Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
There are deep divisions in Israeli society over political values and religion’s role in public life — not only between Jews and the Arab minority, but also among the religious subgroups that make up Israeli Jewry.
Updated August 13, 2015: This new edition includes corrected estimates for Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Taiwan, and some related aggregated data. From 2001 to 2011, the poverty rate—the share of people living on $2 or less daily—fell in 83 of the 111 countries examined in this study.[1. numoffset=”38″ Countries that did not experience a […]
In 2010, 0.8% of the world’s population belonged to religious groups not classified elsewhere in this report. By 2050, adherents of other religions are expected to decline slightly as a share of the world’s population (to 0.7%). This “other religions” category includes followers of religions that are not specifically measured in surveys and censuses in […]
The number of Muslims around the world is projected to increase rapidly in the decades ahead, growing from about 1.6 billion in 2010 to nearly 2.8 billion in 2050.[1. numoffset=”40″ For more information about Islam and its major branches (Sunni and Shia), see “Defining the Religious Groups.”] Muslims are expected to grow twice as fast […]
More than nine-in-ten people in the Middle East and North Africa were Muslim as of 2010 (93%), and the share of the region’s population that is Muslim is expected to be slightly higher in 2050 (94%). The Middle East-North Africa region’s Muslim population is expected to grow by 74% from 2010 to 2050, from 317 […]
Survey Report The new Republican-led Congress is drawing harsh reviews from the public – including most Republicans. Just 23% of Americans say congressional Republicans are keeping the promises they made during last fall’s campaign, while 65% say they are not. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) say the new Congress has accomplished less than they expected, while 4% […]
President Obama enters the seventh year of his presidency in a familiar position when compared with his recent predecessors. His 47% job approval rating places him squarely between George W. Bush (33%) and Bill Clinton (63%) at similar points in their second terms. Obama’s rating is comparable to Ronald Reagan’s in January 1987 (49%), when […]
Americans head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with major international issues — the U.S. effort to counter Islamic State (IS) extremism, how to deal with Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, Russia, and President Barack Obama’s general handling of foreign policy — likely to play a role in their vote.
Countries With the Most Extensive Government Restrictions on Religion Most countries in the world have some form of government restrictions on religion, but each year a few countries stand out as having particularly extensive restrictions. In 2013, 18 countries had a “very high” level of government restrictions, down from 24 countries in 2012. Most of […]