The highest percentages of national populations killed during periods of mass brutality

The highest percentages of national populations killed during periods of mass brutality:

Here are the raw numbers:

Country	Event	Years	Deaths ('000s)	Population ('000s)	Percent
SW Africa	Herero War	1904-07	75	200	38%
Cambodia	Pol Pot	1975-79	1,670	7,890	21%
Congo F.S.	Leopold	1888-1908	3,000	15,000	20%
Poland	WW2	1939-45	5,400	27,200	20%
Equat'l Guinea	Nguermo	1972-79	50	279	18%
Turkey	WW1	1914-18	2,475	16,000	15%
Serbia	WW1	1914-18	695	5,500	13%
USSR	Stalin	1923-53	20,000	162,000	12%
USSR	WW2	1939-45	18,000	162,000	11%
Afghanistan	Civil War	1979-95	1,500	15,100	10%
Yugoslavia	WW2	1939-45	1,600	15,800	10%
North Korea	Korean War	1950-53	700	7,236	10%
Mexico	Revolution	1910-20	1,500	15,200	10%
Bulgaria	WW1	1915-18	351	4,020	9%
Liberia	Civil War	1989-93	175	2,000	9%
Romania	WW1	1915-18	611	6,850	9%
Rwanda	Genocide	1995-96	500	5,400	9%
Lybia	Sanusi	1911-31	100	1,200	8%
Somalia	Civil War	1991-97	350	4,600	8%
Sudan	Civil War	1983-97	1,500	19,900	8%
S. Vietnam	Vietnam War	1965-73	1,050	15,700	7%
Germany	WW2	1939-45	5,260	76,800	7%
Romania	WW2	1940-45	900	15,300	6%
Mozambique	Civil War	1975-95	800	12,700	6%
Lebanon	Civil War	1975-95	150	2,437	6%
Angola	Civil War	1975-94	400	6,800	6%
Russia	Civil War	1917-20	6,000	108,200	6%
Poland	post-WW2	1945-47	1,400	23,900	6%
Burundi	Genocide	1972-73	130	2,650	5%
Greece	WW1	1915-18	137	2,600	5%
China	Mao	1949-75	40,000	735,000	5%
Paraguay	Chaco War	1932-35	50	1,100	5%
Ethiopia	Civil War	1962-91	1,400	30,500	5%
Greece	WW2	1939-45	350	7,300	5%

Don't take my word for it. You can fiddle with the numbers all you want. You can slide them up or down the margin of error. You can decide that some of these outrages happened a lot faster than others, so maybe we should determine the percentage killed per year instead of the percentage killed overall.

You might decide that nations are not the proper unit of measurement. Instead, we should determine the percentage of the effected group (as in 2/3 of European Jews) or region (as in 1/3 of the population of East Timor).

The problem is, with each manipulation of the data, it becomes more likely that we are merely trying to cook up some numbers to support our preconceptions. Therefore, it's probably best to keep it simple. "The Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia led to the death of 1/10 of the population," and "Pol Pot killed 1/5 of the people in Cambodia" are a lot easier to understand and explain than "seen as a percentage of the non-belligerent population of domestic ethnic groups killed per year, [fill-in] was the most brutal regime of the 20th Century, followed distantly by [fill-in]".

By Race, Religion and Regime:

Country	Event	Years	Culture or Race	Religion	Regime
SW Africa	Herero War	1904-07	European colony in Africa	Christian v. Tribal	Constitutional monarchy
Cambodia	Pol Pot	1975-79	Asian	Atheist v. Buddhist	Communist
Congo F.S.	Leopold	1888-1908	European colony in Africa	Christian v. Tribal	Private Property
Poland	WW2	1939-45	European	Christian	Conquered by Fascists
Equat'l Guinea	Nguermo	1972-79	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Turkey	WW1	1914-18	Middle East	Moslem v. Christian	Monarchy
Serbia	WW1	1914-18	European	Christian	Monarchy
USSR	Stalin	1923-53	European	Atheist	Communist
USSR	WW2	1939-45	European	Atheist	Invaded by Fascists
Afghanistan	Civil War	1979-95	Middle East	Moslem	Unstable Communist
Yugoslavia	WW2	1939-45	European	Christian	Conquered by Fascists
North Korea	Korean War	1950-53	Asian	Atheist	Communist
Mexico	Revolution	1910-20	Latin American	Christian	Authoritarian
Bulgaria	WW1	1915-18	European	Christian	Monarchy
Liberia	Civil War	1989-93	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Romania	WW1	1915-18	European	Christian	Monarchy
Rwanda	Genocide	1995-96	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Libya	Sanusi	1911-31	European colony in North Africa	Christian v. Moslem	Constituional monarchy, later Fascist
Somalia	Civil War	1991-97	African	Moslem	Authoritarian
Sudan	Civil War	1983-97	African	Moslem v. Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
S. Vietnam	Vietnam War	1965-73	Asian	Atheist v. Buddhist, Christian	Communist v. Authoritarian
Germany	WW2	1939-45	European	Christian, neo-Teutonic Occultist	Fascist
Romania	WW2	1940-45	European	Christian	Fascist
Mozambique	Civil War	1975-95	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Lebanon	Civil War	1975-95	Middle East	Christian v. Moslem	Democracy
Angola	Civil War	1975-94	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Russia	Civil War	1917-20	European	Christian	Communist v. Authoritarian
Poland	post-WW2	1945-47	European	Christian	Democracy
Burundi	Genocide	1972-73	African	Christian, Tribal	Authoritarian
Greece	WW1	1915-18	European	Christian	Monarchy
China	Mao	1949-75	Asian	Atheist v. Traditional	Communist
Paraguay	Chaco War	1932-35	Latin American	Christian	Authoritarian
Ethiopia	Civil War	1962-91	African	Christian v. Moslem	Monarchy, Unstable Communist
Greece	WW2	1939-45	European	Christian	conquered by Fascists

Source: Matthew White