In 2022, around 31.6 percent of the global population were identify as Christian. Around 25.8 percent of the global population identify as Muslims, followed by 15.1 percent of global populations as Hindu.

World religion data in this dataset is from the World Religion Database.The map shows the percentage of the majority religion by provinces/states and also included in the database is Christian percentage by provinces/states. Boundaries are based on Natural Earth, August, 2011 modified to match provinces in the World Religion Database.*Originally titled

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Orthodox Christians globally reacted to the possibility of contagion and risk in dialogue with theological positions about materials, their own long history which includes surviving previous pandemics and plagues, governmental and civil expectations and edicts, and pious – but often unofficial – understandings about protection and the sacrality of religious artefacts and the space of the temple. This dataset aggregates primary ethnographic research amongst Orthodox Christians in the UK, Serbia, Greece and Russia to highlight commonalities and divergences in Orthodox Christian responses to the pandemic. Examining both the theological basis, and socio-political differences, this dataset focuses on how the Orthodox theology of apophaticism and relationality impacts wider discourses of contagion (both positive and negative), and consequently compliance with public health initiatives. Comparison across diverse Orthodox settings highlights Orthodox Christian concern with the neighbour – both in terms of who may be watching (and reporting) them, and who may fall sick because of them.

Aims: This project asks 'What role does the material ecology play in shaping the sociopolitics of Global Orthodoxy?' as a case study for global political discourse and the role of material in the social dynamics of religion. Impact: Orthodox Christianity is a tradition based on discourse, but there has been very little research looking at the specifics of how it works. Focusing on discourse also tends to over emphasise words and belief. But what if, like Max Muller, we insist that religion must start with what is perceived, not with concepts like 'belief in the supernatural'? This means we situate discursive traditions like Orthodoxy not in concepts but in the material culture of local and global religious groups. This reframes how we understand religion, and forefronts the impact that religious practice has upon material aspects of our experience like health, the environment and geopolitics. Context: Much social scientific interest in religion looks at the variation in the lived religion from one place to another. However, there are moments - such as in April 2018 when the President of Ukraine asked the Greek Patriarch to intervene into the Russian Church in the Ukraine - when religion can not be studied only in the local lived expression. Situations such as the conflict in Ukraine are complicated by historic tension between local Orthodox Churches. Disagreements in the interpretation of the theology of the body, person, and environment foment political tension within the Churches, between the Churches and external bodies, and between nations. The materiality of discourse must be seen as central to the form and practice of the tradition. Research: Framed in terms of three research domains, this project focuses on the material conditions of Global Orthodox sociopolitics, conducting research amongst Orthodox Christians and religious institutions. The project investigates how the properties and affordances of the material ecology (including the body, the built environment and wider 'natural' order) shape and are marshalled within the discourse of the Orthodox Churches. The three domains are the Body, Person, and Environment. The Body domain addresses issues such as medical interventions, like IVF and organ donation, which are, across Global Orthodoxy, contentious to varying degrees. The material body becomes a place for negotiating ethical goods (eg extending life, fertility, honouring God). The Person domain examines the variance in permission different churches grant concerning family and marriage practices (eg divorce, family planning). There is also a mounting discourse around identity politics, with some voices pushing for an open approach to homosexuality and women clergy. The material of the body, person, and Church are marshalled as the grounding for historically contingent, philosophically premised, and scientifically inflected arguments for or against 'progressive' movements. Finally, the Environment domain examines the relationship between humans, specific locations, and the earth as a whole. Orthodox theologians highlight an emphasis on 'stewardship of the earth' and call for active engagement in ecological conservation. Issues such as Global Warming take an explicitly religious imperative, as scientific data points to human failure to fulfil their God-given role as caretakers. The control of land (including places like Crimea and Jerusalem) also becomes a religious duty with geopolitical impact. Output: This project will produce one academic book on the material aspects of the sociopolitics of Orthodox Christianity, a book written for a general audience looking at key case studies around contemporary issues in Orthodoxy, six academic articles, white papers and policy advice on various issues relating to the health and wellbeing of Orthodox Christians and their homelands, and pamphlets...

This dataset contains the Arab-West Report special reports that were published in 2006.

This dataset mainly contains the writings of Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., among other authors on topics related to Muslim-Christian relations and interfaith dialogue. The writings in this dataset are mostly reports concerning Coptic Christian culture, Muslim-Christian dialogue, and the state of the Christian faith in Egypt.

Some of the articles address the controversial book "The Da Vinci Code" and the debates that ensued after its publication surrounding its historicity and freedom of expression.

Additionally this dataset contains recommendation for the work of Arab-West Report by other social figures and the development of its affiliated NGO, the Center for Arab West Understanding. Furthermore, this dataset contains commentary and critique on published material from other sources (media critique).

Some of the themes that characterize this dataset:

Development of the Center for Arab West Understanding (CAWU) and recommendations of the work of Arab West Report:

- Recommendation for Arab-West Report and the Center for Arab-West Understanding from Dutch musician and entertainer, Herman van Veen, Pastor Dave Petrescue ( Maadi Community Church in Cairo, Egypt) and Lord Carey of Clifton, former archbishop of Canterbury. Additionally, this dataset contains special recommendations of the work of Corneliss 'Kees' Hulsman and Sawsan Gabra by Dr. Jan Slomp, member of the Advisory Editorial Board of the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs in Jeddah. Dr. Slomp acknowledges that Arab West Report’s use of reliable information is working towards strengthening Muslim-Christian relations by providing source material for cultural, educational and religious dialogue and cooperation.

