June 6,2008: With things quieting down in Iraq (U.S. casualties hit an all-time low in May, 2008), South Africa has regained its position as the most violent country on the planet, with a murder rate of 65 per 100,000 population. The death rate is also high in some other African countries (like Sudan, Somalia and Congo), but those placed don't keep records as effectively as South Africa. The Iraqi rate is now running at about 48 per 100,000. The Afghanistan rate is about 15. India, another area with lots of terrorism (and half of it is from communist and tribal rebels) the murder rate is about four per 100,000. That's about the same as most European nations, and half the U.S. rate. But the Western Hemisphere has always had a higher homicide rate than the Old World. No one is quite sure why.