In 2022, Indonesia has the largest population of Muslims worldwide with around 241.5 million. This was followed with around 225.6 million Muslims in Pakistan and 211.16 million Muslims in India.

Associated with manuscript titled: Fifty Muslim-majority countries have fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than the 50 richest non-Muslim countriesThe objective of this research was to determine the difference in the total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths between Muslim-majority and non-Muslim countries, and investigate reasons for the disparities. Methods: The 50 Muslim-majority countries had more than 50.0% Muslims with an average of 87.5%. The non-Muslim country sample consisted of 50 countries with the highest GDP while omitting any Muslim-majority countries listed. The non-Muslim countries’ average percentage of Muslims was 4.7%. Data pulled on September 18, 2020 included the percentage of Muslim population per country by World Population Review15 and GDP per country, population count, and total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths by Worldometers.16 The data set was transferred via an Excel spreadsheet on September 23, 2020 and analyzed. To measure COVID-19’s incidence in the countries, three different Average Treatment Methods (ATE) were used to validate the results. Results published as a preprint at https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/84zq5(15) Muslim Majority Countries 2020 [Internet]. Walnut (CA): World Population Review. 2020- [Cited 2020 Sept 28]. Available from: http://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/muslim-majority-countries (16) Worldometers.info. Worldometer. Dover (DE): Worldometer; 2020 [cited 2020 Sept 28]. Available from: http://worldometers.info

Islam is the major religion in many African countries, especially in the north of the continent. In Comoros, Libya, Western Sahara, at least 99 percent of the population was Muslim as of 202. These were the highest percentages on the continent. However, also in many other African nations, the majority of the population was Muslim. In Egypt, for instance, Islam was the religion of 79 percent of the people. Islam and other religions in Africa Africa accounts for an important share of the world’s Muslim population. As of 2019, 16 percent of the Muslims worldwide lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 20 percent of them lived in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Together with Christianity, Islam is the most common religious affiliation in Africa, followed by several traditional African religions. Although to a smaller extent, numerous other religions are practiced on the continent: these include Judaism, the Baha’i Faith, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Number of Muslims worldwide Islam is one of the most widespread religions in the world. There are approximately 1.9 billion Muslims globally, with the largest Muslim communities living in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, Indonesia hosts the highest number of Muslims worldwide, amounting to over 200 million, followed by India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Islam is also present in Europe and America. The largest Islamic communities in Europe are in France (5.72 million), Germany (4.95 million), and the United Kingdom (4.13 million). In the United States, there is an estimated number of around 3.45 million Muslims.

In 2024, Nigeria had the largest Muslim population in Africa, with around 105 million people who belonged to an Islamic denomination. Egypt and Algeria followed with 90.4 million and 39.4 million Muslims, respectively. Muslims have a significant presence in Africa, with an estimated 50 percent of the continent's population identifying as Muslim. The spread of Islam in Africa began in the 7th century with the arrival of Arab traders, and it continued through Islamic scholars and missionaries.

Bahrain Number of Financial Institutions: Investment Business Firms: Category 1: ow Islamic data was reported at 13.000 Unit in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.000 Unit for 2019. Bahrain Number of Financial Institutions: Investment Business Firms: Category 1: ow Islamic data is updated yearly, averaging 8.000 Unit from Dec 2007 (Median) to 2020, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.000 Unit in 2020 and a record low of 2.000 Unit in 2007. Bahrain Number of Financial Institutions: Investment Business Firms: Category 1: ow Islamic data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Informatics Organization. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bahrain – Table BH.KB024: Number of Financial Institutions.

The Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is considered among the world’s largest human gatherings, with over **** million pilgrims in 2025. The Saudi government restricted Hajj to residents in Saudi Arabia only during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The number of Hajj pilgrims dropped to about **** thousand in 2021. Like other religious pilgrimages, Hajj is considered an annual rite of passage to renew one's moral and spiritual connection. Approximately a quarter of the human population identify themselves as Muslims. According to their faith of Islam, it is one of their five religious duties to perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime. Who are the pilgrims? According to Islamic tradition, any Muslim who has reached maturity is due to perform the Hajj. During the last Hajj season before the COVID-19 pandemic, about two thirds of the pilgrims to Mecca came from outside of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom. The government of Saudi Arabia issues each years’ Hajj visas on a country quota system, based on the size of the Muslim population .     Financial aspects   One main condition for a mature Muslim to qualify to perform the Hajj is to be free of debt and other financial and social obligations. Many Muslims around the world spend a significant amount of their life-savings to be able to make this spiritual journey. As an example, the cost of performing Hajj for a Malaysian Muslim was calculated at about ***** thousand Malaysian ringgits. For first time Hajj pilgrims, the Malaysian government subsidizes more than half of that amount. Some Muslims who can’t afford the financial or physical challenges of the Hajj sometimes perform the smaller Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca called Umrah, which can be attempted all year round.

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 2.1 commits countries to end hunger, ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year around. Indicator 2.1.2, “Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)”, provides internationally-comparable estimates of the proportion of the population facing difficulties in accessing food. More detailed background information is available at http://www.fao.org/in-action/voices-of-the-hungry/fies/en/

The FIES-based indicators are compiled using the FIES survey module, containing 8 questions. Two indicators can be computed:
1. The proportion of the population experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity (SDG indicator 2.1.2), 2. The proportion of the population experiencing severe food insecurity.

These data were collected by FAO through the Gallup World Poll. General information on the methodology can be found here: https://www.gallup.com/178667/gallup-world-poll-work.aspx. National institutions can also collect FIES data by including the FIES survey module in nationally representative surveys.

Microdata can be used to calculate the indicator 2.1.2 at national level. Instructions for computing this indicator are described in the methodological document available in the downloads tab. Disaggregating results at sub-national level is not encouraged because estimates will suffer from substantial sampling and measurement error.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

Individuals of 15 years or older with access to landline and/or mobile phones.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

With some exceptions, all samples are probability based and nationally representative of the resident adult population. The coverage area is the entire country including rural areas, and the sampling frame represents the entire civilian, non-institutionalized, aged 15 and older population. For more details on the overall sampling and data collection methodology, see the World poll methodology attached as a resource in the downloads tab. Specific sampling details for each country are also attached as technical documents in the downloads tab. Exclusions: NA Design effect: 1.34

Mode of data collection

Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing [CATI]

Cleaning operations

Statistical validation assesses the quality of the FIES data collected by testing their consistency with the assumptions of the Rasch model. This analysis involves the interpretation of several statistics that reveal 1) items that do not perform well in a given context, 2) cases with highly erratic response patterns, 3) pairs of items that may be redundant, and 4) the proportion of total variance in the population that is accounted for by the measurement model.

Sampling error estimates

The margin of error is estimated as 3.6. This is calculated around a proportion at the 95% confidence level. The maximum margin of error was calculated assuming a reported percentage of 50% and takes into account the design effect.

The main objective of the Journal of Islam and Social Sciences is to provide an intellectual platform for national and international researchers to discuss their most recent findings related to the relationship of Islam and social sciences in Iran. By doing so, the journal hopes to improve the status of the field in Iran and in the world and to find solutions to theoretical and practical problems the profession is faced with. The wide range of issues related to the relationship between religion i.e. Islam and the social sciences requires that specialized scientific journals, and in the near future scientific researches, devote special attention to issues and problems raised in this regard. So the results of these researches will address the needs of the scientific community in the country. For this reason, the Department of Social Sciences of RIHU has been seeking publication of a journal titled "Islam and Social Sciences". Semi-annual journal of Islam and Social Sciences, in order to cooperate with other sections of Hawzah and University and to realize the above-mentioned goals and developing and deepening the literature in the field of relationships between Islam and social sciences and with the aim of providing scientific information, providing ground for dialogue and reflection of the opinions of scholars and creating a ground for the production of religious science and providing a suitable space for the further development and progress of the Islamic social sciences intends to examine the relations of religion, especially Islam and social sciences, in the form of publication of special issues. To serve this purpose, researchers are encouraged to submit their unpublished, original, full-length papers for potential publication in the journal.

