Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Harassment or intimidation of specific religious groups occurred in 159 countries in 2014, down somewhat from 2013 (164). The world’s two largest religious groups, Christians and Muslims, continued to be harassed in the most countries, and there was a notable increase in the number of countries in which Jews and Hindus were harassed. Harassment of […]
For the latest data on government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion, read our report “More Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023” and visit the interactive “Religious restrictions around the world.” Worldwide, both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion decreased modestly from 2013 to 2014 despite a rise in religion-related […]
Standard lists of history’s most influential religious leaders – among them Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) – tend to be predominantly, if not exclusively, male. Many religious groups, including Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews, allow only men to be clergy, while others, including some denominations in the evangelical Protestant tradition, have lifted that restriction only in recent decades. Yet it often appears that the ranks of the faithful are dominated by women.
Pew Research Center data on frequency of attendance at worship services are available in 81 countries, where an average of 48% of men and 42% of women report attending worship services at least once a week. However, the pattern of attendance varies considerably across these countries: This distinctive pattern at the country level is largely […]