Although this template was made with table headers in mind, it can work with regular cells as well.

If the header cells have other attributes, for example, colspan or rowspan, there must be no vertical bar | between the attributes and the template call.

If your browser does not support CSS property writing-mode: vertical-rl that makes this template possible, it gracefully degrades to the default display of the table columns.

The |1= text can contain wikilinks ([[]]). You can escape the equals sign either by using {{=}} or by explicitly mentioning the |1= parameter. Styles may contain double quotes.

If you want to move or delete a column in the visual editor you will first need to change the vertical header to a regular header first. When done you can change it back.

• ! {{vert header|Your text here}} – basic example
• ! {{vert header|nb=1|Your text here}} – produces a no-bold, sortable header
• ! {{vert header|class=unsortable|va=top|Your text here}} – produces an unsortable, top-aligned table header
• ! colspan="2" {{vert header|cellstyle=background-color:gold|Your text here}} – produces a header spanning two columns, with a gold background; use no vertical bar after colspan

You can also use the ! {{verth|Your text here}} shorthand.

An example below (from Help:Sortable tables) with headers that span rows or columns (using rowspan and colspan). Note that there is no vertical bar | between rowspan=2 and {{vert header...}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 {{vert header|name}}
! colspan=2 {{vert header|class=unsortable|data columns}}
! rowspan=2 {{vert header|another column}}
|-
! {{vert header|data}}
! {{vert header|more data}}
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
| 1
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
| 2
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
| 3
|}

The example table below is adapted from a version of this article: List of countries with annual rates and counts for killings by law enforcement officers.

It illustrates how many columns can successfully be added to a table, and still be readable, even in a cell phone. It is important to make the sticky header less tall within cell phones. See {{sticky table start}}. This can be done by using the {{abbr}} template (shortening "Intelligence" to Intel in the vertical header). Also, one can eliminate a sticky header row ("Breakdown") by moving info to the caption. Narrow your browser window to see that the left column is also sticky. If using a 2-column vertical header ("Intel agencies" below) there must be at least one cell below it with a minimum of 3 characters. Otherwise the vertical text will move into an adjacent header cell in narrower screens or mobile.

List of countries with annual rates and counts for killings by law enforcement officers. With breakdown by police, etc..

