The Finnish Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. More than 65 percent of the inhabitants in Finland were part of the Christian community in 2023. The largest Christian community in Finland is the Evangelical Lutheran Church, followed by the Orthodox Church. However, around 1.88 million people were not members of any religious community. People from other religious groups amounted to roughly 20,500, followed by 24,057 from the Muslim community.

Immigration to Finland

While the number of immigrants to Finland remained below 35 thousand in the past decade, this number has started to increase noticeably since 2021. As of 2022, almost 50 thousand people immigrated to Finland, almost 73 percent more compared to the previous year. The significant increase in immigrants was caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine which started on February 24, 2022. That year, over six thousand people immigrated to Finland from Russia, over twice as many as in the previous year.

The Finnish population is aging

While the number of individuals belonging to the younger age groups in Finland declined from 2018 to 2023, the age group of 60 years and older continued to increase. By the end of 2023, its size was over 1.6 million. The growing number of individuals aged 60 or older reflects the change towards an older population structure of the country. In total, the population of Finland amounted to roughly 5.6 million as of 2023. The largest age groups were 20- to 39-year-olds, and 40- to 59-year-olds, which together made up over half of the population.

The article examines the participation and assistance of the Orthodox Church in solving problems that allowed to give a scientific justification for the cooperation of health care and Orthodox religious institutions, to determine their role in the historical context and structure of modern healthcare in Russia. The article presents an algorithm for organizing sisters of mercy, their system of upbringing. Particular attention is given to the possibility of teaching the course "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" in secular educational institutions. Research materials can serve as a basis for the formation of morally sound positions of medical workers and the population on the main problems of medical activity. Based on the study, the authors published a series of articles in which the experience of the work of the Orthodox Church in the charitable sphere has been summarized. This experience can be used to create new charitable institutions, including those who provided medical assistance. In preparing the article, the authors used concrete historical, civilizational, formational and social methods of research that allowed us to uncover facts, phenomena and processes in the interconnection and unity of the past, present and future.

Methods The study was conducted in the methodological field of the sociology of medicine. The research program was of a multistage nature and provided for the use of a methodology based on traditional methods of socio-hygienic, medical-organizational and historical-analytical nature, adapted to the specifics of the purposes followed by statistical processing and data analysis. In the work to achieve the goal and implement research tasks, a number of methods of concrete sociology are offered: a survey, in-depth interviews, expert interviews, content analysis, a biographical method3. The organizational chart of the interaction of Orthodox organizations and bodies of practical health, developed in this article, is based on historical traditions of the charitable activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. This scheme takes into account modern socio-economic realities. This scheme proved to be effective in the organization of medical care and can serve as a basic model for the development of cooperation between the Church and medical institutions. Given the deep historical evidence of the important role of Orthodox Christianity in preserving health and creating a healthy lifestyle for the population, it should be recognized that the development of special programs for cooperation between medical organizations and the Church is justified in modern conditions.

The survey studied the concepts of religion, morals, and values in Russia in the middle of the 1990s. The respondents were asked how important in life they consider work, family, friends or acquaintances, leisure, politics, and religion. They were also asked what kind of people they would not have as their neighbours. Furthermore, they were asked to estimate whether people helped each other more or less than they did 10 years ago, whether they were happy with their lives at the moment, 5 years ago and 5 years from now, why there were poor people in the country, and what was the reason for that. The respondents were asked what economical and social factors were the most important to them at work. They were also asked what role should owners, the state, and employees have in the ownership of an enterprise and in choosing management. Several questions dealt with morals and the meaning of life, the respondents' religiosity, attendance of church services, and their attitude towards the church. In addition, the respondents were asked about their family relations, the meaning of family in their lives, and whether the respondents had the same attitude towards religion, morals, politics, and sexuality as their spouse and parents. Furthermore, the respondents were asked in view of a good marriage, how important they felt faithfulness, material goods, belonging to the same social stratum, mutual respect, same political views, sexual satisfaction, children, and sharing the chores at home. Relating to children, the respondents were asked the actual and desired number of children in the family, the attitude towards child-rearing, conceptions of the relationship between parents and children, and what kind of values should parents instill in their children. Furthermore, the respondents were asked about their attitudes towards working mothers and the roles of spouses in marriage. There were several questions about attitudes towards politics and political participation. Moreover, the respondents were asked about their conceptions of the country's future and social development. On the other hand, the respondents were asked how they support various social movements, like environmental movement, movement against nuclear energy, and women's movement. In relation to their moral conceptions, the respondents were asked about several things, for instance, using public transport without a ticket, using drugs, prostitution, suicide, and euthanasia. The respondents were also asked whether they identified themselves as dwellers of their own community, a larger area, members of a nationality, Russia, Europe or the whole world, and how proud they were over being citizens of Russia. A host of questions dealt with economical and political life in Russia, the conceptions of the former Soviet Union, and the future of Russia. Background variables were included the respondent's sex, age, education, profession, place of residence in childhood, size of family, income, nationality of the respondent and other family members, membership in a political party, and R's political views.

