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The United States Department of State has placed 23 countries on its highest-risk travel advisory, Level 4, urging Americans to avoid all travel to these destinations for any reason.
“Level 4 means DO NOT TRAVEL. We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there,” the department said in a notice posted on Thursday.
“These places are dangerous. Do not go for ANY reason.”
The 11 African countries on the Level 4 list are Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
The other countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma (Myanmar), Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.
We issue Travel Advisories with Levels 1 – 4. Level 4 means DO NOT TRAVEL. We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there. These places are dangerous. Do not go for ANY reason.
The Travel Advisories for the following countries are… pic.twitter.com/sJENffZftL— TravelGov (@TravelGov) July 15, 2026
The advisory comes months after the State Department retained Nigeria at Level 3: Reconsider Travel, while designating several Nigerian states as Level 4: Do Not Travel due to security concerns.
Americans are urged to avoid Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, and northern Adamawa states in the North, as well as Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states (excluding Port Harcourt) in the South-South and South-East.
According to the advisory, Americans are urged to reconsider travel to Nigeria because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and inconsistent healthcare services, while travel to designated Level 4 states is strongly discouraged.
Reacting to the tags, the Nigerian government described the US decision as a “routine precaution guided by internal protocols” which does not reflect the country’s situation.
Minister of Information Mohammed Idris said while there are “isolated security challenges” in Nigeria, there is no breakdown of law and order, noting that the country remains stable.
The US Department of State said it issues travel advisories with levels 1–4, with Level 4 assigned based on local conditions and/or its limited ability to help Americans there.
