National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Malaysia [x], South-Eastern Asia [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Malaysia)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 6/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 60/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 18/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 15/253 |
Malaysia: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Jains, Jews, New religionists, Nonreligious, Sikhs.
Malaysia: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Agnostics, Atheists, doubly-affiliated, Independents, Islamic schismatics, Orthodox, Saktists, Shias, Theravadins, unaffiliated Christians.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.24% | 0.16% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 5.29% | 25.69% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 5.00% | 8.51% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 0.29% | 17.18% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | 0.00% | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 18.38% | 1.91% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 9.18% | 22.86% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.25% | 0.47% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | 0.01% | 0.00% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 4.63% | 15.30% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 3.65% | 4.98% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 0.71% | 4.13% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | 0.16% | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 3.25% | 4.69% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 6.21% | 1.18% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 1.83% | 0.18% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 4.11% | 0.93% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.27% | 0.06% | 3.57% |
| Jains | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 56.51% | 37.18% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 56.42% | 37.17% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.05% | 0.01% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | 0.04% | 0.00% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | 0.21% | 2.29% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | 0.25% | 0.03% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 0.48% | 3.85% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 0.37% | 2.82% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.11% | 1.04% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Malaysia)3
The country has an area of 127,000 square miles and a population of 26.9 million. According to 2000 census figures, 60 percent of the population practices Islam; 19 percent Buddhism; 9 percent Christianity; 6 percent Hinduism; and 3 percent Confucianism, Taoism, and other traditional Chinese religions. Other minority religious groups include animists, Sikhs, and Baha'is. Ethnic Malay Muslims account for approximately 55 percent of the population. Three of the five most prominent political parties are organized along ethnic and religious lines. The majority of Christians reside in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Summary Information |
Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 30,599,495 | 635,514,843 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 127,355 | 1,735,335 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 75.2 | 72.1 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 26,900.0 | 20,515.0 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (weakly democratic) | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Sunni Islam | -- | -- |
Malaysia - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Malaysia [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | No |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Religious State 2 |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Mandatory for some who have no ability to opt out; the course must be in religion but optional for others or there exists for some the option of taking a non-religious course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes primarily to one religion but at least some other religions receive some funds. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | Some government officials (other than head of state church and the like) must meet some form of religious requirements to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Malaysia [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | yes [ Article 3(1) ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Article 11(1) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Article 8(2) ] |
Constitution |
Malaysia [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1957 |
| Last Amended10 | 2007 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | November 5, 2018 |
Public Opinion (Malaysia)(Calculated by the ARDA from the World Values Survey)11 |
2005 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Religious Affiliation/Identification | ||
| Percent belonging to a religious denomination. | --- | 98.5 |
| Percent identifying as a religious person. | 89.1 | 53.7 |
| Religious Behaviors | ||
| Percent attending religious services at least once a month. | --- | 64.4 |
| Percent praying to God more than once per week. | --- | 84.3 |
| Percent that meditate or pray. | 84.8 | --- |
| Percent attending religious services at least once a month when 12 years old. | 15.6 | 14.5 |
| Religious Beliefs | ||
| Percent believing in God. | --- | 98.4 |
| Percent believing in heaven. | --- | 96.8 |
| Percent believing in hell. | 63.9 | --- |
| Percent believing in life after death. | 54.1 | --- |
| Percent believing that there are clear guidelines on good and evil. | 58.1 | --- |
| Percent believing that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. | 59.6 | 63.8 |
| Percent believing that religious leaders should not influence people's vote. | 58.2 | 31.7 |
| Percent believing that things would be better if there are more people with strong religious beliefs. | 65.7 | --- |
| Percent that think that religious faith is an important quality in children | 64.4 | 66.5 |
| Percent that agree: We depend too much on science and not enough on faith | 71.3 | --- |
| Percent believing church gives answers to people's spiritual needs. | 76.7 | --- |
| Percent that do not trust people of other religions | 23.7 | 53.5 |
| Percent believing church gives answers on family life problems. | 71.7 | --- |
| Percent believing churches give answers to moral problems. | 45.9 | --- |
| Percent that often think about meaning and purpose of life | --- | 64.2 |
| Percent believing churches give answers to social problems. | --- | 42.3 |
| Percent believing that religious leaders should influence the government. | --- | 74.7 |
| Percent believing that people have a soul. | --- | 68.8 |
| Percent believing in the concept of sin. | --- | 71.8 |
| Percent believing religious services are important for deaths. | --- | 79.2 |
| Percent believing religious services are important for births. | --- | 33.3 |
| Attitudes | ||
| Percent considering religion important. | 96 | 96.8 |
| Percent considering that God is not at all important in their life. | 0.8 | 1 |
| Percent confident in religious organizations. | 90.8 | 91.4 |
| Politics | ||
| Percent thinking that churches have an influence on national politics. | --- | 42.5 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population13 | 94.6 | 92.7 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 98.1 | -- | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 68.5 | -- | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 296.5 | 2,555.3 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 | 180,825.7 | 1,319,718.9 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 | 200,616.3 | 1,460,524.9 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max15 | 73.8 | 62.8 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index16 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)17 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 26,900.0 | 20,515.0 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 118 | 0.0045372 | 0.004733518 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Malaysia [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 30,599,495 | 635,514,843 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 75.2 | 72.1 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | 450.0 | -1,073.2 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population14 | 75.4 | 48.2 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage14 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman14 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births14 | 7.1 | 22.0 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV14 | 0.4 | -- | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Malaysia)10
Article 3. Religion of the Federation.