Location	Region	Killings	Police	Military	Intel agencies	Other	Population	Rate per 10 million	Year listed	Notes	Source
Venezuela	Americas	5,286					28,887,118	1829.9	2019
El Salvador	Americas	1087					6,380,000	1703.8	2017
Syria	Asia	1,497					18,270,000	819	2019	In the context of the Syrian civil war
Philippines	Asia	6,069+					109,048,269	556.5	2016-2021	These are just the "Drug personalities who died in anti-drug operations" alone. Actual number is much higher.
Nicaragua	Americas	325+					6,218,000	522.7	2018	Up to 535
Jamaica	Americas	137	133	4	0	0	2,898,000	472.7	2018
Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	46	46	0	0	0	1,354,000	339.7	2014
Brazil	Americas	5,804					210,147,125	276.2	2019
Bahamas	Americas	11	11	0	0	0	399,285	275.7	2018
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	2	2	0	0	0	110,211	181.8	2018
Afghanistan	Asia	606	49	267	234	56	35,530,000	170.5	2018
Guyana	Americas	12+	12	0	0	0	787,076	152.5	2018
Dominican Republic	Americas	142	134	5	0	3	10,770,000	131.8	2017
South Africa	Africa	436					56,720,000	76.9	2017/8
Central African Republic	Africa	30+	30+				4,659,000	64.4	2015/6	18 documented executions with credible information about 12 other cases
Lesotho	Africa	19					2,233,000	63.8	2017/8	Data from 16 months, rate divided accordingly.
Burkina Faso	Africa	116					19,190,000	60.4	2018/9	From September 2018 to February 2019
Saint Lucia	Americas	1	1	0	0	0	178,844	56.2	2019
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	389					81,340,000	47.8	2018
Iraq	Asia	176+					39,309,783	45.1	2019
Nigeria	Africa	841					190,900,000	44.0	2018
Kenya	Africa	222					50,950,879	43.5	2018
Honduras	Americas	37					9,158,345	40.4	2019
Iran	Asia	304+					83,372,584	36.6	2019	Low estimate, real figure is likely to be higher
Burundi	Africa	39	10	1	2	26	10,860,000	35.9	2018	Data from 8 months, rate multiplied accordingly.
Uruguay	Americas	67					3,469,551	35.1	2014-2019	Data for 66 months, rate adjusted accordingly.
Angola	Africa	100+					28,810,000	34.7	2016	Data from capital city only.
Colombia	Americas	169	97	72	0	0	49,070,000	34.1	2017
United States	Americas	1,096	1,096				331,449,281	33.1	2022	Data compiled by The Washington Post. See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
Mali	Africa	60+					18,540,000	32.3	2018
Sudan	Africa	138+					43,110,000	32.1	2019
Rwanda	Africa	37+					11,920,000	31.0	2016/7
Mexico	Americas	371	145	170	0	56	124,041,731	30.0	2017
Bangladesh	Asia	466					164,700,000	28.3	2018
Pakistan	Asia	495					197,000,000	25.2	2017
Eswatini	Africa	3+					1,357,161	22.1	2019
Argentina	Americas	95					44,270,000	21.6	2019
Egypt	Africa	212					97,550,000	21.2	2018	Counted using graph
Malta	Europe	1	0	1	0	0	493,559	20.0	2019
Canada	Americas	69					37,060,000	18.6	2022	See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada
Luxembourg	Europe	1	1	0	0	0	590,321	16.9	2018
India	Asia	1,731	125			1606	1,380,000,000	12.54	2019	"Other" lists killings while in judicial custody. Official numbers are considerably lower. Official 2018 statistics show only 46 deaths in police custody and 24 deaths of people in police/judicial remand and an additional 21 civilian killed during police operations for a total of 91 nationally. See Table 16A and 16B.4 of Official Govt. of India publication: Crime in India 2018
Australia	Oceania	16	0	0	0	0	24,600,000	6.5	2019-2020
France	Europe	37	37				67,392,000	5.5	2021
Belgium	Europe	5	5				11,589,623	4.3	2021
Indonesia	Asia	77+					264,000,000	2.9	2018	As of August 17, 2018
Netherlands	Europe	24	24	0	0	0	17,440,000	13.7	2022	See database of deaths at the hands of the police:
New Zealand	Oceania	1	1	0	0	0	4,794,000	2.1	2018	One additional death ruled inconclusive
Norway	Europe	1	1	0	0	0	5,258,000	1.9	2016
Finland	Europe	1	1	0	0	0	5,503,000	1.8	2018
Nepal	Asia	5+	5	0	0	0	29,300,000	1.7	2019
Germany	Europe	11	11	0	0	0	82,887,000	1.3	2018	See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Germany
Hong Kong	Asia	1	1	0	0	0	7,392,000	1.3	2019	See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in China
Portugal	Europe	1	1	0	0	0	10,290,000	1.0	2018
Sweden	Europe	1	1	0	0	0	10,327,589	1.0	2019
Taiwan	Asia	2	2	0	0	0	23,580,000	0.8	2018
United Kingdom	Europe	3	3	0	0	0	66,040,229	0.5	2019	Fatal shootings. See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom
Poland	Europe	2	2	0	0	0	38,433,600	0.5	2020	See also: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Poland
Japan	Asia	2	2	0	0	0	127,185,332	0.2	2018
Denmark	Europe	0	0	0	0	0	5,873,420	0	2022
Iceland	Europe	0	0	0	0	0	350,000	0	2016	2013 was the only year in which police killed anybody
Switzerland	Europe	0	-	-	-	-	8,420,000	0	2018
Croatia	Europe	0	-	-	-	-	3,997,461	0	2022	-

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