Data Review
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Review of The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (1997): The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
Version 1.0, published: May 4, 2025.
Description
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a project created by Clionadh Raleigh (University of Sussex) that is operating as a non-profit, non-governmental organization since 2014 (1). The ACLED is a disaggregated data collection listing political violence and protest events around the world (ACLED 2019: 8), covering the timespan from 1997 to the present day (6). The ACLED research team defines political violence as: “[…] the use of force by a group with a political purpose or motivation, or with distinct political effects.” (ACLED 2019: 8). The dataset was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of political disorder around the world (ACLED 2019: 8).
As of summer 2024, the data collection is continuing, with the dataset consistently being reviewed and updated on a weekly basis. For the Europe and Central Asia region covered by Discuss Data, the dataset contains 400.000+ entries. The Discuss Data relevant country coverage begins in 2018 and includes the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan (ACLED 2019: 3). Which together total around 236.000 entries.
The data review contains a link leading to the official ACLED website from which the dataset, as well as additional information about the dataset in the form of a codebook and other descriptive texts are available for download. The download of the dataset requires a free registration on the ACLED website.
Countries
Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Other Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan
Keywords
Protests Political Violence Identity Groups Riots Demonstrations Battles Violence Against Civilians Strategic Developments Global Explosions/Remote Violence Violent Non-Violent Political Agents Governments Rebels Militias Political Parties External Forces Rioters Protesters Civilians