-Another report mentioned that the Former Dutch Prime Minister Andreas van Agt visited Egypt to support the foundation of the Center for Arab-West Understanding.

-A report about NGO Status of CAWU, “After Three Years of Struggle”. This report came as a result of the February 18 ruling of the Egyptian Council of State that granted the Center recognition as an NGO under Egyptian law.

-Annual report: Arab-West Report presents the annual report for 2005.

-Arab West Report’s American intern writes about 220 years of religious freedom in the U.S., arguing that one standard must be applied to all.

-A discussion of homosexuality and Egyptian law taken from a bachelor’s thesis on Egyptian law.

-Book review of Jamal Al-Banna’s "My Coptic Brethren".

-“Christian Minorities in the Islamic World, an Egyptian Perspective”: A paper presented at the annual interfaith dialogue meeting of the Anglican Communion and the Permanent Committee of the Azhar al-Sharif for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions. This paper prompted criticism from Metropolitan Seraphim for the portrayal of Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt.

Media Critique:

-An author criticizes an article by the German magazine Der Spiegel about Christians in the Middle East. She claims that the article distorts the reality of the situation in the declining Christian communities in the region.

- Interview with Egyptian artist Farid Fadil, , including discussion of his views on Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt, ’Christian art’, Leonardo da Vinci and the controversial book, The Da Vinci Code.

-Excerpts from the speeches of Mr. Ahmad Māhir, former foreign minister of Egypt, Sir Derek Plumbly, British ambassador to Egypt , Mr. Tjeerd de Zwaan, Dutch ambassador to Egypt, Mr. Lasse Seim, Norwegian ambassador to Egypt, and Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., director of the Center for Arab-West Understanding, on ’Freedom of expression and respect for the other. How to respond if one is offended.’

- Highlights of the meeting held at El-Sawy Culture Wheel on May 7, 2006, to launch the CAWU website. Highlights include a welcome address by Mr. Muhammad al-Sāwī, comments from former ministers Dr. Mamdouh al-Biltājī, Mr. Ahmed Māhir, Dr. Ahmad Juwaylī, head of the Protestant Community Council, Dr. Safwat al Bayādī, and former prime minister of the Netherlands, Prof. Van Agt.

- Aran West Report asked our former intern Maria Roeder, a student of media science at the University of Jena in Germany, to summarize a study commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior. This study is a comparative study concerning Austrian media reporting on Muslims and media from countries with Muslim majorities reporting about the integration of Muslims in Europe.

-A review of the media coverage following the Alexandria church stabbings concludes that both Muslims and Christians condemned the attacks and spoke of the need for change in the citizenship rights of Christians.

-Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, Archbishop Fitzgerald, responds to polarization following the Regensburg lecture of H.H. Pope Benedict XVI.

-Cornelis...

