This map, created by Nicolas Lambert, shows the business of war in the world between 2010 and 2017. It was originally published in his book Mad Maps.

The author focuses on two main factors to assess the impact of arms trafficking worldwide. On the one hand, yellow circles represent the money earned by different countries from arms exports, with larger circles indicating a higher volume of arms exported. Leading the way are the United States, Russia, France, Germany, China, the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, Italy and Ukraine.

In addition, black dots also show the places where the most people died at the hands of organised armed forces, whether state, cartel or terrorist organisations. During the period represented, the highest number of deaths from these causes occurred in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Mexico, Yemen, Sudan and Pakistan.

The author's main criticism is what he draws as a front line. North of that line are almost all the countries that export arms, and south of it are almost all the deaths caused by those arms. That is the true nature of the business of war.

Sources

• War Business
• Mad Maps – The atlas that will change your view of the world: The atlas that will change your view of the world