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National / Regional Profiles

Included Nations/Regions: Belarus [x], Eastern Europe [x], The World [x]


Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1

Religion Indexes (Belarus)

State Funding of Religion
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 96/253
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 45/253
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 20/253
State Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 4/253
For details on how these indexes were constructed, click here

Belarus: 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, Buddhists, Ethnic religionists, Jews, Muslims.


Belarus: 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: doubly-affiliated, Independents, Mahayanists, Shias, Sunnis.


Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2

Religion Belarus
[x]
Eastern Europe
[x]
The World
[x]
Baha'is 0.00% 0.01% 0.11%
Buddhists 0.01% 0.22% 6.83%
--Mahayanists 0.01% 0.06% 4.89%
--Theravadins --- --- 1.72%
--Lamaists --- 0.16% 0.23%
Chinese folk-religionists --- 0.00% 5.98%
Christians 77.80% 83.92% 32.16%
--unaffiliated Christians 4.50% 0.85% 1.46%
--Orthodox 59.79% 61.33% 3.75%
--Catholics 10.58% 18.85% 15.90%
--Protestants 2.43% 2.72% 7.51%
--Independents 0.69% 1.31% 5.00%
Daoists --- --- 0.11%
Confucianists --- --- 0.11%
Ethnic religionists 0.01% 0.37% 3.65%
Hindus --- 0.02% 13.58%
--Vaishnavites --- 0.01% 5.15%
--Shaivites --- 0.01% 4.86%
--Saktists --- 0.01% 3.57%
Jains --- --- 0.08%
Jews 0.10% 0.09% 0.19%
Muslims 0.26% 6.50% 24.20%
--Sunnis 0.24% 6.26% 21.56%
--Shias 0.03% 0.24% 2.44%
--Islamic schismatics --- --- 0.21%
New religionists --- 0.01% 0.85%
Shintoists --- --- 0.04%
Sikhs --- 0.00% 0.34%
Spiritists --- 0.00% 0.19%
Zoroastrians --- --- 0.00%
Non-Religious 21.82% 8.87% 11.57%
--Agnostics 19.24% 7.63% 9.65%
--Atheists 2.59% 1.23% 1.92%

Religious demographics (Belarus)3

The country has an area of 80,154 square miles and a population of 9.7 million. Historically it has been an area of both interaction and conflict between Belarusian Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, although relations between the two groups improved during the period covered by this report. For instance, in June 2008 Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone met with the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Filaret and praised the churches' improved relations and increased cooperation.

January 2007 figures from the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative for Religious and Nationality Affairs (OPRRNA) showed that approximately 50 percent of citizens consider themselves religious, of whom an estimated 80 percent belong to the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), 14 percent to the Catholic Church, 4 percent to eastern religious groups (including Muslims, Hare Krishnas, and Baha'is), and 2 percent to Protestant groups (including Seventh-day Adventists, Old Believers, Jehovah's Witnesses, Apostolic Christians, and Lutherans). Of those who identify as Belarusian Orthodox or Roman Catholic, only 18 and 50 percent, respectively, regularly attend church services. There are also adherents of the Greek Catholic Church and of Orthodox groups other than the BOC. Jewish groups stated that between 50,000 and 70,000 persons identify themselves as Jewish. Most Jews were not religiously active.

In January 2007 OPRRNA reported 3,103 religious organizations of 25 religious confessions and denominations in the country, including 2,953 registered religious communities and 150 national and confessional organizations (monasteries, brotherhoods, and missionary sites). This included 1,399 Belarusian Orthodox, 493 Evangelical Christian, 440 Roman Catholic, 267 Evangelical Christian Baptist, 74 Seventh-day Adventist, 54 Full Gospel Christians, 33 Old Believer, 29 Jewish, 27 Lutheran, 26 Jehovah's Witnesses, 24 Muslim, 21 New Apostolic Church, 17 Progressive Judaism, 13 Greek Catholic, 9 Apostolic Christians, 6 Hare Krishnas, 5 Baha'i, 5 Christ's Church, 4 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), 2 Messianic, 1 Reform Church, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Armenian Apostolic, 1 Latin Catholic, and 1 St. Jogan Church communities.

Summary Information

Belarus
[x]
Eastern Europe
[x]
The World
[x]
Region Eastern Europe The World --
Total Population4 9,098,260 290,617,205 7,335,774,068
Area in square miles 80,155 7,183,637 196,939,900
Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 73.6 73.9 71.9
Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 17,210.0 21,061.0 16,101.0
Description of Polity Score6 (autocratic) -- --
Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 -2.1 0.5 0.8
Official Religion(s)8 Orthodoxy -- --

Belarus - Google Map


Religion and the State

Religion and State Collection (2014)

Belarus
[x]
Is proselytizing Legal?1 Yes
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 Multi-Tiered Preferences 1
The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 None
The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 Government funding of religion goes to only one religion, no other religions receive funds.
The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office.

Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]

Constitution

Belarus
[x]
Constitution Year10 1994
Last Amended10 2004
Source10 Constitute Project
Translation10 Source is an English translation.
Current as of10 July 30, 2018

Public Opinion (Belarus)

(Calculated by the ARDA from the World Values Survey)11
1990 1996 2000 2011
Religious Affiliation/Identification
Percent belonging to a religious denomination. --- 64.7 52.2 86.4
Percent identifying as a religious person. 41.3 69.7 27.5 62.5
Percent raised religious. 19.4 30 --- ---
Religious Behaviors
Percent attending religious services at least once a month. 5.9 14.4 14.5 21.7
Percent praying to God more than once per week. --- --- 26.7 27.6
Percent that meditate or pray. --- --- 71.1 ---
Percent attending religious services at least once a month when 12 years old. --- --- 10.9 ---
Percent that changed denominations. --- --- 1.8 ---
Percent active in a church or religious organization. --- 2.3 --- 5.1
Percent never consulting a horoscope. --- --- 39 ---
Religious Beliefs
Percent believing in God. 42.7 77.8 82.9 86.1
Percent believing in heaven. 12.1 45.3 36.5 ---
Percent believing in hell. 9.2 42.4 35.1 52.9
Percent believing in life after death. 17.9 49.8 40.9 ---
Percent believing that there are clear guidelines on good and evil. 25.5 36.7 24.8 ---
Percent believing that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. --- --- 25.7 ---
Percent believing that religious leaders should not influence people's vote. --- --- 82.2 ---
Percent believing that things would be better if there are more people with strong religious beliefs. --- --- 35.1 ---
Percent that think that religious faith is an important quality in children --- --- --- 14.4
Percent that agree: We depend too much on science and not enough on faith --- --- --- 35.8
Percent believing church gives answers to people's spiritual needs. --- --- 70.1 ---
Percent that do not trust people of other religions --- --- --- 59.2
Percent believing church gives answers on family life problems. --- --- 36.1 ---
Percent believing churches give answers to moral problems. --- --- 55.7 ---
Percent that often think about meaning and purpose of life --- --- --- 39.5
Percent believing churches give answers to social problems. --- --- 22.9 ---
Percent believing that religious leaders should influence the government. --- --- 13 ---
Percent believing that people have a soul. 45.1 73.3 --- ---
Percent believing in the concept of sin. 47.5 78.3 59 ---
Percent believing religious services are important for deaths. --- --- 88 ---
Percent believing religious services are important for births. --- --- 83.5 ---
Percent believing religious services are important for marriages. --- --- 61.1 ---
Percent believing in a personal God. --- --- 63.6 ---
Percent believing in telepathy. --- --- 31.6 ---
Percent believing in re-incarnation. --- --- 32.5 ---
Percent believing in the devil's existence. 10.4 47.3 --- ---
Percent that think that it is more important to follow religious norms and ceremonies than to do good for other people --- --- --- 22.7
Percent that think the meaning of religion is to make sense of life in this world --- --- --- 80.9
Percent that agree that whenever science and religion conflict, religion is always right --- --- --- 21.8
Percent that agree that the "only acceptable religion is my religion." --- --- --- 30.4
Percent that agree that all religions should be taught in public schools --- --- --- 40.5
Percent that agree, "People who belong to different religions are probably just as moral as those who belong to mine." --- --- --- 86.4
Percent that agree, "One of the bad effects of science is that it breaks down people’s ideas of right and wrong." --- --- --- 25.2
Religious Experiences
Percent finding comfort and strength from religion. 31.3 81.8 54.4 ---
Percent saying that they have a lucky charm. --- --- 16.6 ---
Percent considering that a lucky charm definitely does not provide protection. --- --- 35.9 ---
Attitudes
Percent considering religion important. 30.2 55.6 45.7 48.5
Percent considering that God is not at all important in their life. 29 12.8 9.2 5.8
Percent confident in religious organizations. 53.1 74 70.5 73.1
Percent agreeing that nurses can refuse to assist with an abortion on moral grounds. --- --- 33.7 ---
Percent agreeing that there should be time for prayer or meditations in schools. --- --- 32 ---
Politics
Percent thinking that churches have an influence on national politics. --- --- 41.2 ---
Percent agreeing that the government protects personal freedom. --- --- 14.3 ---
Percent agreeing that the government protects religious freedom. --- --- --- 12.2

Socio-Economic Measures

Military Measures

Belarus
[x]
Eastern Europe
[x]
The World
[x]
Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 118 0.0019837 0.0063366 0.005162584
2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 1.2 2.9 --

Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society


Constitution Clauses Related to Religion


Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Belarus)10

Article 4.

The ideology of … religious … associations … may not be made mandatory for citizens.

Article 5.

The foundation and activities of political parties and other public associations, that aim to … conduct propaganda of … religious … hatred, shall be prohibited.

Article 12.

The Republic of Belarus may grant the right of asylum to persons persecuted in other states for … religious beliefs …

Article 16.

Religions and faiths shall be equal before the law.

Relations between the State and religious organizations shall be regulated by law with regard to their influence on formation of spiritual, cultural and state traditions of the Belarusian people.

The activities of religious organisations, their bodies and representatives, that are directed against the sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus, its constitutional system and civic concord, or involve violation of civil rights and freedoms of its citizens as well as impede the execution of state, public and family duties by its citizens or are detrimental to their health and morality shall be prohibited.

Article 31.

Everyone shall have the right independently to determine one's attitude towards religion, to profess any religion individually or jointly with others, or to profess none at all, to express and spread beliefs connected with one's attitude towards religion, and to participate in the performance of acts of worship and religious rituals and rites, which are not prohibited by the law.

Article 33.

Everyone is guaranteed freedom of … beliefs and their free expression. No one shall be forced to express one’s beliefs or to deny them. …

Article 54.

Everyone shall preserve the … spiritual heritage …

Variable Details

  • For more details on State Funding of Religion (FUN_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions (SOC_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Regulation of Majority or All Religions (NXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Discrimination of Minority Religions (MXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are aware of any incorrect information provided on this page.

    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.

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