The journal is set to publish original articles on a wide range of issues including;

Social philosophy: (in the Quran and other religious texts and the tradition, in the thought of Muslim scholars and comparison of different attitudes and approaches);
Philosophy of social sciences: (in Islamic sources, convergence and divergence of different perspectives);
Methodology of social sciences: (review of their function and their role in Islamic religious-Islamic social sciences);
Social thoughts of Muslim thinkers: (social issues and strategic theories, theories, areas of sociology including sociology of religion, sociology of knowledge, historical sociology, cultural sociology);
Religious theorizing (inferred from Islamic resources) on social issues;
Reviewing and comparing social religious propositions of different religions with each other;
Religious-Islamic sociology (subject, methods, theories, analysis and critique of approaches, goals and application, the relation of Islamic sociology with dominant paradigms in sociology, the role and application of Islamic sociology in Islamic and non-Islamic societies);

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

This survey covers Romania.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual

Universe

The WVS for Romania covers national population, aged 18 years and over, for both sexes.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample was designed to be representative of the entire adult population, i.e. 18 years and older, of your country. The lower age cut-off for the sample was 18 and there was not an upper age cut-off for the sample. Population: Total resident non-institutionalized population of Romania 18 years and older. Respondents were selected by a stratified random sample. Stratification criteria were region and type of residence (urban vs. rural). 127 sampling points were randomly selected proportional to the distribution of population within these regions. Within sampling points households were selected by method of random route. Within each household the respondent is randomly selected using the "next-birthday" method. Selection is done: 49% Male and 51% Female. 57% Urban and 43% Rural. Nationality 93% Romanian, 7% Hungarian, 1% Other. The sample size is N=1239.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The WVS questionnaire was in Romanian. Some special variable labels have been included, such as: V56 Neighbours: Muslims and V149 Institution: The European Union. Special categories labels are: V167 Least Liked Groups: 1 Muslims, V203/ V204: Geographical affinity, 1. Locality or town where you live, 2. Region of country where you live, 3. Own country as a whole, 4. Europe, 5. The world as whole. Country Specific variables included are: V208: Ethnic identification, 1. Romanian, 2. Other; V209: Language at home: 2. Hungarian and 3. German. The variables political parties V210 a V212; Ethic group: V 233 and Region: V 234 are also included as country specific variables. The V 206 Born in this country is 1. Yes and 2. No.

Response rate

The response rate for Romania is 82.6% and is calculated as follows: (1239/1500) x 100 = 82.6%

Sampling error estimates

+/- 2,8%

Islam and Christianity form the two dominant religions in Nigeria. Since colonialism, approximately 90 percent of the Nigerian people identify themselves as Islamic or Christian. The northern region of Nigeria is predominately Islamic, while the southern region is predominately Christian.

Nigeria’s contact with Islam predated that of Christianity and European colonialism; its spread was facilitated into Sub-Saharan Africa through trade and commerce. The northern part of Nigeria is symbolic to the history of Islam, as it penetrated the area through the Kanem-Borno Empire in the 11th century before spreading to other predominately Hausa states. Islam was then introduced into the traditional societies of the Yoruba-speaking people of south-west Nigeria through their established commercial relationship with people of the north, particularly the Nupe and Fulani.

Christianity reached Nigeria in the 15th century with the visitation of Catholic missionaries to the coastal areas of the Niger-Delta region. Christianity soon recorded a boost in the southern region given its opposition to the slave trade and its promotion of Western education.

