In this post, we list and discuss the 25 Biggest Countries in Do Not Travel List. If you would like to skip our detailed discussion of the topic, you can go directly to the 5 Biggest Countries in Do Not Travel List.
Four years back, during COVID-19, the travel and tourism industry came to an abrupt halt. However, it is now making a gradual return to its pre-pandemic heights. The UNWTO predicted the tourism industry to recover 90% of pre-COVID levels at year-end 2023. In February 2024 alone, over 4.9 million US citizens traveled outside the country, according to the International Trade Administration’s data.
Another recent report published by UN Tourism forecasts that the international tourism industry will fully recover its pre-pandemic levels by 2024 — with a strong travel stream from the US due to the rising strength of the US dollar. Since the pandemic, people have realized globally the importance of a living-for-experiences lifestyle, and have started to invest more in different forms of travel such as “wellness travel”. At the same time, however, persisting inflation, high-interest rates, volatile oil prices, and disruptions to trade are causing transport and accommodation costs to rise. Therefore, tourists are now opting for cheaper destinations that are closer to their home country, and adopting sustainable practices.
Another factor that is now affecting the travel industry is the mounting geopolitical tensions and conflict eruptions across the world. Travelers are more cautious about their travels and are willing to learn more about the potential risks of traveling to their desired destinations. So, to help US travelers navigate their travels safely, The U.S. State Department issues individual travel advisory levels for over 200 countries worldwide. These are updated frequently and are ranked based on several risk factors, such as health, terrorism, and civil unrest.
The US Travel Advisory’s ranking has four levels. Level 1 means that the country has no major safety risks, but travelers should still exercise normal precautions. When risks to safety and security are heightened in a country, it gets a level 2 rating. Similarly, the level 3 travel advisory countries pose serious risks to the safety and security of citizens as well as tourists. Someone who’s planning to travel to level 3 countries is advised to reconsider their travel by the advisory board. The Department of State provides additional guidance to those already in such regions through its website.
If a country has a travel advisory of level 4, it means that travelers should not travel to that country at all. That’s because there is a greater likelihood of falling victim to acts of terrorism, being kidnapped, or getting stuck amidst conflict. Plus, in an emergency, the US government has little to no means to assist its citizens in level 4 advisory countries. Therefore, they are listed as “do not travel” countries. There are also a few countries labeled as “other.” For example, China. That’s because, there are parts of the country that are safe to travel to, parts where caution needs to be exercised, and areas where travel needs to be reconsidered due to safety concerns. So, countries listed as “others” by the travel advisory may or may not be safe depending on which area or parts the tourists travel to.
For those wanting to travel to these “other” countries, or countries with level 3 and 4 warnings despite being advised not to, the advisory has laid out guidelines that need to be followed. Individuals may also reach out to travel risk management (TRM) companies; they identify, assess, and mitigate risks to protect individuals during their travel to a high-risk area.
Some key players in the global travel risk management services industry include Everbridge Inc (NASDAQ:EVBG), Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (MIL:G.MI)’s GGA.
Everbridge Inc (NASDAQ: EVBG), a global leader in critical event management (CEM) and safety software applications, is a company that provides information about critical events and helps travelers with personal safety and business continuity. Essentially, it allows users to send notifications to individuals, groups, lists, and geographic locations so they can anticipate, mitigate, and respond to emergency situations. The company has over 160 patents to its name, representing its dedication to innovation and technology. In 2023, Everbridge Inc (NASDAQ: EVBG) received a new patent related to incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in analytics dashboards for CEM software systems.
Meanwhile, Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) is an American travel technology company that owns and operates several aggregators across the travel industry. Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) ensures the safety of travelers in remote or dangerous locations through a comprehensive approach that includes developing and sharing a safety toolkit that identifies the health and safety risks to the travelers. Moreover, Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) has also incorporated generative AI into some of its features and products targeted to travelers.
Lastly, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (MIL:G.MI)’s Generali Global Assistance (GGA) is a company that offers travel risk management solutions as well as sharing resources regarding unforeseen safety and security risks, such as Hurricane Resources Center. Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (MIL:G.MI) also owns GMMI, which is a global medical risk management company
Below, we list the biggest countries on the US Travel Advisory’s Do Not Travel list.
Our Methodology
For our list of the 25 Biggest Countries in Do Not Travel List, we have sourced our data from the US Travel Advisories. To rank the list for the biggest countries, we have considered the area of each country and sourced our data from the CIA’s database. Note that there are only 19 countries on the US Do Not Travel list, but some countries on the Reconsider Travel list have large portions of the country listed as “do not travel.” Therefore, we have included six level 3 countries on our list too. The list is in ascending order of area.
