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A former Soviet republic which declared its independence in 1991, Georgia is today a semi-presidential republic, lying at the intersection of Europe and Asia. While Georgia experienced a period of democratization from 2013 until 2017, observers consider that Georgia has experienced significant democratic and human rights backsliding since 2023.1 The […]

The Republic of Cyprus is a sovereign island State in southeastern Europe. Situated in the Mediterranean Sea, it is located close to Turkey (north), Syria and Lebanon (east), Israel (south east), Egypt (south) and Greece (west). The country gained independence from British Rule in August 1960, after the London-Zurich agreements […]

Bahrain has a population of 1.3 million, of which only half are citizens. Citizens belong mostly to Islam (99%), the remaining 1% are Christians, Hindus, Baha’is and Jews. There are no statistics regarding Shia and Sunni representation, however, it can be assumed that Shiites represent a majority. The other half […]

The Republic of Azerbaijan is a contiguous transcontinental presidential republic in the Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Historically divided across Russia and Persia, the current territory of Azerbaijan had a brief period of independence in 1918 before being incorporated into the Soviet Union […]

The Republic of Armenia is a democratic sovereign state in western Asia with a population of approximately 3 million people. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the country’s primary religious establishment with 94% of the population as adherents. In 301CE, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its national […]

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country of just over 20 million people occupying an island in the northern Indian Ocean.  Formerly part of the British Empire, “Ceylon” attained independence in 1948, and became a republic in 1972. According to the 2012 census, the Sinhalese make up […]

The population of Pakistan is approximately 96% Sunni and Shia Muslim; the remaining 4% is made up of Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others.1 The country has suffered chronic sectarian violence against religious and non-religious minorities, with Shia Muslims subjected to the majority of the violence,2 and many extremely […]

Prior to a civil war between Maoist rebels and the government in 2006, the country was officially a Hindu state. In 2008, Nepal became a secular democratic republic. The new Constitution as of 2015 retains “secularism” but places restrictions on freedom of religion or belief. The Nepali population is composed […]

Though most famous internationally as a popular tourist destination, the Maldives has been described as undergoing a battle between liberal and literal interpretations of Islam, with serious human rights violations linked to fundamentalists, and attacks on perceived atheists and homosexuals in recent years. Constitution and government There is no formal […]

Iran is the second largest nation in the Middle East. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and […]

India is the world’s most populous democracy, religiously pluralistic, and for many years, in the main, proud of its secular Constitution. According to the most recent census data available (2011), 79.8% of the population are Hindu, 14.2% are Muslim, 2.3% are Christian, 1.7% are Sikh, a further 2% belong to […]

Bhutan is a landlocked country bordered by China and India, with a small population of around 770,000. The difficult topography of Bhutan has kept it isolated from global influence. Having never been colonized, Bhutan has been relatively free to forge its own identity and political system. In 2008, it transitioned […]

Formerly part of India, and subsequently forming the eastern wing of Pakistan that was carved out of India in 1947 when British colonial rule ended; Bangladesh is located in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent, and has been independent since 1971. Following its independence, Bangladesh experienced coups d’état, periods […]

Afghanistan has been mired by chronic instability and conflict in its modern history, from the Cold War to the civil wars between the Mujahedeen and the Taliban. Most recently, Afghanistan has been the stage of the Afghan War (2001-2014) – fought between a coalition of US, NATO, and Afghan troops […]

The Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) is the sole political party within the country. Ruling the country for almost 50 years, the CPV severely punishes anyone who seeks to undermine its monopoly on power. Under the CPV, there has been a history of systematic denial, in practice, of rights […]

Timor-Leste is a democratic sovereign state in southeast Asia with a population of approximately 1.1 million, of which it is estimated that 97.6% are Catholic (Catholicism was introduced to the country a result of Portuguese colonisation), 1% are Protestant and 0.2% are Muslim. For many East Timorese, animistic traditions coexist […]