The distinct religious divide has instigated violence in present-day Nigeria, including the Sharia riot in Kaduna in 2000, ongoing ethno-religious violence in Jos since 2001, and the 2011 post-election violence that erupted in some northern states, particularly in the city of Maiduguri. Nigerians’ continued loyalty to religion compared to that of the country continues to sustain major political debate, conflict, and violent outbreaks between populations of the two faiths.

ISO3-International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code

NAME-Name of religious institution

TYPE-Type of religious institution

CITY-City religious institution is located in

SPA_ACC-Spatial accuracy of site location 1- high, 2 – medium, 3 - low

SOURCE_DT-Source creation date

SOURCE-Primary source

SOURCE2_DT-Secondary source creation date

SOURCE2-Secondary source

Collection

This HGIS was created using information collected from the web sites GCatholic.org, Islamic Finder, Wikimapia, and BBBike.org, which uses OpenStreetMap, a crowd-source collaboration project that geo-locates sites throughout the world. After collection, all education institutions were geo-located.

The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe Analytics is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.

Sources (HGIS)

BBBike, "Nigeria." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 19, 2013. http://extract.bbbike.org.

GCatholic.org, "Catholic Churches in Federal Republic of Nigeria." Last modified 2013. Accessed April 4, 2013. http://www.gcatholic.org/.

Islamic Finder, "Nigeria." Last modified 2013. Accessed April 4, 2013. http://islamicfinder.org/.

Olanrewaju, Timothy. The Sun, "oko Haram attacks church in Maiduguri." Last modified 2013. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://sunnewsonline.com/.

Wikimapia, "Nigeria:Mosques/Churches." Last modified 2013. Accessed April 4, 2013. http://wikimapia.org/

World Watch Monitor, "Muslim Threat to Attack Church Raises Tensions." Last modified 2012. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/.

Sources (Metadata)

Danjibo, N.D. "Islamic Fundamentalism and Sectarian Violence: The "Maitatsine" and "Boko Haram" Crises in Northern Nigeria." manuscript., University of Ibadan, 2010. http://www.ifra-nigeria.org.

Olanrewaju, Timothy. The Sun, "oko Haram attacks church in Maiduguri." Last modified 2013. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://sunnewsonline.com/.

Onapajo, Hakeem. "Politics for God: Religion, Politics, and Conflict in Democratic Nigeria." Journal of Pan African Studies. 4. no. 9 (2012): 42-66. http://web.ebscohost.com (accessed March 26, 2013).

World Watch Monitor, "Muslim Threat to Attack Church Raises Tensions." Last modified 2012. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/.

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.