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25 Biggest Countries in Do Not Travel List
25. Lebanon
Total land area (sq km): 10,400
Lebanon, a country in the Middle East, has been issued a level 3 warning by the Travel Advisory. The government asks tourists to reconsider their choice to travel to Lebanon because even though it’s a beautiful country, there’s a high risk of tourists falling victim to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and armed conflict. Some areas also have increased risk, especially near the borders. The level 4 areas in Lebanon include the entire southern Lebanon, the Lebanon-Syria border, and Lebanon’s refugee settlements. The country’s safety status was last updated on January 29, 2024.
24. Jamaica
Total land area (sq km): 10,991
The 24th largest country on the list, Jamaica is also a level 3 country where violent crimes, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides are extremely common. Jamaica has fourteen parishes in total, and out of these, nine are marked as do not travel zones for tourists. Other level four areas in the country include the town of Yallahs, the Whitehall, Bethel Town, Red Ground neighborhoods of Negri, Green Vale, Gray Ground, and the Vineyard neighborhoods of Mandeville. The travel advisory last updated Jamaica’s safety status on January 23, 2024.
23. Haiti
Total land area (sq km): 27,750
Haiti is one of the most politically unstable countries in the world. It is marked as a do-not-travel country by the travel advisory since July 27, 2023, after the U.S. Department of State’s ordered departure of family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency U.S. government employees from the country. The State Department also advised all U.S. citizens in Haiti to depart Haiti as soon as possible through any commercial or private transportation available. Kidnapping, violent crime, armed robbery, carjackings, and civil unrest are extremely common in the country too.
22. North Korea
Total land area (sq km): 120,538
North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is classified as a do-not-travel country by the advisory because of the constant (and extremely serious) risks of arrest and long-term wrongful detention of U.S. nationals. As of 2024, all U.S. passports are invalid for travel to, in, or through North Korea unless specially validated by the authority of the Secretary of State. Since the U.S. government does not have any diplomatic or consular relations with DPRK, in cases of emergency, the American government is unable to provide services to its citizens.
21. Syria
Total land area (sq km): 187,437
Syria, a country in the Middle East, has a history that dates all the way back to over 700,000 years. However, most of its history comprises conflicts and destruction. Modern-day Syria is trapped in the clutches of a brutal multi-sided war that has been ongoing since 2011. A year after the war broke out, in February 2012, the US Embassy in Syria’s capital — Damascus — suspended its operations. As of 2024, the US government is still unable to provide any sort of emergency services to its citizens should they travel to Syria and face any issues. To this day, armed conflict is very much active in the country, meaning that no part of Syria is safe from violence. Given these factors and the state of terrorism and unrest in the country, the US Travel Advisory has issued a level 4 warning for Syria.
20. Belarus
Total land area (sq km): 207,600
The 20th biggest country on the list of countries on the Do Not Travel list, Belarus is also on the US Travel Advisory’s Do Not Travel list due to the country’s facilitation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It was last updated for safety concerns on July 26, 2023. The Belarusian authorities have detained thousands of people, including US citizens, for alleged affiliations with opposition parties and participation in political demonstrations. There is also the potential for civil unrest in the country. The U.S. Embassy has extremely limited ability to assist Americans in Belarus in case of emergencies. According to the advisory, the Department of State had ordered the departure of all its government employees in the country and had suspended U.S. Embassy operations in Minsk till further notice on February 28, 2022.
19. Burkina Faso
Total land area (sq km): 274,200
Burkina Faso is a landlocked low-income country in West Africa with a level four warning issued by the US Travel Advisory because of terrorism, crime, and kidnapping. The Government of Burkina Faso has also maintained a state of emergency in various regions across the country, and the U.S. government is unable to provide any emergency services to its citizens throughout most of Burkina Faso.
18. Iraq
Total land area (sq km): 438,317
Iraq is another one of the biggest countries with a level four warning on the State Department travel warning list. Aside from Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to American tourists in the country, Iraq earns its position on the do not travel list due to increasingly common occurrences of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, and civil unrest in the country. On October 20, 2023, the Department ordered the departure of its non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their eligible family members from its Embassy in Baghdad and U.S. Consulate General Erbil because of increased security threats against them.
17. Yemen
Total land area (sq km): 527,968
Yemen is yet another war-torn country in the Middle East. As of 2024, it is one of the poorest countries in the MENA region and is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The war in Yemen first broke out in 2014, and the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a (Yemen’s capital) suspended its operations in the country in February 2015. The advisory suggests not to travel to Yemen because of terrorism, civil unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, armed conflict, and landmines.