Singapore is a city-state of 5.7 million inhabitants.1 Known for its rich cultural diversity, the island nation is considered to be among the most religiously diverse nation in the world.2 Singapore became an independent and sovereign state in 1965, after leaving the Federation of Malaysia, of which it had been a […]

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,641 islands, of which seven host the majority of the 109 million population, the second largest population of countries in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).1 Spanish and US influences remain strong, especially in terms of religion (mainly Roman Catholic) and government. Nominally […]

The northernmost country of South-East Asia, Myanmar was formerly known as Burma until 1989.1 Occupied by the British from the early 19th Century, it gained independence in 1948. Since then the country has experienced numerous phases of conflict and instability and between 1962 and 2011 was tightly ruled by a […]

Malaysia is a federal, multi-territory constitutional monarchy, split across two land masses separated by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. The country gained complete independence from British rule in 1963 and is now considered one of the most vibrant economies of South East Asia. It is a […]

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a landlocked country, bordering Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The state gained independence from France in 1953 and is one of the few remaining one-party socialist states with a fast-growing economy1. However, it is estimated that a third of the country’s 6.5 million people live below […]

Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, has in the past had a relatively good reputation for plural religious identity united under a monotheistic state ideology, however, this reputation was largely in decline during the term (2004-2014) of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (“SBY”). Under president Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”), elected 2014, there was […]

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy, with a Prime Minister who is head of government and a King who is head of state. Cambodia remains under the rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen (in power since 1985), following a military coup orchestrated by Hun Sen in 1997. Hun Sen’s government is […]

The Sultanate of Brunei is a Malay Islamic Monarchy located on the north coast of the island of Borneo – an island shared with two other countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia – in Southeast Asia. The country has a population of 484,991 the majority of whom are Muslim (82.1%). Other […]

The independence and sovereign limits of Taiwan are disputed. The People’s Republic of China insists that there is one unified China, including Taiwan, however Taiwan claims independence as a separate state. This tension means that Taiwan is only considered a separate state by 25 countries internationally. Owing to the refusal […]

The so-called “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” or “DPRK” is often recognized as the world’s most isolated state;1 a fascistic, total suppressor of basic human rights and freedoms, subverting all social, civic and political life to the maintenance of pervasive (but ultimately fragile) illusions of grandeur.2 In 2014, a UN […]

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia and China with a population of 3.5 million.1 In 1990, Mongolia abandoned its 70-year-old Soviet-style one-party state and embraced constitutional, political and economic reforms. In 1992, the first elected government of Mongolia adopted a new Constitution, cementing its aspiration […]

The Republic of Korea (“South Korea”) generally protects and, in practice, respects freedom of religion, but there remain some religious privileges in place that are unavailable to the non-religious. In addition, conscientious objectors continue to be incarcerated by the government and “non-ethnic” Koreans face discrimination. Constitution and government There is […]

Japan is an island nation of 126 million inhabitants, located in the Pacific Ocean, east of China. It is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy and a major economic power. At least 69% of the population is reported to practice Shintoism and/or Buddhism. A further 1.5% of the population are Christian.1 Constitution and […]

China, the world’s most populous country with about 1.4 billion inhabitants,1 It has remained under Communist one-party rule since 1949 but has embraced capitalism in recent decades.2 Although now less extreme than in the Maoist years, the ruling party maintains a tight grip on the population and regularly suppresses free […]

In 1991, Uzbekistan emerged as a sovereign country after more than a century of Russian and Soviet rule. A former Communist, Islam Karimov, became the president. He ruled the country as a dictator until he died in 2016. During that time, he exercised a ruthlessly authoritarian approach to all forms […]

Turkmenistan is a former Soviet state in Central Asia. Since its independence in 1991, Turkmenistan has been ruled by two repressive authoritarian rulers who rose to power during the communist era. The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT) is the only registered political party in the country.1 Since 2013, the government […]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan plunged into civil war, which ended in 1997. In spite of some developments and laws passed on domestic violence and agreeing on an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which eliminated the death penalty, the current government which, now in its […]