For this survey, opinions were sought from respondents across Europe and the United States on several topics of national and international interest. These topics included: (1) the European Union (EU) and the United States as superpowers, threats facing the global community, (2) the United Nations (UN), (3) the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), (4) general opinions of various countries, institutions, and people, (5) actions taken by the George W. Bush Administration, (6) intervention policy, (7) Turkey's (potential) membership in the EU, (8) Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, (9) China's human rights record, and (10) political preferences and voter intentions. Regarding the EU and the United States as superpowers, respondents were asked whether it was desirable for the EU or the United States to exert strong leadership in the world, whether the EU or the United States or neither should be superpowers, if the motive for opposing the EU becoming a superpower was increased military expenditure, whether increased military expenditure was necessary for the EU to become a superpower, whether the EU should concentrate on becoming an economic power, and if a more powerful EU should cooperate with the United States. Respondents were asked about threats facing the world such as Islamic fundamentalism, immigration, international terrorism, global warming, the spread of diseases such as AIDS, a major economic downturn, and the spread of nuclear weapons, and whether they expected to be affected by any of them in the next ten years. With respect to the United Nations, respondents were asked their overall opinion of the UN, whether they believed UN involvement legitimized the use of military force, whether the UN could help manage the world's problems better than a single country could, and whether the UN helps to distribute the costs of international actions. Regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), respondents were asked whether NATO could help share the United States military burden, whether NATO was an essential part of national security, if NATO involvement legitimized the use of military force, if NATO was dominated by the United States, and whether Europe should maintain a defensive alliance independent of the United States. Respondents were asked to give their opinions on the following countries, institutions, and population groups: the United States, Russia, Israel, the European Union, Palestinians, Italy, Turkey, China, Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain. In regard to the Bush Administration, respondents were asked whether relations between the United States and Europe were better or worse, whether Bush's efforts to improve relations between the United States and Europe were successful, what the future of relations between the United States and Europe would be because of Bush's efforts, and whether or not Europe should be more independent from the United States with respect to issues of security and diplomacy. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of Bush's handling of international policies. With respect to intervention policy, the following questions were asked: should the EU help establish democracies, should the EU be involved in monitoring elections, would the respondent be in favor of the EU supporting trade unions, human rights associations, and religious groups in an effort to promote freedom, and should the EU support political dissidents and impose political and economic sanctions in opposition to an authoritarian regime. Respondents were asked several questions regarding Turkey's membership in the EU, including whether Turkey's membership in the EU could help promote peace and stability in the Middle East, if Turkey's membership in the EU would be good for the EU in economic terms, whether a predominately Muslim country belonged in the EU, if Turkey was too populous to become a member of the EU, and whether Turkey was too poor to be admitted into the EU. Respondents were also asked what they felt was the best way to put pressure on Iran in light of its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and whether or not the EU should limit its relations with China due to China's human rights violations. Respondents were also asked about their voting intentions for the next elections and what factors they took into consideration when deciding for which party to vote. The dat

​ “Middle East” LanguagesIndependent StudyFebruary 16, 2012Amanda DoyleCo-authors: Kevin Ragborg, Marc Puricelli, and Maria LindellDespite the relatively small geographical size of the “Middle East,” there is great diversity of the spoken languages within the region. The most common spoken language of the “Middle East” is Arabic, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew that was developed beginning in the 8th century BC. Currently, around 280 million people speak Arabic in the regions of the “Middle East” and North Africa encompassing the countries between Morocco to Iraq. The Qur’an, the central religious text of Islam, is only allowed to be written in Arabic, giving the language a very important role in the Muslim world. Different from some other languages, there are many different dialects of Arabic, which can make it difficult for speakers from different areas of the Arabic speaking world to understand one another3. The next major language of the Middle East is Persian or Farsi, the national language of Iran. Persian is spoken by an estimated 65 million people, most of which are concentrated in Iran but there are significant Persian speaking populations in Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. Younger than Arabic, Persian was developed around 400 BC and is closely related to Hindi and Urdu. There are three main dialects of Persian: Iranian Persian (spoken in Iran), Dari Persian (spoken in Afghanistan) and Tajik Persian (spoken in Tajikistan.) 4Hebrew is spoken by roughly 3.8 million people in the “Middle East,” but this population is now concentrated in Israel and the neighboring countries. Though, not all Jews, even Israeli Jews, speak Hebrew since centuries ago, Hebrew ceased being a working language; however, due to Jewish nationalism, the Zionist movement, and the need for a unifying language between immigrants into Israel the language has been revived. Turkish, the national language of Turkey and the main spoken language of the Turkish nation is also spoken by roughly 170,000 people in Cyprus and by minorities in the Fertile Crescent area. Kurdish is the language that unifies the Kurds, a nation that spans a large geographical range from Beirut to Afghanistan. Additionally, almost all countries in the “Middle East” have several minority languages, such as Berber, spoken by many North Africans, including some parts of northwestern Egypt. Azeri, a minority Turkic language, is often spoken in northwestern Iran. Turkish tribes in the southern Zagros Mountains in Iran speak Qashqai, while Baluchi is spoken in southeastern and eastern Iran by the Baluch peoples and migrants in United Arab Emirates and Oman. Nomadic tribes in the Zagros Mountains can be found speaking Luri. Lastly, Armenian, due to its historical significance is spoken by minorities in urban centers such as Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Tehran, and Cairo1.Works Cited (1) Held, Colbert C. Middle East Patterns – Places, Peoples and Politics. 2nd ed. Westview Press, Inc.: Boulder, Co, 1994, pgs. 76-80.(2) The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2011. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Jordan&countryCode=jo&regionCode=me&#jo.(3) "Learn Arabic - All About the Arabic Language." Innovative Language Learning. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. http://innovativelanguage.com/languagelearning/arabic-language.(4) UCLA, Language Materials Projects. "Persian Language." Iran Chamber Society. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/articles/persian_language.php.