This dataset contains the Arab-West Report special reports that were published in 2007. This dataset mainly contains the writings of Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., among other authors on topics related to Muslim- Christian relations and interfaith dialogue. Additionally, this dataset features certain reports related to the Christian faith in Egypt, Monastic life and Coptic traditions.Some of the articles address the media coverage of Muslim-Christian incidents and sectarian tensions, and how biased media reporting can often exacerbate existing tensions between groups. These articles feature a number of interviews conducted by Arab West Report with prominent social figures and scholars.Additionally, reports from this dataset discuss conversion cases and interfaith meetings that were held at the time. This dataset also contains media critique from Arab West Report Editor-in-Chief Cornelis Hulsman, Drs.Some of the themes that characterize this dataset include:- Authors report on their trip to see the celebration of the Holy Family crossing the Nile River in a village in Upper Egypt. They reflect on their experiences and the need to improve dialogue between Muslims and Christians in Egypt.- An overview of a forum organized by the Center for Civilizational Studies and Dialogue between Cultures at Cairo University to introduce a book written by Father Christian van Nispen, sj, entitled, ‘Christians and Muslims: Brothers before God.’ van Nispen’s principle argument is that both Muslims and Christians worship one and the same God, but according to different understandings.- Another report highlighted the second conference on bias, entitled: ‘The International Conference for Dialogue between Civilizations and the Different Tracks of Knowledge.’ The 4-day conference, was sponsored by the Program for Civilizational Studies and Dialogue between Cultures at Cairo University, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought.- The Arab West Report annual report: The Center for Arab-West Understanding presents its annual report for 2006.Media critique:- “Minister Of Awqaf Dr. Hamdi Zakzouk Falsely Accused Of Calling For The Death Penalty For Apostates From Islam”: Arab-West Report responds to media claims that Dr. Hamdi Zakzouk called for the death penalty for apostates from Islam.-In another report, the authors stress that misguided media reporting often only serves to further tensions, particularly in cases of sectarian strife. Another article presents the transcript of a lecture for the Arab Thought Forum. It considers media distortions and mis-representation in the media that only serve to further antagonize Muslim-Christian relations and the perception of Islam / the Arab world in the West. Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., explains the role of the Center for Arab West Understanding, and the importance of constructive, unbiased, and fully researched journalism.-Hulsman stressed in one of his articles that media frequently manipulate headlines in an effort to present stories in the context they desire. Headlines are also frequently sensationalized in an effort to attract a larger number of readers, but if this also distorts a story this should be questioned. Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., stresses the danger of ignorant media reporting, and the damage that inaccurate fact-checking can cause. He provides a number of examples from various intellectuals, commenting on stories that have been sensationalized in the media, and the negative effects this reporting had on Arab-West relations and on furthering dialogue between the Islamic and Arab world and the West.Interviews:-“An interview With Father Basilius About Father Matta Al-Maskin”: Father Basilius discusses the history and theological philosophies of Father Mattá al-Maskīn. The interview is mainly focused on theology and the practices of clergymen.- An interview with Tarek Heggy at CIDT where Drs. Cornelis Hulsman and staff members discuss sensitive issues throughout the Arab world.- An interview by AWR/ CIDT interns with Dr. Hala Mustafa, where she comments on her role in the National Democratic Party’s Policies Committee, her opinions on reform in Egypt, critiques the role of Egyptian security, and outlines the necessary steps needed for reform to take effect.- “Saad Eddin Ibrahim Meets With CIDT Interns To Discuss How Islamists Have Changed”: Saad Eddin Ibrahim, is one of the most outspoken critics of the Egyptian government, who was imprisoned from 2000-2003 for his critique. Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a liberal secularist, but as a result of his strong democratic stance, he defends the rights of all groups in society, including Islamists, to participate in the politics of the country. CIDT-interns met with him for a talk about his life and his views.-A review of the Annual Anglican-Al Azhar Interfaith Meeting Dialogue held in All-Saints Cathedral which implicitly dealt with dialogue and means of furthering it.-A report on church response to poverty in Egypt and specifically how this issue is being addressed by the Coptic Orthodox Church in an attempt to alleviate the suffering of Egyptians.-The following presents an investigative report authored by Mads Akselbo Holm, an intern for Arab-West Report, on the issue of Muslims leaving their faith. This study provides an excellent background to the commotion caused by Muḥammad Ḥijāzī announcing his conversion to Christianity. In addition to that, another article discussed “The Freedom to Change One’s Religion Or Belief”; and another spoke of “Article 18 Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights”, indicating that although Egyptian civil law does not prohibit conversion from one religion to another, there are discrepancies in an individual’s ability to convert.-Debates about freedom of religion and conversion in Egypt focusing on legal cases of conversions, specifically changing one’s religious identity on identification cards.- A report by Hulsman discussed the state of past and present relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt. The paper opens by giving information about Pope Shenouda III and the most important incidents that have taken place during his reign. The second half of the paper then looks at specific examples of Christian contributions to Christian-Muslim tensions in contemporary Egypt.- An article discusses the exaggerated interpretations of some Western Christians about the position of Christians in Egypt.Authors featured in this dataset are:Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., Ane Skov Birk, Salmā Ānwar, Drs. Sawsan Jabrah Ayyub Khalil, Katrin Koehler, Christian Fastenrath, Dr. Larry F. Levine, Wisām Muhammad al-Duwīnī, Maria Rezzonico, Mads Akselbo Holm, and Susan Richards-Benson

Christian religious monuments, such as cathedrals, chapels and temples are found in many places on our planet. World-famous buildings such as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Gaudi's Cathedral in Barcelona, and St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague are commonly known, and there are many photographs on the Internet that can be used to build machine learning models to identify them. For little known buildings such as small churches in the Czech-German border region, the number of photographs is already significantly lower and similar approaches cannot be used for identification. Based on these facts, our team has compiled an unique dataset for the identification of the most important elements of Christian sacral buildings such as altars, frescoes, pulpits, etc. which are almost always found in them. Our data set was manually created from several thousand real photographs. This dataset seems to be very usable, e.g., for creating new machine learning models and for identifying objects in sacred objects or the objects themselves.

This dataset was created within the framework of the project Information system for medieval monuments in the Czech-Bavarian border area, No. 335, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic (Cross-border Cooperation Programme Czech Republic - Free State of Bavaria Objective ECA 2014-20).

This study, designed and carried out by the "http://www.asarb.org/" Target="_blank">Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB), compiled data on 372 religious bodies by county in the United States. Of these, the ASARB was able to gather data on congregations and adherents for 217 religious bodies and on congregations only for 155. Participating bodies included 354 Christian denominations, associations, or communions (including Latter-day Saints, Messianic Jews, and Unitarian/Universalist groups); counts of Jain, Shinto, Sikh, Tao, Zoroastrian, American Ethical Union, and National Spiritualist Association congregations, and counts of congregations and adherents from Baha'i, three Buddhist groupings, two Hindu groupings, four Jewish groupings, and Muslims. The 372 groups reported a total of 356,642 congregations with 161,224,088 adherents, comprising 48.6 percent of the total U.S. population of 331,449,281. Membership totals were estimated for some religious groups.

In January 2024, the ARDA added 21 religious tradition (RELTRAD) variables to this dataset. These variables start at variable #12 (TOTCNG_2020). Categories were assigned based on pages 88-94 in the original "https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1638" Target="_blank">2020 U.S. Religion Census Report.

