Quote Originally Posted by DDT
Actually, I read just recently, chart of the world's crime and murder rates. Russia was higher than USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map- ... r-rate.svg
I don't completely agree. First, they made a note in this article:
Homicide demographics are affected by the improvement of trauma care, leading to reduced lethality of violent assaults—thus the homicide rate may also not necessarily indicate the overall level of societal violence.

Also, a couple of months ago I've read a report on violent crimes (I'm trying to find it again, but without any succes yet), and the Russia's murder rate (actual murders) was claimed to be rather high, but less than in USA and Germany (I don't remember about other countries).
Does that mean they are lying in the wikipedia? Of course, not.

But the difference in the results is caused by the approach, and usually all "unnatural" deaths are included in the murder rates, i.e. suicides, accidents victims, etc.

And we know that healthcare system in Russia is not so good, and thousands of people are poisoned with cheap vodka every year, and die in autocrashes, etc., etc., and all this is added to the murder rate.

It gives impression, that Russia swarms with bloodthirsty killers and is very dangerous, which is just not true, imho. Just another stereotype which came to life during the chaos of early 90s.

PS. In the book "GENXPAT. The Young Professional’s Guide
to Making a Successful Life Abroad" (230 pages) the only phrase about Russia was: "In a country like Russia, where the mafia is largely unchecked, you might have to ensure your personal safety with bodyguards and heavily secured accommodations". Welcome!