| War | Death range | Date | Combatants | Location | % of global population (rough estimates) |
|---|
| World War II | 70–85 million[2][3][4] | 1939–1945 | Allied Powers vs.Axis Powers | Global | 3.04–3.69%[2] |
| Taiping Rebellion | 20–70 million[5][6][7][8] | 1850–1864 | Qing Dynasty vs.Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | China | 1.42–2.65%[2] |
| Mongol invasions and conquests | 20–60 million[9][10][11][12] | 1206–1368 | Mongol Empire vs. various states inEurasia | Asia and Europe | 5.55–13.54%[2][13] |
| Three Kingdoms | 34 million[14] | 184–280 | Multiple sides but predominantlyCao Wei vsShu Han vsEastern Wu | China | 13.28–17.89%[2] |
| Manchu Conquest of China | 25 million[15][16] | 1618–1683 | Manchu vs.Ming Dynasty | China | 4.16–5.31%[2][17] |
| World War I | 15–22 million[18][19][4] | 1914–1918 | Allied Powers vs.Central Powers | Global | 0.85–1.25%[2] |
| Conquests of Timur | 7–17 million[12] | 1369–1405 | Timurid Empire vs. various states inAsia | Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia | 1.94–5.55%[2] |
| An Lushan rebellion | 13 million[20] | 754–763 | Tang Dynasty andUyghur Khaganate vs.Yan Dynasty | China | 6.04%[21] |
| Spanish conquest of Mexico | 10.5 million[22][b] | 1519–1530 | Spanish Empire and allies vs.Aztec Empire and allies | Mexico | 2.33%[21] |
| Russian Civil War | 7–10 million[24][4] | 1917–1922 | Multiple sides:Bolsheviks, anti-Bolshevik left,White Movement,Allied andCentral Intervention, as well asvarious separatists | Russia | 0.37–0.53%[25] |
| Chinese Civil War | 4–9 million[26][4] | 1927–1949[c] | Multiple sides, but predominantly Communists vs.Kuomintang | China | 0.19–0.43%[29] |
| Thirty Years' War | 4.5–8 million[30][31] | 1618–1648 | Anti-Imperial Alliance vs. Imperial Alliance | Europe | 0.77–1.38%[32] |
| Crusades | 1–9 million[33][34] | 1095–1291 | OriginallyByzantine Empire vs.Seljuk Empire, but evolved intoChristians vs.Muslims | Europe and the Middle East | 0.31–2.8%[35] |
| Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire | 7.7 million[36][d] | 1533–1572 | Spanish Empire vs.Inca Empire | South America | 1.71%[21] |
| Reconquista | 7 million[38][39] | 718–1492 | Christian peninsular kingdoms vs. Islamic peninsular kingdoms | Iberian Peninsula | 1.94%[21] |
| French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars | 4–7 million[40][41] | 1792–1815 | French Republic, laterFrench Empire, vs.Coalition forces | Europe | 0.49–0.86%[2] |
| Conquests of Menelik II | 5–6 million[42][43] | 1878–1904 | Ethiopian Empire vs.Emirate of Harar,Kingdom of Kaffa,Kingdom of Wolaita, and allies | Horn of Africa | 0.39%[44] |
| Mahdist War | 4-6 million[45][46][47][48] | 1881-1899 | Mahdist Sudan vs.United Kingdom and allies | Sudan | |
| Second Congo War | 3–5.4 million[49][50][51] | 1998–2003 | Multiple sides | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0.05–0.09%[21] |
| Spanish conquest of New Granada | 5.25 million[52][53][e] | 1525–1540 | Spanish Empire vs.Muisca Confederation and other civilizations | South America | 1.17%[21] |
| Deccan wars | 4.6–5 million[55] | 1680–1707 | Mughal Empire vs.Maratha Confederacy | South Asia | 0.75–0.82%[21] |
| Northern Wars | 3.57–4.57 million[56][57][58][59] | 1554–1721 | Multiple sides | Eastern and Northern Europe | 0.46–1.02% |
| Vietnam War | 1.3–4.2 million[60][61][62] | 1955–1975 | North Vietnam and allies vs.South Vietnam and allies | Indochina | 0.027–0.153%[63] |
| Nigerian Civil War | 3.04–4.1 million[64][65] | 1967–1970 | Nigeria vs.Biafra | Nigeria | |
| French Wars of Religion | 2–4 million[66] | 1562–1598 | French catholics vsHuguenots | France | 0.40–0.89% |
| Korean War | 2.5–3.5 million[67][26] | 1950–1953 | North Korea and allies vs.South Korea and allies | Korean Peninsula | |
