National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Burma (Myanmar) [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Burma (Myanmar))
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 46/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 5/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 10/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 6/253 |
Burma (Myanmar): 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, Chinese folk-religionists, Jains, Jews, Nonreligious, Sikhs, Zoroastrians.
Burma (Myanmar): 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, Lamaists, Mahayanists, Orthodox, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.17% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 74.38% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 0.65% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 73.71% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | 0.02% | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 0.26% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 7.92% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.50% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | 0.00% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 1.21% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 4.96% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 1.25% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | 1.48% | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 9.83% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 1.71% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.89% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.62% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.19% | 3.57% |
| Jains | 0.01% | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 3.76% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 3.75% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.01% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.21% |
| New religionists | --- | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | 0.00% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 0.48% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 0.44% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.04% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Burma (Myanmar))3
The country has an area of 261,970 square miles and a population of more than 54 million. The majority follow Theravada Buddhism, although in practice popular Burmese Buddhism coexists with astrology, numerology, fortune telling, and veneration of indigenous pre-Buddhist era deities called "nats." Buddhist monks, including novices, number more than 400,000 and depend on the laity for their material needs, including clothing and daily donations of food. The country has a much smaller number of Buddhist nuns. The principal minority religious groups include Christians (Baptists, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and an array of other Protestant denominations), Muslims (mostly Sunni), Hindus, and practitioners of traditional Chinese and indigenous religions. According to official statistics, almost 90 percent of the population practice Buddhism, 6 percent Christianity, and 4 percent Islam. These statistics almost certainly underestimate the non-Buddhist proportion of the population, which could be as high as 30 percent. Independent scholarly researchers place the Muslim population at 6 to 10 percent. A tiny Jewish community in Rangoon has a synagogue but no resident rabbi to conduct services for the approximately 25 Jewish believers.
The country is ethnically diverse, with some correlation between ethnicity and religion. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion among the majority Burman ethnic group and among the Shan, Arakanese, and Mon ethnic minorities in the east, west, and south. Christianity is the dominant religion among the Kachin ethnic group of the north and the Chin and Naga ethnic groups of the west, some of whom also continue to practice traditional indigenous religions. Protestant groups report recent rapid growth among animist communities in Chin State. Christianity is also practiced widely among the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups of the south and east, although many Karen and Karenni are Buddhist. In addition, some ethnic Indians are Christian. Hinduism is practiced chiefly by Burmese citizens of Indian origin, who are concentrated in major cities and in the south-central region. Islam is practiced widely in Rakhine State, where it is the dominant religion of the Rohingya minority, and in Rangoon, Ayeyarwady, Magway, and Mandalay Divisions where some Burmans, Indians, and ethnic Bengalis practice Islam. Chinese ethnic minorities generally practice traditional Chinese religions. Traditional indigenous beliefs are practiced widely among smaller ethnic groups in the highland regions. Practices drawn from those indigenous beliefs persist widely in popular Buddhist rituals, especially in rural areas.
Summary Information |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | -- |
| Total Population4 | 54,348,931 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 261,228 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 66.4 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | -- | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Buddhism | -- |
Burma (Myanmar) - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | No |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | There is no registration requirement |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups need not register but registration is allowed or encouraged. This encouragement may include benefits given only to registered religions. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Preferred Religion |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Mandatory, but upon specific request, a student may opt out of the course. |
| 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 | There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | recognition only [ Sections 361, 362 ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Section 34 ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Section 348 ] |
Constitution |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 2008 |
| Last Amended10 | (n/a) |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | October 20, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 75.6 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 94.5 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 48.3 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 63.2 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 15,700.5 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 12,861.0 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 52.5 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | -- | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.005629 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | -- | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Burma (Myanmar) [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 54,348,931 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 66.4 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | -100.0 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 34.7 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.2 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 40.1 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Burma (Myanmar))10
Section 34.
Every citizen is equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practise religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution.
Section 121.
The following persons shall not be entitled to be elected as the Pyithu Hluttaw representatives:
…
(g) person himself or is of a member of an organization who obtains and utilizes directly or indirectly the support of money, land, housing, building, vehicle, property, so forth, from … [a] religious organization
…
(h) person himself or is of a member of an organization who abets the act of inciting, giving speech, conversing or issuing declaration to vote or not to vote based on religion for political purpose;
(i) member of a religious order;
…
Section 348.
The Union shall not discriminate any citizen of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, based on … religion …
Section 352.
The Union shall, upon specified qualifications being fulfilled, in appointing or assigning duties to civil service personnel, not discriminate for or against any citizen of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, based on … religion …
Section 354.
Every citizen shall be at liberty in the exercise of the following rights, if not contrary to the laws, enacted for Union security, prevalence of law and order, community peace and tranquility or public order and morality:
…
(d) to develop … [the] religion they profess … without prejudice to the relations … other faiths.
Section 360.
(a) The freedom of religious right given in Section 34 shall not include any economic, financial, political or other secular activities that may be associated with religious practice.
(b) The freedom of religious practice so guaranteed shall not debar the Union from enacting law for the purpose of public welfare and reform.
Section 361.
The Union recognizes special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union.
Section 362.
The Union also recognizes Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Animism as the religions existing in the Union at the day of the coming into operation of this Constitution.
Section 363.
The Union may assist and protect the religions it recognizes to its utmost.
Section 364.
The abuse of religion for political purposes is forbidden. Moreover, any act which is intended or is likely to promote feelings of hatred, enmity or discord between … religious communities or sects is contrary to this Constitution. A law may be promulgated to punish such activity.
Section 368.
The Union shall honour and assist citizens who are outstanding in education irrespective of … religion … according to their qualifications.
Section 392.
The following persons shall have no right to vote:
(a) members of religious orders;
…
Section 407.
If a political party infringe one of the following stipulations, it shall have no right of continued existence:
…
(c) directly or indirectly receiving and expending financial, material and other assistance from ... a religious association …
(d) abusing religion for political purpose.
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 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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.
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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.
