High-intensity conflict within a single country

Civil war is a form of high-intensity conflict that takes place within the boundaries of a single country

Struggle for power or policy changes by organized groups

According to scholars, civil war is a struggle for power or policy changes waged by organized groups at the national or regional level

Involvement of the state as a combatant

The state itself must be one of the combatants in a civil war, as clarified by Ann Hironaka

Minimum number of casualties

The academic community debates the criteria for labeling a conflict as a civil war, with a common threshold being a minimum of 1,000 casualties

Additional criteria for casualties on each side

Some scholars add that at least 100 deaths must occur on each side for a conflict to be considered a civil war

Correlates of War project's definition of civil war

The Correlates of War project considers conflicts with over 1,000 war-related deaths per year to be civil wars

Number of civil wars from 1816 to 1997

Research using the 1,000 casualties per year benchmark indicates that from 1816 to 1997, there were 213 civil wars

Increase in civil wars post-1944

The majority of civil wars occurred post-1944, according to research using the 1,000 casualties per year benchmark

Ongoing civil wars as of 2007

As of 2007, there were over 90 civil wars with a cumulative total of 1,000 casualties, with 20 of them still ongoing

Coverage of "armed conflicts not of an international character"

The Geneva Conventions, which establish international law for wartime conduct, cover "armed conflicts not of an international character," including civil wars

International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) guidance on applying the Conventions to civil wars

The ICRC has provided guidance on how the Geneva Conventions apply to civil wars, noting the deliberately broad and flexible language used

Factors determining the applicability of the Conventions to civil wars

The ICRC identifies several factors, such as the presence of an organized military force in rebellion and adherence to the laws of war, that determine the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to civil wars