| Hundred Years' War | 2.3–3.5 million[68][69][40] | 1337–1453 | House of Valois vs.House of Plantagenet | Western Europe | 0.51–1.00% |
| Soviet–Afghan War | 1–3 million[70][4] | 1979–1989 | Soviet Union andDemocratic Republic of Afghanistan vs.Afghan mujahideen | Afghanistan | |
| Delhi Conquest of North India | 0.5–3 million[71] | 1300–1310 | Delhi Sultanate vs. North Indian States | South Asia | 0.14–0.86% |
| Bangladesh Liberation War | 0.3-3 million[72][73] | 1971 | India andProvisional Government of Bangladesh vs.Pakistan | South Asia | |
| Mexican Revolution | 1–2.7 million[40][74] | 1910–1920 | Anti-government forces vs. Pro-government forces | Mexico | |
| Fang La Rebellion | 2 million[40][75] | 1120–1122 | Song Dynasty vs. Fang La rebels | China | 0.56–0.63% |
| Ethiopian Civil War andEritrean War of Independence | 1.75–2 million[76][77][78] | 1961–1991[f] | EPRDF, laterEPLF, vs.Derg andPeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | Horn of Africa | |
| Russo-Circassian War andCaucasian War | 1.5–2 million[79] | 1763–1864 | Circassian Confederation,Principality of Abkhazia, andCaucasian Imamate vs.Russian Empire | Caucasus | |
| Second Sudanese Civil War | 1–2 million[80][81] | 1983–2005 | Sudan vs.SSPDF | Sudan | |
| Tây Sơn wars | 1–2 million[82][83] | 1771–1802 | Tây Sơn dynasty vs.Nguyễn lords,Kingdom of Cambodia,Rattanakosin Kingdom, andKingdom of France | Indochina | |
| Akbar's Conquest of North India | 1–2 million[84] | 1556–1605 | Mughal Empire vs. North Indian States | South Asia | |
| Indian Rebellion of 1857 | 0.8–2 million[85] | 1857–1858 | United Kingdom and allies vs. Indian rebels and allies | South Asia | |
| Balkan Wars | 0.75–1.77 million[86][87] | 1912–1913 | Ottoman Empire vs.Bulgaria,Serbia,Greece, andMontenegro; later Bulgaria vs. Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, andRomania | Balkans | |
| Algerian War | 0.4–1.6 million[88][89] | 1954–1962 | France vs. SeparatistsNational Liberation Front,Algerian National Movement, and Algerian Communist Party | North Africa | |
| Seven Years' War | 1–1.5 million[90][40] | 1756–1763 | Great Britain,Hanover,Prussia,Portugal, and allies vs.France,Habsburg empire,Saxony,Spain, and allies | Global | |
| Warring States period andQin's wars of unification | 0.65–1.5 million[91][40] | 475 BCE–221 BCE | Multiple sides | China | 0.35–1.30%[92] |
| French conquest of Algeria | 0.98–1.48 million[93][94][95] | 1830–1903 | France vs.Regency of Algiers,Emirate of Abdelkader,Kingdom of Beni Abbas, and allies | North Africa | |
| Gallic Wars | 0.7–1.47 million[40][96][97][98] | 58 BCE–50 BCE | Roman Republic vs.Gauls and allies | Gaul | 0.37–1.28% |
| Jewish–Roman wars | 0.35–1.4 million[99][100] | 66–135 | Roman Empire vs.Judean provisional government | Fertile Crescent | 0.17–0.74% |
| War of the Spanish Succession | 0.4–1.25 million[101][102] | 1701–1714 | Habsburg Spain,Great Britain,Holy Roman Empire, and allies vs.Bourboun Spain,Kingdom of France, and allies | Global | |
| Wars of Alexander the Great | 1 million[103][104][105] | 336–323 BC | Macedonian Empire vs.Achaemenid Empire and allies | West Asia and Central Asia | |
| Japanese invasions of Korea | 1 million[106] | 1592–1598 | Joseon andMing dynasty vs.Japan | Korean Peninsula | |
| Panthay Rebellion | 1 million[107] | 1856–1873 | Qing Dynasty vs. Pingnan Guo | China | |
| American Civil War | 0.6–1 million[108][109] | 1861–1865 | United States vs.Confederate States | North America | |
| Mozambican Civil War | 0.5–1 million[110][111] | 1977–1992 | People's Republic of Mozambique, laterRepublic of Mozambique, and allies vs.RENAMO and allies | Mozambique | |
