Earth is an extraordinarily large, expansive, and diverse planet, and over the last few months we’ve highlighted many of the more interesting and intriguing places that exist within it, from a list of the cheapest cities where one can live comfortably to an engaging list of the coolest and most visually stunning international borders between countries.
Today’s trip around the world, however, is a little bit more somber as we take a look at which 15 cities provide the worst quality of life, an unenviable distinction to be sure.
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Every year, Mercer (a human resources consulting firm) tabulates all sorts of data as part of its effort to put together a comprehensive list detailing which cities have the best and worst quality of life. Recently, we took a look at Mercer’s 2016 tabulation which highlights which worldwide cities are places you might be well advised to steer clear of.
According to Mercer, the following factors are taken into consideration when evaluating the quality of life in a particular city.
- Housing
- Climate and physical conditions
- Pollution
- Disease and sanitation
- Medical facilities
- Education facilities
- Infrastructure
- Physical remoteness
- Political violence and repression
- Political and social environment
- Crime
- Communications
- Cultural and recreation facilities
- Availability of goods and services
That said, below are the 15 cities that have the lowest quality of life. Not surprisingly, many of the cities below have either been devastated by war in the past or are still in the throes of war today.
1. Baghdad, Iraq
2. Bangui, Central African Republic
3. San’a, Yemen
4. Port Au Prince, Haiti
5. Khartoum, Sudan
6. N’Djamena, Chad
7. Damascus, Syria
8. Brazzaville, Congo
9. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
10. Conakry, Guinea Republic
11. Nouakchott, Mauritania
12. Bamako, Mali
13. Antananarivo, Madagascar
14. Niamey, Niger
15. Tripoli, Libya