The article discusses the general patterns of development of physical culture, sports and their impact on the spiritual and moral education of the population in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the stages of spiritual and moral education. Each stage is fundamentally invariant, the mechanisms and structures of transitions from one level to another are also identical. The process of such transition is the result of the motivation of human social activity; the formation of the dispositional structure of the personality or the transformation of its interests into a specific goal. The historical process of formation of the educational system takes as a basis the harmonious development of the individual.

Autocrats frequently appeal to socially conservative values, but little is known about how or even whether such strategies are actually paying political dividends. To address important issues of causality, the present study exploits Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2020 bid to gain a popular mandate for contravening presidential term limits in part by bundling this constitutional change with a raft of amendments that would enshrine traditional morality (including heteronormativity and anti-secularism) in Russia's basic law. Drawing on an original experiment-bearing survey of the Russian population, it finds Putin's appeal to these values generated substantial new support for Putin's reform package, primarily from social conservatives who did not support him politically. These findings expand our understanding of authoritarian practices and policymaking by revealing one way core political values are leveraged to facilitate autocracy-enabling institutional changes and potentially other ends that autocrats might pursue.

Two online overviews offer comprehensive metadata on the EVS datasets and variables.The extended study description for the EVS 2008 provides country-specificinformation on the origin and outcomes of the national surveys The variable overview of the four EVS waves 1981 1990 1999/2000 and 2008 allows for identifying country specific deviations in the question wording within and across the EVS waves.These overviews can be found at:Extended Study DescriptionVariable Overview Moral, religious, societal, political, work, and family values ofEuropeans.Topics: 1. Perceptions of life: importance of work, family, friendsand acquaintances, leisure time, politics and religion; frequency ofpolitical discussions with friends; happiness; self-assessment of ownhealth; memberships and unpaid work (volunteering) in: social welfareservices, religious or church organisations, education, or culturalactivities, labour unions, political parties, local political actions,human rights, environmental or peace movement, professionalassociations, youth work, sports clubs, women´s groups, voluntaryassociations concerned with health or other groups; tolerance towardsminorities (people with a criminal record, of a different race,left/right wing extremists, alcohol addicts, large families,emotionally unstable people, Muslims, immigrants, AIDS sufferers, drugaddicts, homosexuals, Jews, gypsies and Christians - social distance);trust in people; estimation of people´s fair and helpful behaviour;internal or external control; satisfaction with life.2. Work: reasons for people to live in need; importance of selectedaspects of occupational work; employment status; general worksatisfaction; freedom of decision-taking in the job; importance of work(work ethics, scale); important aspects of leisure time; attitudetowards following instructions at work without criticism (obediencework); give priority to nationals over foreigners as well as men overwomen in jobs.3. Religion: Individual or general clear guidelines for good and evil;religious denomination; current and former religious denomination;current frequency of church attendance and at the age of 12; importanceof religious celebration at birth, marriage, and funeral;self-assessment of religiousness; churches give adequate answers tomoral questions, problems of family life, spiritual needs and socialproblems of the country; belief in God, life after death, hell, heaven,sin and re-incarnation; personal God versus spirit or life force; ownway of connecting with the divine; interest in the sacred or thesupernatural; attitude towards the existence of one true religion;importance of God in one´s life (10-point-scale); experience of comfortand strength from religion and belief; moments of prayer andmeditation; frequency of prayers; belief in lucky charms or a talisman(10-point-scale); attitude towards the separation of church and state. 4. Family and marriage: most important criteria for a successfulmarriage (scale); attitude towards childcare (a child needs a home withfather and mother, a woman has to have children to be fulfilled,marriage is an out-dated institution, woman as a single-parent);attitude towards marriage, children, and traditional family structure(scale); attitude towards traditional understanding of one´s role ofman and woman in occupation and family (scale); attitude towards:respect and love for parents, parent´s responsibilities for theirchildren and the responsibility of adult children for their parentswhen they are in need of long-term care; importance of educationalgoals; attitude towards abortion.5. Politics and society: political interest; political participation;preference for individual freedom or social equality; self-assessmenton a left-right continuum (10-point-scale); self-responsibility orgovernmental provision; free decision of job-taking of the unemployedor no permission to refuse a job; advantage or harmfulness ofcompetition; liberty of firms or governmental control; equal incomes orincentives for individual efforts; attitude concerning capitalismversus government ownership; postmaterialism (scale); expectation offuture development (less emphasis on money and material possessions,greater respect for authority); trust in institutions; satisfactionwith democracy; assessment of the political system of the country asgood or bad (10-point-scale); preferred type of political system(strong leader, expert decisions, army should rule the country, ordemocracy); attitude towards democracy (scale).6. Moral attitudes (scale: claiming state benefits withoutentitlement, cheating on taxes, joyriding, taking soft drugs, lying,adultery, bribe money, homosexuality, abortion, divorce, euthanasia,suicide, corruption, paying cash, casual sex, avoiding fare on publictransport, prostitution, experiments with human embryos, geneticmanipulation of food, insemination or in-vitro fertilization and deathpenalty).7. National identity: geographical group the respondent feelsbelonging to (town, regi...