| First Sudanese Civil War | 0.5–1 million[112][113] | 1955–1972 | Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, laterDemocratic Republic of the Sudan, vs.Sudan Defence Force | Sudan | |
| Somali Civil War | 0.35–1 million[114][115] | 1981/1988/1991[g]–present | Multiple sides | Horn of Africa | |
| Burmese–Siamese wars | 0.26–0.9 million[40][123][124] | 1547–1855 | Thailand vs.Myanmar | Southeast Asia | |
| First Indochina War | 0.4–0.84 million[125][126] | 1946–1954 | Viet Minh,Pathet Lao, andKhmer Issarak vs.French Union | Indochina | |
| Angolan Civil War | 0.8 million[127][111] | 1975–2002 | People's Republic of Angola, laterRepublic of Angola, and allies vs.Democratic People's Republic of Angola and allies | Angola | |
| Burundian Civil War | 0.55–0.8 million[128][129][111] | 1993–2005 | Burundi vs.Ethnic Hutu vs.Tutsi Militants | Rwanda and Burundi | |
| Second Punic War | 0.77 million[130] | 218–201 BCE | Roman Republic vs.Ancient Carthage | Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa | |
| War of Austrian Succession | 0.75 million[131] | 1740–1748 | France,Prussia,Spain, and allies vs.Habsburg monarchy,Great Britain,Dutch Republic, and allies | Europe, the Americas, and South Asia | |
| Third Punic War | 0.75 million[132][133] | 149–146 BCE | Roman Republic vs.Ancient Carthage | North Africa | |
| Iran–Iraq War | 0.45–0.7 million[99][134][135] | 1980–1988 | Islamic Republic of Iran vs.Iraqi Republic | Iran and Iraq | |
| Nine Years' War | 0.68 million[136] | 1688–1697 | Kingdom of France vs.Grand Alliance | Europe | |
| Crimean War | 0.61–0.67 million[137][138][139] | 1853–1856 | Russian Empire vs.Ottoman Empire, France, and United Kingdom | Crimea, Black Sea, Caucasus, and the Balkans | |
| Syrian civil war | 0.58–0.61 million[140][141] | 2011–2024 | Multiple sides | Levant | |
| Mexican War of Independence | 0.6 million[142] | 1810–1821 | Mexican patriots vs.Spanish Empire | North and Central America | |
| Bahmani–Vijayanagar Wars | 0.6 million[143] | 1362–1443 | Vijayanagara Empire andMusunuri Nayakas vs.Bahmani Sultanate | South Asia | |
| Turkish War of Independence | 0.4–0.6 million[144][145][146] | 1919–1923 | Turkey vs.Greece,France,United Kingdom, andArmenia | Anatolia | |
| Tigray War | 0.16–0.6 million[147][148] | 2020–2022 | Ethiopia andEritrea vs.Tigray People's Liberation Front and allies | Horn of Africa | |
| Roman–Germanic wars | 0.54 million[149][150] | 113 BCE – 774 | Roman Republic, laterRoman Empire andByzantine Empire, vs.Germanic tribes | Germania | |
| First Punic War | 0.4–0.54 million[151][152] | 264–241 BCE | Roman Republic vs.Ancient Carthage | Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa | |
| Paraguayan War | 0.15–0.5 million[153] | 1864–1870 | Empire of Brazil,Argentina, andUruguay vs.Paraguay | South America | |
| Uganda–Tanzania War andUgandan Bush War | 0.1–0.5 million[154][155][156][157] | 1978–1986 | Uganda vs.Tanzania, National Liberation Front, andNational Resistance Movement | Uganda and Tanzania | |
| Papua conflict | 0.1–0.5 million[158][159] | 1962–present | Indonesia vs.Free Papua Movement | New Guinea | |
| Eighty Years' War | 0.1–0.5 million[160] | 1566–1648 | Spanish Empire vs.Separatist Dutch Republic | Low Countries | |
| Russo-Ukrainian War | 0.35–0.48 million[h] | 2014–present | Union of People's Republics, laterRussia andNorth Korea vs.Ukraine | Eastern Europe and the Black Sea | |
| Spanish Civil War | 0.35–0.47 million[168][169][170] | 1936–1939[i] | Nationalists vs.Republicans | Iberian Peninsula | |
| Colombian conflict | 0.45 million[174] | 1964–present | Colombia vs. Colombian and Mexican drug cartels,FARC,ELN, and other paramilitary groups | South America | |
