Christians faced widespread harassment in 2015, but mostly in Christian-majority countries
Christians were harassed by governments or social groups in a total of 128 countries in 2015 – more countries than any other religious group.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Christians were harassed by governments or social groups in a total of 128 countries in 2015 – more countries than any other religious group.
By 2060, more than four-in-ten Christians and 27% of Muslims around the world will call sub-Saharan Africa home.
While many, especially in the U.S., may associate Islam with the Middle East or North Africa, nearly two-thirds of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region.
While the world’s population is projected to grow 32% in the coming decades, the number of Muslims is expected to increase by 70% – from 1.8 billion in 2015 to nearly 3 billion in 2060.
Muslim women have made greater educational gains than Muslim men in most regions of the world.
In 2014, the median level of religious hostilities in the Middle East and North Africa reached a level four times that of the global median.
Government restrictions on religion and social hostilities related to religion decreased somewhat between 2013 and 2014, the second consecutive year of such declines.
Israeli Muslims actually place less emphasis on religion and some of the key pillars of their faith than do Muslims in neighboring countries.
A historic event within global Christianity is set to take place Friday as Pope Francis meets Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Cuba – the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches since the Orthodox tradition broke away from Catholicism nearly 1,000 years ago.
A Pew Research Center survey of Israel provides a rare window into the religious beliefs and practices of this close-knit group.
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