Visit the "https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/sources-for-religious-congregations-membership-data" Target="_blank">frequently asked questions page for more information about the ARDA's religious congregation and membership data sources.

This dataset contains the Arab-West Report special reports that were published in 1999. At the time the articles were published, Arab-West Report did not exist. Religious News Service from the Arab World, the organization which would ultimately become Arab-West Report, published the following documents. The dataset contains primarily the writings of Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., reporting on incidents of Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt. In addition to the reports and journalistic work of Hulsman, the dataset also contains commentary from RSNAW on press conferences and published material from other sources (reviews/critique of articles, books, etc). The dataset also contains a series of three articles that deal with the life and work of Dr. William Qilada, who passed away in 1999. The authors of this material include Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., Fr. Dr. Christiaan van Nispen, Revd. Ayman Louis, Victor Habib, Dr. Vladimir Beliakov, Dr. Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd, and Ramzi Zaqlamah. The dataset also features one institutional author, the Press Office of Lambeth Palace. This Thematic Collection contains links to the datasets of the Stichting Arab-West Foundation (AWF), in The Netherlands in close cooperation with the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT). These datasets cover the period 1994-2016. The data consists of the reporting of Dutch sociologist Cornelis Hulsman, reporting supervised by him, full-transcript interviews, audio recordings and summaries of these audio recordings.The Arab-West Foundation was established in 2005 to support the work of Cornelis Hulsman and his wife Eng. Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Hulsman-Khalil in Egypt. Cornelis Hulsman left The Netherlands for Egypt in October 1994. Sawsan Hulsman followed suit in 1995. They focused primarily on the study of Muslim-Christian relations and the role of religion in society in Egypt and neighboring countries, while obtaining their income from journalism.The purpose of this work was to foster greater understanding between Muslims and Christians in Egypt and to show non-Egyptians that relations between the two faiths in Egypt cannot be described in reductive black and white terms, rather they are diverse and complicated. Working towards mutual understanding of different cultures and beliefs helps to reduce tensions and conflicts. Too often, parties present themselves as the victim of the other which results in biased reporting. Sometimes this is done deliberately to gain support. What is lacking in cases like this, is an in-depth understanding of the wider context in which narratives of victimization occur. Hulsman found several patterns that are key to understanding Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt such as- the impact of a culture of honor and shame and- aversion in traditional areas for visible changes in public (which includes church buildings and making one’s conversion to another religion public).The datasets also include material on the place of Islamists in society, as well as wider information about Egyptian society since this is the context in which religious numerical minorities in Egypt live (the term minority is widely rejected in Egypt since all Egyptians, regardless of religion, are one. But in terms of numbers Christians are a minority).It was Hulsman’s ambition to obtain a PhD but the challenges of making a living in Egypt prevented him from accomplishing this goal. Up until the year 2001, Cornelis only had an income from traditional media reporting. After 2004 he became largely dependent upon working with Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany).Hulsman was dedicated towards non-partisan Muslim-Christian understanding. This began starting with a large number of recorded interviews, followed by research into why so many Christian girls convert to Islam (1995-1996). This work in turn led to the creation of an electronic newsletter called Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) and a growing number of investigative reports. In 2003 the RNSAW was renamed Arab-West Report. In 2004 they attempted to establish an Egyptian NGO but since no answer was obtained from authorities, the procedure was taken to the Council of State who ruled in 2006 that the request for NGO status was valid. This in turn resulted in a formal registration of the NGO with the Ministry of Social Solidarity in 2007. Because the outcome of this process was insecure in 2005 the Hulsmans established the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) . CIDT was established as a tawsiya basita (sole proprietorship) on the name of Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Khalil since it was extremely complicated to do this on the name of a non-Egyptian. In the same year friends of the Hulsman family established the Arab-West Foundation (AWF). CIDT tawsiya basita was closed in 2012. A new company was established under the same name but now as limited liability company and again it was not possible for Cornelis Hulsman to become a partner.As a consequence the Hulsmans have been working since 2005 with an Egyptian company and a Dutch support NGO. Since 2007 they have also been working with an Egyptian NGO. This was important, since Egyptian law prohibits companies from receiving donations and carrying out not-for-profit work. NGOs, on the other hand, need to request permissions from the Ministry of Social Solidarity for each donation they receive. Such permissions are hard to obtain.CIDT functions as a thinktank with funding from Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany) and at times projects with other organizations. CIDT produces the electronic newsletter Arab-West Report and has built the Arab West Report Database based on these data. Publication of this data is accomplished through the Arab-West Foundation since it turned out to be extremely hard to register Arab-West Report in Egypt. CAWU became the prime organization hosting student interns from Egypt and countries all over the world, which was possible since CAWU does not charge student interns for its services and neither pays them for any work carried out. Student interns have been contributing on a volunteer basis to the database of Arab-West Report, writing articles and papers and being engaged in social media under the supervision of Cornelis Hulsman. Other student interns contributed to summary translations of Arabic media, always supervised by a professional translator of CIDT.CAWU has been promoting intercultural dialogue through a variety of programs including meetings and forums with community members, religious leaders and politicians from Egypt and the West. CAWU's aim is to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between Arab and Western communities by exposing biased media reporting and informing the public and important persons on complicated issues.- Availability -AWF's datasets are available to researchers upon request. Please go to the dataset you wish to download and request permission via the button 'Request Permission' on the tab 'Datafiles'. AWF will respond to your request.

