lyall, Jason. 2020. Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War. Princeton University Press. OurWorldInData.org — Research and data to make progress against the world's largest problems. Licensed under CC-BY by the authors Bastian Herre, Christian Swinehart and Klara Auerbach.