Nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion people live in countries which experienced a substantial rise in either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion betweenmid-2006 and mid-2009.
An estimated 214 million people worldwide reside in a country other than the one where they were born. The U.S. is home to more migrants than any other country — 42.8 million.
Large majorities of people in three former Soviet republics — Russia (82%), Lithuania (91%) and Ukraine (95%) — believe that politicians far more than ordinary people have benefited from the changes that have taken place in their countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries, including several of the world’s most populous nations.
Majorities or pluralities in 21 of 25 countries surveyed believe Obama will get the U.S. to take significant measures to control global climate change.