What is the most violent country in the world, when not counting war casualties? The results may surprise you.

Last week, the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development released a report studying annual violent death rates around the world from 2004 through 2009, and ranked the most violent countries based on the average rates. The top countries didn’t include Mexico, where drug cartel violence (and the occasional success, such as the 2010 capture of “La Barbie,” pictured) has made beheadings all too commonplace. But Latin America had a disturbing share of the top spots. Did you know, for instance, that there’s a higher risk of being murdered in El Salvador than in Iraq?

What were the top nations, and just why are these countries so plagued by violent deaths? Read more here.

(Photo by Daniel Aguilar/Getty Images)