This dataset contains the 15 Arab-West Report Special Reports that were published in 1998. At the time the articles were published, Arab-West Report did not exist. Religious News Service from the Arab World, the organization which would ultimately become Arab-West Report, is the publisher of the following articles. Broadly speaking, the special reports in this dataset address issues of press freedom and discussions surrounding the actual or perceived persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt. The dataset also contains letters, responses, book reviews, and media critiques related to these subjects. Authors include Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd, Cornelis Hulsman (Drs.), and Fr. Dr. Christiaan Van Nispen. Institutional authors include The Council of Churches of the City of New York, The Higher Council for Journalism, The Center for Human Rights Legal Aid, and Board of Directors of the Foreign Press Association in Egypt. All reports are written in English, though some reports feature Arabic text or cite Arabic sources. This Thematic Collection contains links to the datasets of the Stichting Arab-West Foundation (AWF), in The Netherlands in close cooperation with the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT). These datasets cover the period 1994-2016. The data consists of the reporting of Dutch sociologist Cornelis Hulsman, reporting supervised by him, full-transcript interviews, audio recordings and summaries of these audio recordings.The Arab-West Foundation was established in 2005 to support the work of Cornelis Hulsman and his wife Eng. Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Hulsman-Khalil in Egypt. Cornelis Hulsman left The Netherlands for Egypt in October 1994. Sawsan Hulsman followed suit in 1995. They focused primarily on the study of Muslim-Christian relations and the role of religion in society in Egypt and neighboring countries, while obtaining their income from journalism.The purpose of this work was to foster greater understanding between Muslims and Christians in Egypt and to show non-Egyptians that relations between the two faiths in Egypt cannot be described in reductive black and white terms, rather they are diverse and complicated. Working towards mutual understanding of different cultures and beliefs helps to reduce tensions and conflicts. Too often, parties present themselves as the victim of the other which results in biased reporting. Sometimes this is done deliberately to gain support. What is lacking in cases like this, is an in-depth understanding of the wider context in which narratives of victimization occur. Hulsman found several patterns that are key to understanding Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt such as- the impact of a culture of honor and shame and- aversion in traditional areas for visible changes in public (which includes church buildings and making one’s conversion to another religion public).The datasets also include material on the place of Islamists in society, as well as wider information about Egyptian society since this is the context in which religious numerical minorities in Egypt live (the term minority is widely rejected in Egypt since all Egyptians, regardless of religion, are one. But in terms of numbers Christians are a minority).It was Hulsman’s ambition to obtain a PhD but the challenges of making a living in Egypt prevented him from accomplishing this goal. Up until the year 2001, Cornelis only had an income from traditional media reporting. After 2004 he became largely dependent upon working with Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany).Hulsman was dedicated towards non-partisan Muslim-Christian understanding. This began starting with a large number of recorded interviews, followed by research into why so many Christian girls convert to Islam (1995-1996). This work in turn led to the creation of an electronic newsletter called Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) and a growing number of investigative reports. In 2003 the RNSAW was renamed Arab-West Report. In 2004 they attempted to establish an Egyptian NGO but since no answer was obtained from authorities, the procedure was taken to the Council of State who ruled in 2006 that the request for NGO status was valid. This in turn resulted in a formal registration of the NGO with the Ministry of Social Solidarity in 2007. Because the outcome of this process was insecure in 2005 the Hulsmans established the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) . CIDT was established as a tawsiya basita (sole proprietorship) on the name of Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Khalil since it was extremely complicated to do this on the name of a non-Egyptian. In the same year friends of the Hulsman family established the Arab-West Foundation (AWF). CIDT tawsiya basita was closed in 2012. A new company was established under the same name but now as limited liability company and again it was not possible for Cornelis Hulsman to become a partner.As a consequence the Hulsmans have been working since 2005 with an Egyptian company and a Dutch support NGO. Since 2007 they have also been working with an Egyptian NGO. This was important, since Egyptian law prohibits companies from receiving donations and carrying out not-for-profit work. NGOs, on the other hand, need to request permissions from the Ministry of Social Solidarity for each donation they receive. Such permissions are hard to obtain.CIDT functions as a thinktank with funding from Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany) and at times projects with other organizations. CIDT produces the electronic newsletter Arab-West Report and has built the Arab West Report Database based on these data. Publication of this data is accomplished through the Arab-West Foundation since it turned out to be extremely hard to register Arab-West Report in Egypt. CAWU became the prime organization hosting student interns from Egypt and countries all over the world, which was possible since CAWU does not charge student interns for its services and neither pays them for any work carried out. Student interns have been contributing on a volunteer basis to the database of Arab-West Report, writing articles and papers and being engaged in social media under the supervision of Cornelis Hulsman. Other student interns contributed to summary translations of Arabic media, always supervised by a professional translator of CIDT.CAWU has been promoting intercultural dialogue through a variety of programs including meetings and forums with community members, religious leaders and politicians from Egypt and the West. CAWU's aim is to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between Arab and Western communities by exposing biased media reporting and informing the public and important persons on complicated issues.- Availability -AWF's datasets are available to researchers upon request. Please go to the dataset you wish to download and request permission via the button 'Request Permission' on the tab 'Datafiles'. AWF will respond to your request.