The world's Jewish population has had a complex and tumultuous history over the past millennia, regularly dealing with persecution, pogroms, and even genocide. The legacy of expulsion and persecution of Jews, including bans on land ownership, meant that Jewish communities disproportionately lived in urban areas, working as artisans or traders, and often lived in their own settlements separate to the rest of the urban population. This separation contributed to the impression that events such as pandemics, famines, or economic shocks did not affect Jews as much as other populations, and such factors came to form the basis of the mistrust and stereotypes of wealth (characterized as greed) that have made up anti-Semitic rhetoric for centuries. Development since the Middle Ages The concentration of Jewish populations across the world has shifted across different centuries. In the Middle Ages, the largest Jewish populations were found in Palestine and the wider Levant region, with other sizeable populations in present-day France, Italy, and Spain. Later, however, the Jewish disapora became increasingly concentrated in Eastern Europe after waves of pogroms in the west saw Jewish communities move eastward. Poland in particular was often considered a refuge for Jews from the late-Middle Ages until the 18th century, when it was then partitioned between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and persecution increased. Push factors such as major pogroms in the Russian Empire in the 19th century and growing oppression in the west during the interwar period then saw many Jews migrate to the United States in search of opportunity.

This survey is a not up-to-date version. Please, use the updated version included in the EVS integrated data files. This national dataset is only available for replication purposes and analysis with additional country-specific variables (see ´Further Remarks´).

Two online overviews offer comprehensive metadata on the EVS datasets and variables.

The extended study description for the EVS 2008 provides country-specific information on the origin and outcomes of the national surveys The variable overview of the four EVS waves 1981 1990 1999/2000 and 2008 allows for identifying country specific deviations in the question wording within and across the EVS waves.

These overviews can be found at: Extended Study Description Variable Overview

Moral, religious, societal, political, work, and family values of Europeans.

Topics: 1. Perceptions of life: importance of work, family, friends and acquaintances, leisure time, politics and religion; frequency of political discussions with friends; happiness; self-assessment of own health; memberships and unpaid work (volunteering) in: social welfare services, religious or church organisations, education, or cultural activities, labour unions, political parties, local political actions, human rights, environmental or peace movement, professional associations, youth work, sports clubs, women´s groups, voluntary associations concerned with health or other groups; tolerance towards minorities (people with a criminal record, of a different race, left/right wing extremists, alcohol addicts, large families, emotionally unstable people, Muslims, immigrants, AIDS sufferers, drug addicts, homosexuals, Jews, gypsies and Christians - social distance); trust in people; estimation of people´s fair and helpful behaviour; internal or external control; satisfaction with life.

1. Work: reasons for people to live in need; importance of selected aspects of occupational work; employment status; general work satisfaction; freedom of decision-taking in the job; importance of work (work ethics, scale); important aspects of leisure time; attitude towards following instructions at work without criticism (obedience work); give priority to nationals over foreigners as well as men over women in jobs.