| Franco-Prussian War | 0.43 million[175][176] | 1870–1871 | Second French Empire, laterThird French Republic vs.North German Confederation | Central Europe | |
| Polish–Ottoman Wars | 0.43 million[177][178] | 1485–1699 | Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,Holy League, and allies vs.Ottoman Empire and allies | Central Europe and Balkans | |
| Roman–Greek wars | 0.42 million[179] | 280 BCE–30 BCE | Roman Republic vs. Greek states, later Greek rebels, andPtolemaic Kingdom | Peloponnese Peninsula, Balkans, Anatolia, Egypt, and Italian Peninsula | |
| Maratha invasions of Bengal | 0.4 million[180][181] | 1741–1751 | Maratha Confederacy vs.Bengal Nawab | South Asia | |
| Colombian War of Independence | 0.4 million[182] | 1810–1825 | Colombian patriots vs.Spanish Empire | South America | |
| Third Indochina War | 0.4 million[183] | 1975–1991 | Democratic Kampuchea,China, andThailand vs.Vietnam,Laos, andPeople's Republic of Kampuchea vs.Communist Party of Thailand | Indochina | |
| War in Darfur | 0.4 million[184] | 2003–2020 | Sudan vs.SRF andSLM/A | Sudan | |
| Mexican war on drugs | 0.35–0.4 million[185][186] | 2006–present | Mexico vsdrug cartels | Mexico | |
| Song–Đại Việt war | 0.25–0.4 million[187][188] | 1075–1077 | Song Dynasty vs.Đại Việt | Indochina | |
| Cuban Wars of Independence andSpanish–American War | 0.39 million[189][190] | 1868–1898 | United States,Cuban Revolutionaries, andPhilippine Revolutionaries vs.Spanish Empire | Caribbean and the Philippines | |
| South Sudanese Civil War | 0.38 million[191] | 2013–2020 | South Sudan vs.SPLM-IO,Nuer White Army, andSSDM | South Sudan | |
| Yemeni civil war | 0.37 million[192][193] | 2014–present | Multiple sides | Yemen | |
| War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | 0.36 million[194][195] | 2001–2021 | Taliban and allies vs. United States-led coalition and the Afghan Government[j] | Afghanistan | |
| Boko Haram insurgency | 0.35 million[196] | 2009–present | Multinational Joint Task Force vs.Boko Haram | Nigeria | |
| Franco-Dutch War | 0.34 million[197] | 1672–1678 | Kingdom of France vs.Dutch Republic | Western Europe | |
| Ottoman–Venetian wars | 0.34 million[198][199] | 1415–1718 | Ottoman Empire vs.Holy League | Mediterranean Sea, Greece, and Cyprus | |
| Liberian Civil Wars andSierra Leone Civil War | 0.3–0.32 million[200][201][202] | 1989–2003 | Liberian government,Revolutionary United Front vs.National Patriotic Front of Liberia,Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, Movement for Democracy in Liberia,Sierra Leone | West Africa | |
| Cambodian Civil War | 0.27–0.31 million[203][204][205][111] | 1967–1975 | Khmer Rouge and allies vs.Kingdom of Cambodia, later theKhmer Republic, and allies | Indochina | |
| Goguryeo–Sui War | 0.3 million[206][207] | 598–614 | Sui Dynasty vs.Goguryeo | Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula | |
| Carlist Wars | 0.3 million[208] | 1833–1876 | Carlists vs.Liberals andRepublicans | Iberian Peninsula | |
| Iraqi conflict | 0.27–0.3 million[209] | 2003–2017 | Multiple sides | Levant | |
| Gulf War | 0.17–0.3 million[210][211] | 1990–1991[k] | Kuwait and the United States-led coalition vs.Iraq | Kuwait and Iraq | |
| Social War (91–87 BC) | 0.1–0.3 million[212][99] | 91–87 BCE | Roman Republic and allies vs. Marsic and Samnite rebels, and allies | Italian Peninsula | |
| Roman conquest of Britain | 0.13–0.29 million[213][214][215] | 43–84 | Roman Empire vs.Celtic Britons | Great Britain | |
| Philippine–American War | 0.21–0.28 million[216][217] | 1899–1913 | United States vs.Philippine Republic, later Tagalog Republic, Sultanate of Sulu, and Sultanate of Maguindanao | Philippines | |
| Kalinga War | 0.25 million[218] | 262–261 BCE | Maurya Empire vs.Kalinga | South Asia | |