India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data was reported at 68,740,419.000 Person in 2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 49,393,496.000 Person for 2001. India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data is updated yearly, averaging 59,066,957.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 68,740,419.000 Person in 2011 and a record low of 49,393,496.000 Person in 2001. India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Census of India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE001: Census: Population: by Religion.

In many places around the world, young voters participate in politics at low rates. What factors might increase youth political participation? We investigate one possibility: exposure to a religious message that emphasizes the possibility of change through faithful action. We argue that this message, which is common in religious groups that attract large numbers of youth around the world, addresses several barriers to political participation by young voting-age adults. Working in collaboration with the major religious coalitions in Zambia, we randomly assigned young adults (18-35 years old) into civic engagement workshops. Identical informational material, based on pre-existing, non-partisan curricula, was presented in each workshop. Workshops then concluded with one of two randomly assigned, pre-recorded Christian motivational messages based on existing religious programming in Zambia. In some workshops, the concluding message emphasized a Christian obligation to work towards the greater good. In other workshops, the message emphasized the power of faith to make change in the world. Materials in this dataset include the .do file replicating results presenting in the paper and the de-identified dataset produced by our implementing partner, IPA-Zambia, that was analyzed with that .do file. The READ.ME file includes descriptions of the attached files.

This dataset contains the Arab-West Report special reports that were published in 2001. It should be noted that at the time the articles were published, Arab-West Report did not exist. Religious News Service from the Arab World, the organization which would ultimately become Arab-West Report, originally published the following documents.

The dataset contains primarily the writings of Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., reporting on the affairs of Coptic Christians in Egypt, and subjects related to the Copts in the US and the west in general. A number of articles serve as a media critique of Coptic organizations’ (namely, the US Coptic Association) press releases issued abroad which present biased information on certain incidents that took place in Egypt.In addition to the reports and journalistic work of Hulsman, the dataset also contains commentary from RSNAW on published material from other sources (reviews/critique of articles).

Some of the themes that characterized this dataset includes:

• An article about H.H. Pope Shenouda and Father Matta el-Meskeen, two major reformers in the contemporary Coptic Orthodox Church in addition to the Ubur-city church incident. The dataset also includes interviews conducted by RNSAW with the governor and the Bishop of the church.

• Articles refuting claims by a number of Coptic organizations abroad through collecting testimonials from local Bishop and Officials. These reports denied false and inaccurate claims and criticized the press releases that lead to confusion, negatively impacting the Copts in Egypt.

• An interview conducted by RNSAW with Bishop Marcos and highlighted his remarks on the war against terrorism led by the United States following September 11 events and the war on Afghanistan which broke out subsequently.

• A report written by Dr. Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd shed light on the media debate on Islam in the West, and his criticism of the widespread views in the western media that Islam should be held responsible for terrorist attacks.

• The RNSAW database also included highlights of an interview with Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., by the by Egyptian TV where he concluded from the questions directed at him that there is a deep mistrust of western reporting about the Arab and Islamic world.

• Other editorials by Hulsman criticized the adoption of a resolution by the Anglican General Synod of Australia addressing the persecution of Christians in Egypt, without consulting the Anglican Bishop in Cairo or Anglican experts in England who are well acquainted with the church in Egypt.

• The reports also highlighted the issue of conversions from Christianity to Islam in Egypt. The reports refuted claims by Coptic activists in the US that two Christian were abducted by the Egyptian Government from their own mother, who then handed them over to strangers, under the name of Islam. One of the articles highlighted a film script entitled: “Hurghada...the Magic of Love" which deals with the issue of mixed marriages between Muslim men and Christian women which is a sensitive and painful matter for Christians.

• Coverage of Coptic feasts in Egypt, such as Palm Sunday and the Coptic Christmas celebration which was broadcast on the National Egyptian TV and showed senior officials attending the ceremony in the Cathedral.

• Additionally, some of the reports included an update on the trial of the renowned human rights activist Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim. In line with the aforementioned, this dataset contained an article penned by Saad Eddin Ibrahim explaining his motive behind declining to attend a meeting with members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as advised by his defense lawyer. Ibrahim was being tried at the time before the Higher State Security Court on charges made against his lectures and writings on religious freedom and minority rights, including those of Egyptian Copts.

The authors of this material include Cornelis Hulsman, Drs., Dr. Graham Leitch, Dr. Rudolph Yanni, John H. Watson, Dr. J. J. G. Jensen, Katherin Spencer, Michael Munīr, Monk Father Yuhanna al-Maqari, Monk Basilius al-Maqari, Mamdūh Nakhlah, Fr. Dr. Christiaan van Nispen, Saad al-Din Ibrahim, Munir Hanna Anis Armanius, Bishop Ghubriyal, Dale Gavlak, Mike Newton, Dr. Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd, CAIR-NET, Tareq Mitri (Prof. Dr.), Wolfram Reiss (Rev., Dr.) among others.

