Every day thousands of children pick up a gun and go to war. Others trudge miles in the searing heat to look for water and food. Some have to do both.

This factfile highlights the most dangerous places in the world to be a child as judged by a Reuters AlertNet poll of humanitarian workers and journalists.

The three worst places are all in Africa where war and drought has brought death, disease and displacement to millions.

But not all the regions named are ravaged by conflict. India is ranked sixth - reasons given include poverty, malnutrition and child labour.

Click on the links above to find out more. To discover who voted for what click on the In Detail tab.

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