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People in Scotland are nearly twice as likely to meet a violent death as those in England and Wales, a survey by this newspaper has found. Now the Government has set up an inquiry to find out why. Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent, reveals where you are most likely to die by another's hand.

Living north of the border or in most of England's major cities would appear to be bad for your health, and several rural areas are also surprisingly risky with high homicide rates. Detailed analysis of the 918 recorded homicides in 1996 in England, Wales and Scotland, reveals a fascinating snapshot of killing in Britain.

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Why Scotland has such high homicide rates is now subject of a six-month government-funded study, which started last week. Professor Keith Soothill, of the Social Research department at Lancaster University, and Brian Francis, a statistician, will examine whether the rates are due to the different Scottish and English legal systems. They will also examine whether social and economic factors play a role. They hope to include aspects such as poverty and the consumption of drugs and alcohol - drink was cited by the a senior Scottish police officer as the main cause of violence in his region. The shooting dead of 17 people in Dunblane distorts many statistics for 1996 and because of its unique circumstances has been generally ignored in this report.