This dataset contains 7 audio recordings (8 items) on the subject of the Egyptian economy in the 1990s. Interviews were conducted in English, Arabic and Dutch. Interview summaries and metadata are prepared in English. This Thematic Collection contains links to the datasets of the Stichting Arab-West Foundation (AWF), in The Netherlands in close cooperation with the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT). These datasets cover the period 1994-2016. The data consists of the reporting of Dutch sociologist Cornelis Hulsman, reporting supervised by him, full-transcript interviews, audio recordings and summaries of these audio recordings.The Arab-West Foundation was established in 2005 to support the work of Cornelis Hulsman and his wife Eng. Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Hulsman-Khalil in Egypt. Cornelis Hulsman left The Netherlands for Egypt in October 1994. Sawsan Hulsman followed suit in 1995. They focused primarily on the study of Muslim-Christian relations and the role of religion in society in Egypt and neighboring countries, while obtaining their income from journalism.The purpose of this work was to foster greater understanding between Muslims and Christians in Egypt and to show non-Egyptians that relations between the two faiths in Egypt cannot be described in reductive black and white terms, rather they are diverse and complicated. Working towards mutual understanding of different cultures and beliefs helps to reduce tensions and conflicts. Too often, parties present themselves as the victim of the other which results in biased reporting. Sometimes this is done deliberately to gain support. What is lacking in cases like this, is an in-depth understanding of the wider context in which narratives of victimization occur. Hulsman found several patterns that are key to understanding Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt such as- the impact of a culture of honor and shame and- aversion in traditional areas for visible changes in public (which includes church buildings and making one’s conversion to another religion public).The datasets also include material on the place of Islamists in society, as well as wider information about Egyptian society since this is the context in which religious numerical minorities in Egypt live (the term minority is widely rejected in Egypt since all Egyptians, regardless of religion, are one. But in terms of numbers Christians are a minority).It was Hulsman’s ambition to obtain a PhD but the challenges of making a living in Egypt prevented him from accomplishing this goal. Up until the year 2001, Cornelis only had an income from traditional media reporting. After 2004 he became largely dependent upon working with Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany).Hulsman was dedicated towards non-partisan Muslim-Christian understanding. This began starting with a large number of recorded interviews, followed by research into why so many Christian girls convert to Islam (1995-1996). This work in turn led to the creation of an electronic newsletter called Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) and a growing number of investigative reports. In 2003 the RNSAW was renamed Arab-West Report. In 2004 they attempted to establish an Egyptian NGO but since no answer was obtained from authorities, the procedure was taken to the Council of State who ruled in 2006 that the request for NGO status was valid. This in turn resulted in a formal registration of the NGO with the Ministry of Social Solidarity in 2007. Because the outcome of this process was insecure in 2005 the Hulsmans established the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) . CIDT was established as a tawsiya basita (sole proprietorship) on the name of Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Khalil since it was extremely complicated to do this on the name of a non-Egyptian. In the same year friends of the Hulsman family established the Arab-West Foundation (AWF). CIDT tawsiya basita was closed in 2012. A new company was established under the same name but now as limited liability company and again it was not possible for Cornelis Hulsman to become a partner.As a consequence the Hulsmans have been working since 2005 with an Egyptian company and a Dutch support NGO. Since 2007 they have also been working with an Egyptian NGO. This was important, since Egyptian law prohibits companies from receiving donations and carrying out not-for-profit work. NGOs, on the other hand, need to request permissions from the Ministry of Social Solidarity for each donation they receive. Such permissions are hard to obtain.CIDT functions as a thinktank with funding from Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany) and at times projects with other organizations. CIDT produces the electronic newsletter Arab-West Report and has built the Arab West Report Database based on these data. Publication of this data is accomplished through the Arab-West Foundation since it turned out to be extremely hard to register Arab-West Report in Egypt. CAWU became the prime organization hosting student interns from Egypt and countries all over the world, which was possible since CAWU does not charge student interns for its services and neither pays them for any work carried out. Student interns have been contributing on a volunteer basis to the database of Arab-West Report, writing articles and papers and being engaged in social media under the supervision of Cornelis Hulsman. Other student interns contributed to summary translations of Arabic media, always supervised by a professional translator of CIDT.CAWU has been promoting intercultural dialogue through a variety of programs including meetings and forums with community members, religious leaders and politicians from Egypt and the West. CAWU's aim is to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between Arab and Western communities by exposing biased media reporting and informing the public and important persons on complicated issues.- Availability -AWF's datasets are available to researchers upon request. Please go to the dataset you wish to download and request permission via the button 'Request Permission' on the tab 'Datafiles'. AWF will respond to your request.

The harmonized data on peatlands of Indonesia, version 0.1, for the bio-physical modelling in Indonesia. Primary purpose of the dataset was to provide bio-physical models (EPIC-IIASA, G4M, and WaNuLCAS) with consistent input data on peat and mineral soil distribution in Indonesia and with the peat parameters necessary for proper representation of peat hydrology in simulations. The harmonized peatland dataset for Indonesia is closely linked to the spatial simulation infrastructure for Indonesia v.0.1 (the IND_SimU_v01 dataset) providing further and more specific description of the spatial simulation units – SimU. The harmonized peatland dataset is a result of i) the spatial harmonization between the Harmonized World Soil Dataset (HWSD v1.1) and National Peatland Atlas of Indonesia data which provided consistent coverage indicating presence and proportion of mineral soils and peat for each SimU, and enabled for linking appropriate soil hydro-physical data based on identified mineral soil and peat types, and ii) adoption of measured soil water retention characteristics for estimated peat profiles which in simulations will represent peat types identified for Indonesia. Level of simplification in this current version of dataset (v.0.1), where only country-average was taken to represent the soil organic carbon content for the three peat maturity classes, does not allow for any regional quantification of total soil organic carbon stock. The data can only be used with the bio-physical models to estimate nutrient pools and/or relative soil organic carbon dynamics (monthly, yearly) due to climate change or land use or both. The Harmonized peatland dataset for Indonesia (v.0.1) consist of three separate data tables. The data is available as a MS Excel file (IND_PeatDataset_v01.xls). The data on peat is organized within three separate sheets (SimU_PeatType_Map, PeatType_Def, and PeatType_EstProf), with table descriptors (object metadata) for each data table in separate sheets. The peat data can be displayed geographically via the SimUID identification linking it to polygon/point coverages of SimU (the IND_SimU_v01 dataset, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6997968). The details of the dataset creation procedures are described in the separate document (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7040843).

