Religious restrictions among the world’s most populous countries
Levels of restrictions and hostilities vary tremendously by country, from some of the lowest in the world (South Africa) to among the very highest (Indonesia).
Angelina E. Theodorou
Former Research Analyst
Angelina E. Theodorou is a former research analyst focusing on religion at Pew Research Center.
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5 facts about religious hostilities in Europe
Harassment and attacks against religious minorities continue in many countries there, and hostilities against Jews in particular have been spreading.
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64 countries have religious symbols on their national flags
Of the 64 countries in this category, about half have Christian symbols (48%) and about a third include Islamic religious symbols (33%).
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27 countries limit a woman’s ability to pass citizenship to her child or spouse
To most Americans, citizenship, like DNA, seems like something a parent passes to a child without thought or effort. And indeed, for fathers around the world, that’s almost universally true. But one-in-seven countries currently have laws or policies prohibiting or limiting the rights of women to pass citizenship to a child or non-citizen spouse.
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As FIFA attempts to curb racism at the World Cup, a look at hate speech laws worldwide
Hate-speech laws exist in 89 countries around the world (45%). In some countries, the laws protect only certain religious or social groups, while others have broader laws, covering words or actions that insult, denigrate or intimidate a person or group based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other traits.
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How religious harassment varies by region across the globe
Here’s a region-by-region look at where religious harassment takes place, and to which groups.
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Religious police found in nearly one-in-ten countries worldwide
As of 2012, at least 17 nations have police that enforce religious norms. Religion police forces are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, and are also found in the Asia-Pacific and in sub-Saharan Africa.
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