The State Department considers five states in Mexico as dangerous for U.S. travelers as war-torn nations like Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Agency officials announced a new numbered classification system for world travel on Wednesday, replacing a confusing array of "travel alerts" and "travel warnings" found on its website. The information is officially for U.S. government employee travel guidance but also serves as a globetrotter's crash course of ongoing risks around the world.
The new classifications range from Level 1 ("Exercise normal precautions") for countries like Canada and Argentina, to Level 4 ("Do not travel"), the highest restriction reserved for active war zones such as Syria and authoritarian countries like North Korea.