This Thematic Collection contains links to the datasets of the Stichting Arab-West Foundation (AWF), in The Netherlands in close cooperation with the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT). These datasets cover the period 1994-2016. The data consists of the reporting of Dutch sociologist Cornelis Hulsman, reporting supervised by him, full-transcript interviews, audio recordings and summaries of these audio recordings.The Arab-West Foundation was established in 2005 to support the work of Cornelis Hulsman and his wife Eng. Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Hulsman-Khalil in Egypt. Cornelis Hulsman left The Netherlands for Egypt in October 1994. Sawsan Hulsman followed suit in 1995. They focused primarily on the study of Muslim-Christian relations and the role of religion in society in Egypt and neighboring countries, while obtaining their income from journalism.The purpose of this work was to foster greater understanding between Muslims and Christians in Egypt and to show non-Egyptians that relations between the two faiths in Egypt cannot be described in reductive black and white terms, rather they are diverse and complicated. Working towards mutual understanding of different cultures and beliefs helps to reduce tensions and conflicts. Too often, parties present themselves as the victim of the other which results in biased reporting. Sometimes this is done deliberately to gain support. What is lacking in cases like this, is an in-depth understanding of the wider context in which narratives of victimization occur. Hulsman found several patterns that are key to understanding Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt such as- the impact of a culture of honor and shame and- aversion in traditional areas for visible changes in public (which includes church buildings and making one’s conversion to another religion public).The datasets also include material on the place of Islamists in society, as well as wider information about Egyptian society since this is the context in which religious numerical minorities in Egypt live (the term minority is widely rejected in Egypt since all Egyptians, regardless of religion, are one. But in terms of numbers Christians are a minority).It was Hulsman’s ambition to obtain a PhD but the challenges of making a living in Egypt prevented him from accomplishing this goal. Up until the year 2001, Cornelis only had an income from traditional media reporting. After 2004 he became largely dependent upon working with Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany).Hulsman was dedicated towards non-partisan Muslim-Christian understanding. This began starting with a large number of recorded interviews, followed by research into why so many Christian girls convert to Islam (1995-1996). This work in turn led to the creation of an electronic newsletter called Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) and a growing number of investigative reports. In 2003 the RNSAW was renamed Arab-West Report. In 2004 they attempted to establish an Egyptian NGO but since no answer was obtained from authorities, the procedure was taken to the Council of State who ruled in 2006 that the request for NGO status was valid. This in turn resulted in a formal registration of the NGO with the Ministry of Social Solidarity in 2007. Because the outcome of this process was insecure in 2005 the Hulsmans established the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) . CIDT was established as a tawsiya basita (sole proprietorship) on the name of Sawsan Gabra Ayoub Khalil since it was extremely complicated to do this on the name of a non-Egyptian. In the same year friends of the Hulsman family established the Arab-West Foundation (AWF). CIDT tawsiya basita was closed in 2012. A new company was established under the same name but now as limited liability company and again it was not possible for Cornelis Hulsman to become a partner.As a consequence the Hulsmans have been working since 2005 with an Egyptian company and a Dutch support NGO. Since 2007 they have also been working with an Egyptian NGO. This was important, since Egyptian law prohibits companies from receiving donations and carrying out not-for-profit work. NGOs, on the other hand, need to request permissions from the Ministry of Social Solidarity for each donation they receive. Such permissions are hard to obtain.CIDT functions as a thinktank with funding from Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), Missio and Misereor (Germany) and at times projects with other organizations. CIDT produces the electronic newsletter Arab-West Report and has built the Arab West Report Database based on these data. Publication of this data is accomplished through the Arab-West Foundation since it turned out to be extremely hard to register Arab-West Report in Egypt. CAWU became the prime organization hosting student interns from Egypt and countries all over the world, which was possible since CAWU does not charge student interns for its services and neither pays them for any work carried out. Student interns have been contributing on a volunteer basis to the database of Arab-West Report, writing articles and papers and being engaged in social media under the supervision of Cornelis Hulsman. Other student interns contributed to summary translations of Arabic media, always supervised by a professional translator of CIDT.CAWU has been promoting intercultural dialogue through a variety of programs including meetings and forums with community members, religious leaders and politicians from Egypt and the West. CAWU's aim is to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between Arab and Western communities by exposing biased media reporting and informing the public and important persons on complicated issues.- Availability -AWF's datasets are available to researchers upon request. Please go to the dataset you wish to download and request permission via the button 'Request Permission' on the tab 'Datafiles'. AWF will respond to your request.