2. Religion: Individual or general clear guidelines for good and evil; religious denomination; current and former religious denomination; current frequency of church attendance and at the age of 12; importance of religious celebration at birth, marriage, and funeral; self-assessment of religiousness; churches give adequate answers to moral questions, problems of family life, spiritual needs and social problems of the country; belief in God, life after death, hell, heaven, sin and re-incarnation; personal God versus spirit or life force; own way of connecting with the divine; interest in the sacred or the supernatural; attitude towards the existence of one true religion; importance of God in one´s life (10-point-scale); experience of comfort and strength from religion and belief; moments of prayer and meditation; frequency of prayers; belief in lucky charms or a talisman (10-point-scale); attitude towards the separation of church and state.

3. Family and marriage: most important criteria for a successful marriage (scale); attitude towards childcare (a child needs a home with father and mother, a woman has to have children to be fulfilled, marriage is an out-dated institution, woman as a single-parent); attitude towards marriage, children, and traditional family structure (scale); attitude towards traditional understanding of one´s role of man and woman in occupation and family (scale); attitude towards: respect and love for parents, parent´s responsibilities for their children and the responsibility of adult children for their parents when they are in need of long-term care; importance of educational goals; attitude towards abortion.

4. Politics and society: political interest; political participation; preference for individual freedom or social equality; self-assessment on a left-right continuum (10-point-scale); self-responsibility or governmental provision; free decision of job-taking of the unemployed or no permission to refuse a job; advantage or harmfulness of competition; liberty of firms or governmental control; equal incomes or incentives for indivi...

In 1800, the population of the modern-day territory of Iran was approximately 6.3 million. This figure would see modest growth throughout the 19th century, as several wars and a mass famine in 1870-1871 (modern estimates put its death toll at around 1.5 million people) were largely balanced out by a surge in migration to Iran; this migration came as the Russian Empire expanded into the Caucuses, and caused a wave of refugees to flee southwards to avoid forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing in the North Caucasus region, particularly from 1864 onwards. As a result, the population of Iran reached ten million by the turn of the 20th century.

Twentieth century growth Iran’s population would begin to grow rapidly in the 20th century, as the discovery of oil in the country in 1908 led to an economic boom, and the socio-economic reforms implemented under Reza Shah would see a number of medical and healthcare advancements across the country. Although unpopular with religious fundamentalists, Reza Shah's reforms had long-term influence on the demographic development of Iran, even after his abdication in 1941. Following the Second World War, Iran became increasingly westernized and developed relatively strong relations with the U.S.; however, western influence, economic imbalances and the oppression of the Mohammed Reza Shah's regime became the driving forces behind the Iranian Revolution, which was one of the most significant moments in the history of the region.

Growth after the Revolution The 1979 Iranian Revolution saw the removal of the Shah and an end to Iran's so called westernization; the monarchy was replaced by an Islamic, theocratic regime led by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During Khomeini's decade in charge he oversaw Iran's transition into an Islamic Republic, which implemented radical political and cultural changes in the country, and this coincided with an increased population growth rate in the 1980s. This growth was promoted by the Iranian government, who encouraged a baby boom during the Iran–Iraq War between 1980 and 1988, as part of an effort to increase future Iranian military manpower. As a result of this strategy, the population of Iran would grow from approximately 38.6 million in 1980 to over 56 million just a decade later. Following the implementation of a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1988, population growth in Iran would slow, as economic sanctions and government implementation of family planning policies would lead to a drop in fertility. Population growth has continued steadily into the 21st century, however, and in 2020, Iran is estimated to have a population of 84 million.

Abstract

The World Values Survey (www.worldvaluessurvey.org) is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life, led by an international team of scholars, with the WVS association and secretariat headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The survey, which started in 1981, seeks to use the most rigorous, high-quality research designs in each country. The WVS consists of nationally representative surveys conducted in almost 100 countries which contain almost 90 percent of the world’s population, using a common questionnaire. The WVS is the largest non-commercial, cross-national, time series investigation of human beliefs and values ever executed, currently including interviews with almost 400,000 respondents. Moreover the WVS is the only academic study covering the full range of global variations, from very poor to very rich countries, in all of the world’s major cultural zones. The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world. Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, and subjective well-being. These data have also been widely used by government officials, journalists and students, and groups at the World Bank have analyzed the linkages between cultural factors and economic development.