(1) Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.
(2) In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution of that State, and, subject to that Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observances of ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the King] to represent him.
(3) The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the King] the position of Head of the religion of Islam in that State.
(4) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the King] shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.
Article 5. Liberty of the person.
...
(4) ... And provided further that in the case of an arrest for an offence which is triable by a Syariah court, references in this Clause to a magistrate shall be construed as including references to a judge of a Syariah court.
...
Article 8. Equality.
...
(2) Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion ... in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.
...
(5) This Article does not invalidate or prohibit---
(a) any provision regulating personal law;
(b) any provision or practice restricting office or employment connected with the affairs of any religion, or of an institution managed by a group professing any religion, to persons professing that religion;
...
Article 11. Freedom of religion.
(1) Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.
(2) No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.
(3) Every religious group has the right---
(a) to manage its own religious affairs;
(b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and
(c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law.
(4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.
(5) This Article does not authorise any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.
Article 12. Rights in respect of education.
(1) Without prejudice to the generality of Article 8, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the grounds only of religion ... ---
[in admissions, tuition, or appropriations]
(2) Every religious group has the right to establish and maintain institutions for the education of children in its own religion, and there shall be no discrimination on the ground only of religion in any law relating to such institutions or in the administration of any such law; but it shall be lawful for the Federation or a State to establish or maintain or assist in establishing or maintaining Islamic institutions or provide or assist in providing instruction in the religion of Islam and incur such expenditure as may be necessary for the purpose.
(3) No person shall be required to receive instruction in or to take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion other than his own.
(4) For the purposes of Clause (3) the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.
Article 34. Disabilities of Yang di-Pertuan Agong, etc.
(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the King] shall not exercise his functions as Ruler of his State except those of Head of the religion of Islam.
...
Article 38. Conference of Rulers.
...
(2) The Conference of Rulers [Majlis Raja-Raja] shall exercise its functions of---
...
(b) agreeing or disagreeing to the extension of any religious acts, observances or ceremonies to the Federation as a whole;
...
...
(6) The members of the Conference of Rulers may act in their discretion in any proceedings relating to the following functions, that is to say:
...
(d) the agreeing or disagreeing to the extension of any religious acts, observances or ceremonies to the Federation as a whole;
...
...
Article 42. Power of pardon, etc.
...
(10) Notwithstanding anything in this Article, the power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect of, or to remit, suspend or commute sentences imposed by any court established under any law regulating Islamic religious affairs in the State of Malacca, Penang, Sabah or Sarawak or the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya shall be exercisable by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the King] as Head of the religion of Islam in the State.
...
Article 76. Power of Parliament to legislate for states in certain cases.
...
(2) No law shall be made in pursuance of paragraph (a) of Clause (1) with respect to any matters of Islamic law or the custom of the Malays or to any matter of native law or custom in the States of Sabah and Sarawak ...
...
Article 97. Consolidated Funds.
...
(3) If in accordance with State law or in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, in accordance with federal law any Zakat, Fitrah, Baitulmal or similar Islamic religious revenue is raised, it shall be paid into a separate fund and shall not be paid out except under the authority of State law or federal law, as the case may be.
...
Article 121. Judicial power of the Federation.
...
(1A) The courts referred to in Clause (1) [creating two High Courts] shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.
Article 132. Public services.
...
(4) References in this Part, except in Articles 136 and 147, to persons in the public service or to members of any of the public services shall not apply to---
...
(d) in the case of Malacca and Penang, if provision is made by State law for their appointment---
(i) the President of the Religious Affairs Department;
(ii) the Secretary of the Religious Affairs Department;
(iii) the Mufti;
(iv) the Kadi Besar; or
(v) a Kadi.
Article 145. Attorney General.
...
(3) The Attorney General shall have power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.
...
Article 150. Proclamation of emergency.
...
(6A) Clause (5) shall not extend the powers of Parliament with respect to any matter of Islamic law or the custom of the Malays, or with respect to any matter of native law or customs in the State of Sabah or Sarawak; nor shall Clause (6) validate any provision inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution relating to any such matter or relating to religion ...
...
Article 160. Interpretation.
...
