Planning for safe travel usually includes leaving contact information and knowing whether it is safe to drink the water — but for some countries, the US State Department suggests more dramatic measures be taken.
For some countries, travelers may want to consider drafting a will and designating beneficiaries. And for the most dangerous destinations, State even suggests leaving a DNA sample with a medical provider — just in case.
Drum-Cussac, a risk assessment and management company, recently published its 2019 World Risk Map, which compiles data in five categories to assess travel risks.
The main factors include political, security, medical, infrastructural, and environmental risks. Within these categories, countries are assessed for threats such as terrorism, access to medical care and clean water, violence and crime, and political stability.
The map provides an overall assessment for every country in the world; here's a look at the top ten.
10: Burundi
Sharing its borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania, Burundi is considered politically unstable and vulnerable to disease outbreaks.
The CIA has noted the nation's "non-democratic transfers of power," pointing to a history marred with assassinations, a brutal 12-year civil war, and controversial 2015 election that included a failed coup.
Travelers to Burundi face risks of malaria and cholera with limited access to healthcare and the threat of petty crime, according to Drum-Cussac. The US State Department urges travelers to reconsider Burundi as a destination, noting "crime and armed conflict."
9: Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks as Drum-Cussac's most environmentally risky travel destination.
Armed groups have littered the nation with landmines and unexploded ordnance, and the country suffers from flooding and landslides during its rainy season.
The US State Department also warns travelers to reconsider traveling to DRC due to "crime and civil unrest."
8: Iraq
The US State Department recommends not to travel to Iraq due to "terrorism and armed conflict."
Drum-Cussac also points out the country's crumbling infrastructure, a devastating result of decades of war and sanctions.
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