Geographic coverage

The Survey covers the Russian Federation.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual

Universe

The WVS for the Russian Federation covers national population, aged 16 years and over, for both sexes.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Multi-stage stratified cluster random route sample (The households are selected based on random route sample. Selection of the respondent in household is made according to quota on age and gender). This methodology does not imply repeated visits of the households, e.g. if nobody opens the door. In order to build a national representative sample the universe was stratified into 8 macro regions (Moscow is allotted into a separate macro region) and into 8 types of settlements in every macro region. Sample points (approximately 125) are distributed among cells in compliance with national statistics. At each sample point approximately 15 interviews had been conducted. 1. Settlements are chosen for every strata. This is done by random selection from the full list of settlements that are allocated to the strata (the whole territory of the Russian Federation excluding some territories of the North Caucasus and sparsely populated areas in the North of Russia). 2. Selection of sampling points: Election sites are considered as sampling points. They are selected randomly from the full list of election sites in the city (town). In rural settlements (with usually 1 election site) selection of sampling points is not needed. 3. Selection of the definite residential as starting point within each election site. Interviewer begins with the first entrance of selected building. Step equals to 7 apartments from interview conducted. If there is not enough respondents to complete the task, interviewer passes to another building which is the next in the election site list. 4. Respondents are selected in a household among household members aged 16 years and older according to quotas representing the sample universe.

Quota according to the following criteria: - gender - age

Additional criteria used for weighting of the data: - size of household - region - size of town (Source: Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), December 2004)

Remarks about sampling: As in most of the countries involved, quota sampling had been used to select the respondents, a brief description of the methodology at the beginning of the methodological report seems to be useful. The respondent was selected using quota selection. Respondents were only selected if they matched the quotas given to the interviewers. Concerning substitution, any respondent fitting an appropriate quota profile could be interviewed instead of somebody with the same quotas, but who did not want to participate in the survey. Concerning stratification factors, region and size of town were used to design the sample and select appropriate sampling points.

The sample size for the Russian Federation is N=2033 and includes national population aged 16 years and over for both sexes.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Sampling (v255, v257) and quota (v235, v236, v237) relevant questions had been asked at the beginning of the interview. - Then the order of the WVS questions strictly followed the master questionnaire. - The following questions had been amended, agreed by WVS: v114: Had been split off into three questions v114_1: State social support for citizens v114_2: State control vs. market principles v114_3: (In)Tolerance to people of other nation, race, religion v256: Instead of ethnic group, different nationalities relevant for Russia had been asked. Two additional questions had been asked in Russia: - F3: Evaluation of the income of the household (asked after v253) Please, evaluate the income rate of your household. 1. We do not always have enough money for food 2. We have enough money for food but buying clothing is a problem 3. We have enough money for food, clothing and small household appliances. However, buying a TV-set, a refrigerator or washing machine would be a problem for us 4. We can afford main household appliances. However, buying a car would be a problem 5. We have enough savings almost for everything except for such expensive things as an apartment or a country house 6. We dont have any financial difficulties. We can afford buying an apartment or a country house - v260: Size of household (asked at the end of the interview) WVS question number or description of question: V50 to V54 V57 to V58 V91 to V94 V105 to V113 V115 V117 V122 to V124 V164 to V176 V178 to V183 V188 to V191 V193 to V197 V210 to V221 V231 to V233 V240 V248 to V252 Reason(s) not included: Short questionnaire, GfK survey