16. Ukraine
Total land area (sq km): 603,550
The Russia-Ukraine war first began in February 2014 when Russia began its annexation of Crimea. Since then, between 2015 and 2021, the line of conflict stabilized. However, on 24 February 2022, Russian forces once again began the invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a significant escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Since then, Ukraine has been marked as a do not travel country by the US Travel Advisory due to active armed conflict. The security situation in Ukraine remains unpredictable, and the Travel Advisory last updated the situation on May 22, 2023.
15. Central African Republic
Total land area (sq km): 622,984
The Central African Republic greatly lacks social cohesion and is a fragile country. The Travel Advisory has classified it as a do not travel country because even though there have been no prominent incidents of targeted violence or threats against US citizens, the Central African Republic is still very prone to civil unrest, demonstrations, and election-related violence. Embassy Bangui has extremely limited ability to provide support to U.S. citizens in case they fall victim to crime, civil unrest, and kidnapping. Plus, armed groups control large areas of the country and are known to frequently kidnap, injure, and/or kill civilians.
14. Somalia
Total land area (sq km): 637,657
Located in East Africa, Somalia is a do not travel list country because of crime, illegal roadblocks, physical abuse, terrorism, civil unrest, lack of medical facilities, kidnapping, “cultural rehabilitation centers”, and pirate activity. As reported by Amnesty International, the human rights situation in the country is at its worst, too.
13. South Sudan
Total land area (sq km): 644,329
South Sudan is also an East African country, and its population has been stuck in a deadly situation of armed conflict, economic decline, disease, and hunger since 2013. It is ranked as a level four country due to the high risk of violent crime – such as carjackings, shootings, ambushes, assaults, robberies, kidnapping, and armed conflict. Foreign nationals in the country have frequently fallen victim to rape, sexual assault, armed robberies, and other violent crimes.
12. Afghanistan
Total land area (sq km): 652,230
Ranked 12th on the list of 25 biggest countries in Do Not Travel list, Afghanistan is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. According to the Travel Advisory, no US citizen should travel to Afghanistan for any given reason. The US Embassy in Kabul suspended its operations in the country in 2021, when the Taliban established an “interim government” based in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Anyone who travels to the country puts themselves at risk of terrorism, wrongful detention, kidnapping, and crime, according to the US Travel Advisory.
11. Myanmar (Burma)
Total land area (sq km): 676,578
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is an Asian country with ongoing insurgencies since 1948. Mainly, the conflict has been ethnic-based. The US Travel Advisory has ranked it as a level four country due to civil unrest, armed conflict, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, limited and/or inadequate healthcare, emergency medical resources, land mines, wrongful detentions, and unexploded ordnances.
10. Venezuela
Total land area (sq km): 912,050
Venezuela is a South American country, listed by the travel advisory in their do not travel list because of the high violent crime rates, civil unrest, kidnapping, and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Wrongful detentions, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure are also major factors for this classification despite the country’s scenic beauty. The US Department of State withdrew all diplomatic personnel from the US Embassy in the country’s capital – Caracas – on March 11, 2019.
9. Nigeria
Total land area (sq km): 923,768
A country in West Africa, Nigeria is classified as a level 3 country by the travel advisory i.e., anyone considering to travel to Nigeria should reconsider because of continued risks of crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed gangs. Some areas have increased risk, and are listed as do not travel zones. These include the Borno, Yobe, Kogi, northern Adamawa,
Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states.
8. Ethiopia
Total land area (sq km): 1,104,300
Ethiopia, located in East Africa, is also one of the few level 3 countries on this list. The advisory suggests travelers reconsider going to Ethiopia because of sporadic violent conflict, civil unrest, crime, communications disruptions, terrorism, and kidnapping in border areas. The Tigray Region, the border with Eritrea, the Afar-Tigray border, the Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz Regions, the Oromia Region, Southern Nations and National People (SNNP) Region, the border with Sudan, the border with Kenya, and the border with Somalia are all the places listed as Do Not Travel in the travel advisory for Ethiopia.
7. Colombia
Total land area (sq km): 1,138,910
One of the top 10 biggest countries on the Do Not Travel list by the US Travel Advisory, Colombia is a South American country with a level 3 warning by the advisory. The country has an alarmingly high rate of crime, and constant threats of terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping. The Arauca department, Cauca department (excluding Popayán), Norte de Santander departments, and the Colombia-Venezuela border region are listed as do not travel areas in Colombia.
6. Mali
Total land area (sq km): 1,240,192
Ranked 6th, Mali is a landlocked West African country. The US Travel Advisory asks travelers not to go to Mali due to crime, terrorism, kidnapping, and roadblocks. Mali’s travel advisory details were last updated on July 13, 2023.
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Disclosure: None. 25 Biggest Countries in Do Not Travel List is originally published on Insider Monkey.