Aon Hewitt recently released the 2012 People Risk Index, ranking131 cities worldwide based on the risk that organizations withinthe cities face with recruitment, employment and relocation.

To measure the cities' risk level, Aon analyzed factors such asdemographics, access to education, talent development, employmentpractices and government regulations.

“With increasing labor costs and continued economic volatilityaround the world, leaders of global organizations understand thattalent management is crucial to the success of their businessoperations,” says Rick Payne, regional Talent and Rewards practiceleader for Aon Hewitt in Asia Pacific. “Identifying locations andformulating a successful workforce planning strategy involveslooking beyond cost.”

In this slideshow, we present the top five highest risk cities(ranked 126 through 131) and the top five lowest risk cities(ranked one through five). See the full list here.

Click “next” to see if yourcity made the top five highest and lowest risk cities in theworld.

Highest Risk: Damascus, Syria

Ranking dead last among the 131 cities listed is Damascus,Syria.

Political turmoil and lack of stable governments increase thepeople risks in the highest-risk cities. With the ongoing uprisingin Syria, it's no surprise that its capital city is considered thehighest-risk city on Aon's list.

Highest Risk: Sana'a, Yemen

Sana'a, Yemen is the second highest-risk city on the list,coming in at 130.

Along with other Middle Eastern countries, Yemen experiencedmass uprisings in early 2011 against factors including unemploymentand economic conditions that are continuing today, impacting thecountry's ability to implement and enforce business-friendlyemployment practices and invest in talent developmentinitiatives.

Highest Risk: Baghdad, Iraq

Coming in at 129 is Baghdad, Iraq.

The People Risk Index notes that the highest risk cities alsohave significant risks in recruiting talent, as educations systemsare unable to keep up with demand, making it difficult fororganizations to find sufficiently-skilled workers.

In recent years, war and political unrest have negativelyimpacted the education system in Iraq, causing widespreadilliteracy as well as inadequate education for women.

Highest Risk: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

After numerous costly wars and political unrest in its recenthistory, Ethiopia's economy is hurting, helping its capital AddisAbaba rank 128 on the 2012 People Risk Index.

Highest Risk: Lagos, Nigeria

The last of the top five highest risk cities is Lagos, Nigeria,which is tied at 126 with Tripoli, Libya.

“Working age populations are expected to grow in many high riskcities over the next decade, which will expand the future laborpool and increase opportunities for organizations to recruit andredeploy talent,” says Payne. “As this happens, we expect thedemographic risks in these cities will improve over time.”

Lowest Risk: London

London is tied at number four in the top five lowest riskcities.

According to Payne, “Government support strongly correlates withpeople risk. Cities with low risk typically have a government thatis transparent, non-confrontational, deals with employment issuesfairly and promotes education and talent development initiatives.Employers in these cities are less likely to be surprised bychanges in government policies on employment, health care andretirement and they have better support in terms of workforcedevelopment.”

Lowest Risk: Montreal

Montreal is among the five lowest risk cities (tied in fourthplace with London) primarily due to Canada's strict enforcement ofequal opportunity laws, clear government-mandated health andretirement benefits, low levels of corruption and the high qualityand broad availability of training facilities.

Lowest Risk: Singapore

Singapore is the only city outside of Europe and North Americaamong the five lowest risk cities, according to the index.Contributing to its number three rating are its strict laws ondiscrimination and occupational health and safety, flexibility onpersonnel costs, lack of corruption and willingness to work withthe private sector on human resources related issues. Singaporealso has low terrorism and political risks and strong governmentsupport.

Lowest Risk: Toronto

While Toronto has low employment and redeployment risk, thecity's recruitment risks are higher than the other top five citiesbecause of its relatively small working age population and lowerimmigration rates.

Lowest Risk: New York City

New York ranked lowest in demographics risk based on its largeworking age population, positive immigration rate and highworkforce productivity.

New York's education and talent development risks also are amongthe lowest in the world. This can be attributed to world-classeducational institutions and training facilities, and a large poolof qualified and experienced talent.

However, the index showed that the city has higher employmentrisk than the other top five cities, mainly due to higher violenceand crime rates, and higher health care and benefits liabilityrisks.