Information came from the 45 countries that responded to a questionnaire survey designed by the United Nations Center for International Crime Prevention. Seventeen countries abolished capital punishment during 1994-98; four more did so in 1999. One country reintroduced the death penalty, although it did not enforce it. Opposition to abolition of capital punishment exists mainly in the Middle East, North Africa, and the continent of Asia. The United States and 38 States, together with the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean, are the only jurisdictions in the Western hemisphere to retain the death penalty. In addition, the laws of many countries provide for capital punishment for a wide range of offenses, far beyond the crime of murder. Moreover, the low response rate to the survey precluded gauging the extent to which countries are complying with other safeguards. Tables, footnotes, and appended tables