In the course of the 20th century, mankind experienced some of the most devastating wars of all times. Where did these wars take place? Have some regions experienced more wars than others? Who were the main protagonists in these conflicts? This map gives you the opportunity to answer these questions. It displays wars with at least 1 000 military battle deaths.
The Nobel Peace Prize celebrated its centennial in 2001. Where did the Laureates and nominees come from? How many Africans have received the prize? Alongside the map on wars you will find statistics showing the geographical distribution of Nobel Peace Prize nominees and Laureates since 1901.
The map includes more than 200
wars from 1899-2001. Each flame represents one war.
"War" according to our definition is an armed
conflict with at least 1 000 military battle deaths,
where at least one of the parties is the government
of a state. The casualty figure provided on the map
refers to military losses, unless otherwise stated.
This means that many smaller wars are not included,
in most cases because of this casualty
threshold.
Although considered fairly reliable, the casualty
figures given here should be regarded as estimates
and must therefore be used with a great deal of
caution. Civilian deaths are generally not included
even if they are battle-connected. Nor are the
victims of famine or epidemics caused by an armed
conflict. It is also unclear how the data collectors
coded the casualties for civil wars and colonial
wars. In many cases only the figure for the
government actor is included, and it is often an
impossible task to account for the exact number of
dead. However, the figures are included here in order
to provide a simple measure of the severity of a
conflict.
We have three categories of war. Firstly, interstate
wars, i.e. conflicts between independent states.
Secondly, colonial wars between a state and a
national entity in a peripheral territory of that
state (colony or annexed/occupied territory).
Thirdly, we have civil wars between the government
and an organized armed group within a state.
|
The two world wars are treated
somewhat differently from the other
conflicts, in that they are not represented by a
flame, but by a special
symbol representing events or processes of particular
importance to the
course of these wars.
 |
The map tells us where and when wars were fought and gives a brief summary of the conflict scenarios. However, it does not explain the deeper causes of war or how they end.
In addition to conflicts, the map also provides
statistical information on the geographical
distribution of Peace Prize laureates and nominees
during the period 1901-2001. There are seven
categories: international organisations, North
America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern
Europe, Africa and Asia.
Eastern Europe includes Central Europe, Russia and
the countries that emerged from the former Soviet
Union. It corresponds to what was known as the
Eastern bloc during the Cold War era (1945-1989).
Asia includes the Middle East, and even Australia and
Oceania. It is therefore substantially larger than
the other regions displayed on the map.
It is important to emphasize that the nomination
figures are aggregate numbers, meaning that a
candidate nominated three years in a row, for
instance, is in fact counted three times in the
column for the period displayed.
The main data sources for the conflict map are:
Other useful references:
The annual
register: a record of world events. –
London: Longman, 1899-2001.
Guy Arnold, Wars in the third world since
1945. – London: Cassel, 1991.
Patrick Brogan, World conflicts. –
London: Bloomsbury, 1998.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Institute for Conflict Resolution (INCORE), University of Ulster.
John Keegan, The first world war. –
London: Hutchinson, 1998.
John Keegan, The second world war. –
London: Hutchinson, 1989.
Keesing's record of world events. –
Cambridge: Keesing's worldwide, 1931-2001.
George C. Kohn, Dictionary of wars. –
Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.
Melvin Small and J. David Singer, Resort to arms:
international and civil wars, 1816-1980. –
Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982.
Stockholm International Peace Reseach
Institute (SIPRI),
SIPRI Yearbook. – Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1987-2001.
Dan Smith, The state of war and peace atlas. – London: Penguin, 1997.
The figures were compiled on the
basis of the Norwegian Nobel Committee's annual list
of candidates in Redegjørelser for Nobels
fredspris (see Sources
for the history of the Nobel Peace Prize), and
the list of
laureates.
Other useful references:
Irwin Abrams The Nobel Peace Prize and the
laureates: an illustrated biographical history
1901-2001. – Nantucket: Science history
publications, 2001.
Øivind Stenersen, Ivar Libæk and Asle
Sveen, The Nobel Peace Prize: one hundred years
for peace: laureates 1901-2001. – Oslo:
Cappelen, 2001.