Sampling error estimates

+/- 2,2%

Moldova's first Demographic and Health Survey (2005 MDHS) is a nationally representative sample survey of 7,440 women age 15-49 and 2,508 men age 15-59 selected from 400 sample points (clusters) throughout Moldova (excluding the Transnistria region). It is designed to provide data to monitor the population and health situation in Moldova; it includes several indicators which follow up on those from the 1997 Moldova Reproductive Health Survey (1997 MRHS) and the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2000 MICS). The 2005 MDHS used a two-stage sample based on the 2004 Population and Housing Census and was designed to produce separate estimates for key indicators for each of the major regions in Moldova, including the North, Center, and South regions and Chisinau Municipality. Unlike the 1997 MRHS and the 2000 MICS surveys, the 2005 MDHS did not cover the region of Transnistria. Data collection took place over a two-month period, from June 13 to August 18, 2005. The survey obtained detailed information on fertility levels, abortion levels, marriage, sexual activity, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, breastfeeding practices, nutritional status of women and young children, childhood mortality, maternal and child health, adult health, and awareness and behavior regarding HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Hemoglobin testing was conducted on women and children to detect the presence of anemia. Additional features of the 2005 MDHS include the collection of information on international emigration, language preference for reading printed media, and domestic violence. The 2005 MDHS was carried out by the National Scientific and Applied Center for Preventive Medicine, hereafter called the National Center for Preventive Medicine (NCPM), of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. ORC Macro provided technical assistance for the MDHS through the USAID-funded MEASURE DHS project. Local costs of the survey were also supported by USAID, with additional funds from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and in-kind contributions from the NCPM. MAIN RESULTS CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS Ethnicity and Religion. Most women and men in Moldova are of Moldovan ethnicity (77 percent and 76 percent, respectively), followed by Ukrainian (8-9 percent of women and men), Russian (6 percent of women and men), and Gagauzan (4-5 percent of women and men). Romanian and Bulgarian ethnicities account for 2 to 3 percent of women and men. The overwhelming majority of Moldovans, about 95 percent, report Orthodox Christianity as their religion. Residence and Age. The majority of respondents, about 58 percent, live in rural areas. For both sexes, there are proportionally more respondents in age groups 15-19 and 45-49 (and also 45-54 for men), whereas the proportion of respondents in age groups 25-44 is relatively lower. This U-shaped age distribution reflects the aging baby boom cohort following World War II (the youngest of the baby boomers are now in their mid-40s), and their children who are now mostly in their teens and 20s. The smaller proportion of men and women in the middle age groups reflects the smaller cohorts following the baby boom generation and those preceding the generation of baby boomers' children. To some degree, it also reflects the disproportionately higher emigration of the working-age population. Education. Women and men in Moldova are universally well educated, with virtually 100 percent having at least some secondary or higher education; 79 percent of women and 83 percent of men have only a secondary or secondary special education, and the remainder pursues a higher education. More women (21 percent) than men (16 percent) pursue higher education. Language Preference. Among women, preferences for language of reading material are about equal for Moldovan (37 percent) and Russian (35 percent) languages. Among men, preference for Russian (39 percent) is higher than for Moldovan (25 percent). A substantial percentage of women and men prefer Moldovan and Russian equally (27 percent of women and 32 percent of men). Living Conditions. Access to electricity is almost universal for households in Moldova. Ninety percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, with 86 percent in rural areas and 96 percent in urban areas. Seventy-seven percent of households in Moldova have adequate means of sanitary disposal, with 91 percent of households in urban areas and only 67 percent in rural areas. Children's Living Arrangements. Compared with other countries in the region, Moldova has the highest proportion of children who do not live with their mother and/or father. Only about two-thirds (69 percent) of children under age 15 live with both parents. Fifteen percent live with just their mother although their father is alive, 5 percent live with just their father although their mother is alive, and 7 percent live with neither parent although they are both alive. Compared with living arrangements of children in 2000, the situation appears to have worsened. FERTILITY Fertility Levels and Trends. The total fertility rate (TFR) in Moldova is 1.7 births. This means that, on average, a woman in Moldova will give birth to 1.7 children by the end of her reproductive period. Overall, fertility rates have declined since independence in 1991. However, data indicate that fertility rates may have increased in recent years. For example, women of childbearing age have given birth to, on average, 1.4 children at the end of their childbearing years. This is slightly less than the total fertility rate (1.7), with the difference indicating that fertility in the past three years is slightly higher than the accumulation of births over the past 30 years. Fertility Differentials. The TFR for rural areas (1.8 births) is higher than that for urban areas (1.5 births). Results show that this urban-rural difference in childbearing rates can be attributed almost exclusively to younger age groups. CONTRACEPTION Knowledge of Contraception. Knowledge of family planning is nearly universal, with 99 percent of all women age 15-49 knowing at least one modern method of family planning. Among all women, the male condom, IUD, pills, and withdrawal are the most widely known methods of family planning, with over 80 percent of all women saying they have heard of these methods. Female sterilization is known by two-thirds of women, while periodic abstinence (rhythm method) is recognized by almost six in ten women. Just over half of women have heard of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), while 40-50 percent of all women have heard of injectables, male sterilization, and foam/jelly. The least widely known methods are emergency contraception, diaphragm, and implants. Use of Contraception. Sixty-eight percent of currently married women are using a family planning method to delay or stop childbearing. Most are using a modern method (44 percent of married women), while 24 percent use a traditional method of contraception. The IUD is the most widely used of the modern methods, being used by 25 percent of married women. The next most widely used method is withdrawal, used by 20 percent of married women. Male condoms are used by about 7 percent of women, especially younger women. Five percent of married women have been sterilized and 4 percent each are using the pill and periodic abstinence (rhythm method). The results show that Moldovan women are adopting family planning at lower parities (i.e., when they have fewer children) than in the past. Among younger women (age 20-24), almost half (49 percent) used contraception before having any children, compared with only 12 percent of women age 45-49. MATERNAL HEALTH Antenatal Care and Delivery Care. Among women with a birth in the five years preceding the survey, almost all reported seeing a health professional at least once for antenatal care during their last pregnancy; nine in ten reported 4 or more antenatal care visits. Seven in ten women had their first antenatal care visit in the first trimester. In addition, virtually all births were delivered by a health professional, in a health facility. Results also show that the vast majority of women have timely checkups after delivering; 89 percent of all women received a medical checkup within two days of the birth, and another 6 percent within six weeks. CHILD HEALTH Childhood Mortality. The infant mortality rate for the 5-year period preceding the survey is 13 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning that about 1 in 76 infants dies before the first birthday. The under-five mortality rate is almost the same with 14 deaths per 1,000 births. The near parity of these rates indicates that most all early childhood deaths take place during the first year of life. Comparison with official estimates of IMRs suggests that this rate has been improving over the past decade. NUTRITION Breastfeeding Practices. Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Moldova: 97 percent of children are breastfed. However the duration of breast-feeding is not long, exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced, and bottle-feeding is not uncommon. In terms of the duration of breastfeeding, data show that by age 12-15 months, well over half of children (59 percent) are no longer being breastfed. By age 20-23 months, almost all children have been weaned. Exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced and supplementary feeding begins early: 57 percent of breastfed children less than 4 months are exclusively breastfed, and 46 percent under six months are exclusively breastfeed. The remaining breastfed children also consume plain water, water-based liquids or juice, other milk in addition to breast milk, and complimentary foods. Bottle-feeding is fairly widespread in Moldova; almost one-third (29 percent) of infants under 4 months old are fed with a bottle with