(2) In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:
...
• "Malay" means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom ...
...
Article 161E. Safeguards for constitutional position of States of Sabah and Sarawak.
...
(2) No amendment shall be made to the Constitution without the concurrence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of the State of Sabah or Sarawak or each of the States of Sabah and Sarawak concerned, if the amendment is such as to affect the operation of the Constitution as regards any of the following matters:
...
(d) religion in the State, ... and the special treatment of natives of the State;
...
FOURTH SCHEDULE: Oaths of office of Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong [Article 37].
PART 3: English translations.
... Further We do solemnly and truly declare that We shall at all times protect the Religion of Islam ...
FIFTH SCHEDULE: The Conference of Rulers [Article 38(1)].
...
(7) The Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri of States not having a Ruler shall not be members of the Conference of Rulers for the purposes of any proceedings ... relating solely ... to religious acts, observances or ceremonies.
...
EIGHTH SCHEDULE: Provisions to be inserted in State Constitutions [Article 71].
1. Ruler to act on advice.
...
(2) The Ruler may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions (in addition to those in the performance of which he may act in his discretion under the Federal Constitution) that is to say:
...
(c) the making of a request for a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with ... religious acts, observances or ceremonies;
(d) any function as Head of the religion of Islam or relating to the custom of the Malays;
...
14. Annual financial statement.
...
(3) The estimated receipts to be shown in the said statement do not include any sums received by way of Zakat, Fitrah and Baitulmal or similar Islamic religious revenue; and the sums to be shown under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) do not include---[loan proceeds and trust funds]
...
19. Amendment of the Constitution.
...
(6) This section does not invalidate any provision of the Constitution of this State requiring the consent of any body of persons to any amendment affecting---
...
(c) the appointment and attributes ... of members of religious or customary Advisory Councils or similar bodies;
...
NINTH SCHEDULE: Legislative lists [Articles 74, 77].
List 1: Federal List.
...
4. Civil and criminal law and procedure and the administration of justice, including---
(a) Constitution and organization of all courts other than Syariah Courts;
...
(e) Subject to paragraph (ii), the following:
(i) [here follows a list of subject matter jurisdictions]
(ii) the matters mentioned in paragraph (i) do not include Islamic personal law relating to marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, family law, gifts or succession, testate and intestate;
...
(k) Ascertainment of Islamic law ... for purposes of federal law; ...
...
6. The machinery of government, subject to the State List, but including---
...
(e) Government and administration of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya including Islamic law therein to the same extent as provided in item 1 in the State List and in respect of the Federal Territory of Labuan, native law and custom to the same extent as provided in item 13 of the Supplement to State List for States of Sabah and Sarawak;
...
12. Surveys, inquiries and research, including---
(a) Census; registration of births and deaths; registration of marriages; registration of adoptions other than adoptions under Islamic law or Malay custom;
...
15. Labour and social security, including---
...
(c) Charities and charitable institutions; charitable trusts and trustees excluding Wakafs; Hindu endowments.
List 2: State List.
1. Except with respect to the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Islamic law and personal and family law of persons professing the religion of Islam, including the Islamic law relating to succession, testate and intestate, betrothal, marriage, divorce, dower, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, guardianship, gifts, partitions and non-charitable trusts; Wakafs and the definition and regulation of charitable and religious trusts, the appointment of trustees and the incorporation of persons in respect of Islamic religious and charitable endowments, institutions, trusts, charities and charitable institutions operating wholly within the State; Malay customs; Zakat, Fitrah and Baitulmal or similar Islamic religious revenue; mosques or any Islamic public places of worship, creation and punishment of offences by persons professing the religion of Islam against precepts of that religion, except in regard to matters included in the Federal List; the constitution, organisation and procedure of Syariah courts, which shall have jurisdiction only over persons professing the religion of Islam and in respect only of any of the matters included in this paragraph, but shall not have jurisdiction in respect of offences except in so far as conferred by federal law, the control of propagating doctrines and beliefs among persons professing the religion of Islam; the determination of matters of Islamic law and doctrine and Malay custom.
TENTH SCHEDULE: Grants and sources of revenue assigned to states [Articles 109, 112C, 161C(3)
* [note - this article has been repealed]].PART 3: Sources of revenue assigned to states.
13. Zakat, Fitrah and Baitulmal and similar Islamic religious revenue.
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 The World Values Survey is a worldwide investigation of socio-cultural and political change. It is conducted by a network of social scientists at leading universities around the world. Interviews have been carried out with nationally representative samples of the publics of more than 80 societies. A total of four waves have been carried out since 1981. The ARDA has averaged the weighted responses across the waves for each country surveyed. The average responses for all countries have been placed in a single file and can be previewed and downloaded here. See the World Values Survey website for further information and to download the original survey data: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/.
12 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
13 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
14 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
15 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
18 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
19 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
20 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