For 75 years under the Soviet system, the Kyrgyz Republic was officially a secular state. Experiencing ethnic tensions, political and economic woes since independence, Kyrgyzstan is a parliamentary republic. The population of Kyrgyzstan is estimated at 6.6 million as of 2021.1 These include Kyrgyz 73.5%, Uzbek 14.7%, Russian 5.5%, Dungan […]

The Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest state in Central Asia with a small portion extending into Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is a unitary state with the president at its helm holding significant executive power, which includes appointing key government officials and guiding national policies.1 The country declared independence from the […]

The majority of Venezuelans are Catholic, who coexist with Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, and indigenous populations.1 There has been much tension between the government and Catholic officials and the Jewish community. Freedom of expression, assembly and association have been restricted. Since 2017, Venezuela has been undergoing a severe social, economic and […]

The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the second smallest nation on the South American continent, bordering Brazil and Argentina. Its mostly urban population centers around the capital, Montevideo. The precise religious demography of the 3.4 million population is not measured in national censuses.1 Recent estimates suggest that between 34-42% of […]

Suriname, officially known as the Republic of Suriname, is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America.1 It is bordered by French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west and Brazil to the south.2 Suriname was colonized by the English and the Dutch in the 17th century. […]

Peru is a country in South America, which obtained its independence from Spain in 1821. Peru is a unitary state and a presidential representative democratic republic. It has an elected two-chamber Congress and an elected president acting as head of state. According to the 2017 census, Peru has a population […]

Paraguay is a presidential republic with a population of 7 million that borders Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil.1 It is also home to 19 indigenous communities.2 According to the most recent census to capture the religious demography of the country (2002), 89% of the population is Roman Catholic, 6% Protestant, 3% […]

The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is a sovereign state on the Caribbean coast of South America. A former Dutch, and subsequently British colony, Guyana gained independence in 1966. At the time of writing, data pertaining to the 2022 census had not yet been published. As of 2012, 64% of the […]

Ecuador is a presidential democracy with a Constitution that declares Ecuador to be secular. The people are a patchwork of indigenous communities, including people of colonial Spanish origins. Constitution and government Ecuador is among the countries showing the biggest fluctuations with regard to religiosity. In 2005, 85% of Ecuadorians declared […]

The Republic of Colombia is predominantly Christian and majority Roman Catholic (64%). According to Latinobarómetro, based on a survey of 1,200 people in 2023, 16% of the population likely identify as atheist, agnostic or having no religious affiliation.1 For 52 years the citizens of Colombia lived through a conflict between […]

Located on the Pacific coast of South America, the Republic of Chile is bordered by Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. It is a presidential republic. Recent censuses have not captured religious demographic data. However, according to a study conducted by Ipsos in 2023, 76% of the Chilean population believe in the […]

The Federative Republic of Brazil is a secular and democratic sovereign state in South America with a population of around 202 million. Often described as an emerging world power, it is the sixth largest country in the world by population and fifth by area, and one of just 17 countries […]

The Plurinational State of Bolivia is a landlocked country and a democratic republic located in South America. In 2006, the assumption of power by the first indigenous president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was followed by a review of the role of the Catholic Church in the country and its influence […]

Argentina is a country on the southern cone of South America, which obtained its independence from Spain in 1816. Argentina is a federal republic with an established constitution, an elected two chamber Congress and an elected president acting as head of state. A majority Catholic nation (62.9%), the non-religiously affiliated […]

The United States of America (U.S.) is a large country of around 340 million people, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. It comprises 50 states that operate somewhat autonomously under the authority of the nation’s federal government. Before European colonization, it is thought that roughly […]

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy, extending north into the Arctic Ocean, and sharing the world’s longest land border with the United States. Despite what should be strong constitutional protections for freedom of thought and expression, significant religious privileges are in force, both nationally and in several of its ten […]

Panama is situated on the isthmus connecting Central America and South America. The country obtained its independence from Spain in 1821 and from Colombia in 1903. Panama is a unitary state and a presidential representative democratic republic. It has an elected two-chamber Congress and an elected president acting as head […]