From 1800 until the late twentieth century, there was a steady increase in Afghanistan's population. Throughout the nineteenth century, Afghanistan became a battleground for the British Empire, who tried to control the area in order to prevent Russian expansion towards the British Raj. Despite resisting the British invasion in the first Anglo-Afghan War, (where the British Army was almost completely wiped out), the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880 saw Britain seize control of the region. In contrast to the neighboring colonies on the Indian subcontinent, Britain did not colonize Afghanistan for economic purposes, therefore they did not invest in agriculture or infrastructure, nor introduce medicine in the same way they did in the Raj, and focused only on Afghanistan's international affairs. Independence and progress The Third Anglo-Afghan War, where Afghan forces invaded British India in 1919, resulted in Afghanistan's independence finally being declared after two months of conflict. The next decade saw some major reforms that attempted to modernize Afghan society, (notable progress was made for women's rights and education) however this alienated many conservative and religious tribes, and a civil war broke out in 1928. After the war (and brief usurpation) the new King of Afghanistan, Nadir Khan, consolidated power, and also moved to modernize the country, but more gradually than his predecessors in order to avoid further alienation and conflict. Khan's approach remained in place until the 1970s, when a bloodless coup established a republic. The republic never achieved political stability, and the Sauri Revolution of 1978 resulted in the formation of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Continuous war Despite some progressive reforms, such as banning forced marriages and opening a space for women in politics, the determination to promote state atheism combined with the country's economic dependence on the Soviet Union led to serious opposition from Afghan people, particularly in rural areas. On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union (backed by the Afghan government) invaded the country, and the ensuing decade-long guerilla war resulted in as many as two million fatalities and three million wounded, as well as two million internally displaced persons and five million refugees abroad. Soviet withdrawal was seen as a western victory, as they had supported the Taliban in their fight against the Soviets, however a decade later the Taliban refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda suspects to the US, following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. This led to US and British forces launching Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001, and an intensive bombing campaign followed, destroying many major cities in the country. The Taliban government was toppled in December 2001, and in 2002 a western-led rebuilding of the country began. Over the past two decades, many displaced Afghans have returned home, leading to some economic growth, however guerilla fighting continues and there is a strong military presence in the country (including many Taliban controlled areas). In 2020, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries in the world, however the rapid population growth experienced in recent decades is expected to continue well into the future, as improvements in medical care and humanitarian aid become more widespread across the country.