| First Congo War | 0.25 million[219] | 1996–1997 | Zaire vs.AFDL | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Cristero War | 0.25 million[220] | 1926–1929 | Mexico vs.Cristeros | Mexico | |
| Greek War of Independence | 0.24 million[221][222] | 1821–1829 | Ottoman Empire vs. SeparatistFirst Hellenic Republic | Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula | |
| Myanmar conflict | 0.23 million[223][224] | 1948–present | National Unity Government of Myanmar vs. State Administration Council | Myanmar | |
| American Revolution | 0.18–0.23 million[225][226] | 1775–1783 | American Patriots vs.Great Britain | North America | |
| Chechen conflict | 0.08–0.23 million[l] | 1994–2009 | Russia vs. SeparatistChechen Republic of Ichkeria | Caucasus | |
| Indian Annexation of Hyderabad | 0.2 million[233][234] | 1947–1948 | India vs.Hyderabad | South Asia | |
| La Violencia | 0.2 million[235] | 1948–1958 | Colombian Conservative Party vs.Colombian Liberal Party | South America | |
| Greco-Persian Wars | 0.2 million[236] | 499–449 BCE | Greek city-states vs.Achaemenid Empire | Southeast Europe, West Asia, and Northeast Africa | |
| Arab–Israeli conflict | 0.2 million[m] | 1948[n]–present | Israel vs.Arab League,Iran,Hezbollah,Hamas, and theHouthi movement | Levant | |
| Guatemalan Civil War | 0.14–0.2 million[242][243] | 1960–1996 | Government of Guatemala vs. Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | Central America | |
| North Yemen Civil War | 0.1–0.2 million[244][245] | 1962–1970 | Kingdom of Yemen vs. Yemen Arab Republic | Yemen | |
| Italo-Senussi Wars | 0.07–0.2 million[246][247][248] | 1911–1934 | Kingdom of Italy vs.Senusiyya,Ottoman Empire | North Africa | |
| Portuguese Colonial War | 0.14–0.18 million[249][250][251] | 1961–1974 | Estado Novo vs.MPLA,PAIGC,FNLA, among others | Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique | |
| Thousand Days' War | 0.1–0.18 million[252] | 1899–1902 | Colombian Conservative Party vs.Colombian Liberal Party | South America | |
| Sri Lankan Civil War | 0.08–0.17 million[253][254] | 1983[o]–2009 | Sri Lankan government vs. SeparatistLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | Sri Lanka | |
| Civil conflict in the Philippines | 0.16 million[256][257] | 1968–present | Filipino government vs.Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,Communist Party of the Philippines, andAbu Sayyaf | Philippines | |
| Russo-Japanese War | 0.12–0.16 million[258] | 1904–1905 | Empire of Japan vs.Russian Empire | East Asia | |
| Sudanese civil war (2023–present) | 0.15 million[259][260] | 2023–present | Sudan and allies vs.Rapid Support Forces and allies | Sudan | |
| Algerian Civil War | 0.15 million[261] | 1992–2002 | Multiple sides | North Africa | |
| Lebanese Civil War | 0.12–0.15 million[262][263][264] | 1975–1990 | Multiple sides | Levant | |
| Greek Civil War | 0.08–0.15 million[265][266][111] | 1946–1949 | Kingdom of Greece vs.Provisional Democratic Government | Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula | |
| Yugoslav Wars | 0.13–0.14 million[267][268] | 1991–2001 | Separatist forces andNATO vs.Yugoslavia, laterFederal Republic of Yugoslavia | Balkans | |
| Irish Nine Years' War | 0.13 million[269] | 1593–1603 | Kingdom of England vs. Irish rebels | Ireland | |
| Chaco War | 0.08–0.13 million[270][271][272] | 1932–1935 | Paraguay vs. Bolivia | South America | |
| Kurdish–Turkish conflict | 0.12 million[273][274] | 1921–2025 | Turkey vs.Kurdish Republic of Ararat, laterKurdistan Worker's Party | Middle East | |
| Federal War | 0.1 million[275] | 1859–1863 | Federal Venezuelan rebels vs. Conservative Venezuelan government | South America | |