The Human Cost
3,200,000
disputed broad estimate
The 3.2 million display allocation is disputed. Military and civilian losses vary sharply by government and include massacre, bombing, execution, disease, and missing persons; displacement is not represented.
Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.
Working allocation: 1,200,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.
2,000,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.
How Korean War's dead compare to other conflicts and events.
36,574 dead
U.S. combat dead — more than Vietnam, less remembered