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Red: Practicing Death Penalty
White: Abolished

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The death penalty started in the 1700s when William the Conquerer started executing in order to increase his power.

It started in colonial America, where the first recorded execution was in 1604 in Jamestown, Virginia. Captain George Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain.

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In what states is the death penalty practiced today?

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In what states is the death penalty practiced today?

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There are 31 states that practice the death penalty (red).
19 states do not have the death penalty (teal).

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In what countries is the death penalty practiced today?

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In what countries is the death penalty practiced today?

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95% of executions are conducted in one of these six countries: China, Iran, the United States, Pakistan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. In total 57 countries still consider the death penalty to be legal.

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Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult behind the deadly 1995 Sarin attack on the Tokyo underground have been executed.

It may come as a surprise to many to learn that Japan, a nation associated with tranquil temples and modernity, still has the death penalty. Indeed, it is one of just a handful of states considered to be "industrialised" that still executes criminals, the others being the US, Singapore and Taiwan.

As the map above shows, every European country has abolished it, with one exception: Belarus. Often dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship", it executed two people in 2017 and more than 200 since 1990. A large number of Caribbean nations still have the death penalty too, including St Lucia, Barbados and Antigua.

Credit: rannica - Fotolia/Picasa

The most recent countries to abolish capital punishment include Burkina Faso (2018), Guinea (2017), Benin (2016), and Madagascar (2015).

The 53 countries that have the death penalty

Total executions in 2017

According to Amnesty International, 23 countries carried out at least 993 executions last year (down on the 1,032 that took place in 2016, and the 1,634 that occurred in 2015). However, the real figure is likely to be much higher.

"China remained the world's top executioner - but the true extent of the use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least 993 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China," explains the human rights organisation. "Excluding China, 84 per cent of all reported executions took place in just four countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.

"Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates resumed executions in 2017. Amnesty International did not record executions in five countries − Botswana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan and Taiwan − that carried out executions in 2016."

See its website for a full breakdown of facts and figures.

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Mapped: The 53 places that still have the death penalty - including Japan

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Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult behind the deadly 1995 Sarin attack on the Tokyo underground have been executed. It may come as a surprise to many to learn that Japan, a nation associated with tranquil temples and modernity, still has the death penalty.