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 Iran.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual

Universe

The WVS for Iran covers national population aged 16 years and over, for both sexes.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Because of the size and complexity of the survey population, multi-stage probability sampling methods are used to develop the sample frame for this study.

Stage 1: The total household population of Iran is divided into 28 strata based on the provincial boundariestwenty-seven provinces plus the province of Tehran. In each province, the household population is divided into urban and rural areas. And each urban and rural area is further divided into Census blocks. The SCI has detailed maps of all these urban and rural areas. These areas are divided into Census Enumeration Areas or blocks, which are the smallest geographically specified units. Each unit includes at least ten dwellings for the urban areas and at least one for the rural areas. A block is defined as an area where one can start enumeration from one point and go around the unit and return to the starting point. The size and the population density of these blocks vary. The number of these blocks and their distributions as urban versus rural areas also vary from province to province. In the 28 provinces, the blocks are sampled with probabilities proportionate to size measured in total dwelling units. In the 28 provinces, blocks are sampled in proportion to the total number of dwelling units. In metropolitan areas, where blocks fall into districts with varying socioeconomic status (high, medium, low), these areas are first stratified into homogeneous districts, and then blocks are sampled.

Stage 2: The second stage units of the surveys multi-stage sample design include individual dwelling units, in which respondents reside. The SCI has provided the list of all the dwelling units within each of the selected blocks. A random sample of dwellings units will be selected for contact from the listing for each block. The result will be about 3000 dwellings of which 1800 will be from urban and 1200 from rural areas. The table below shows the population size according to the 1996 Census and its distribution of the population in the urban and rural areas by provinces, the sampled Census blocks, and the share of the sample of households for the urban and rural areas of each province. A final adjustment of the sample size may be made according to the homogeneity or the heterogeneity of the area being sampled. The level of education and economic development are considered the major criteria for assessing the degree of homogeneity of the population.

Stage 3: A single respondent from each sample dwelling unit will be selected according to procedure specified in charts provided to the interviewers. There were three differences between the 2000 and 2005 samples. First, in 2000 sample, the interviewers were not able to get to the provinces of Sistan va Baluchistan and Kurdistan. But in 2005 these provinces were surveyed. Second, in the 2005 the province of Kurdistan was oversampled to allow comparison with Iraqi Kurds. Third, the number of province ware increased to thirty-one in 2005.

The sample size for Iran is N=2667 and includes the national population aged 16 years and over for both sexes.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The WVS questionnaire was translated into Persian from the English questionnaire by a member of the research team. The translated questionnaire was also pre-tested. The questionnaire was administered to 200 individuals. In 2005 survey, no question was omitted.

The global terrorism index systematically ranks countries of the world according to their terrorist activity. In 2024, Burkina Faso ranked first on the global terrorism index with a score of 8.58 points, making it the country most affected by terrorism on Earth. In 2023, the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered from the fourth highest number of terrorist attacks.Additional information on the Global terrorism index The Global Terrorism Index is an annual ranking produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. As even the definition of terrorism is hotly debated, it is essential to highlight that the methodologies used to measure terrorism are also contested. The Global Terrorism Index ranks 163 countries on four indicators weighted over five years. These four factors are: the number of terrorist incidents per year, the number of fatalities caused by terrorists per year, the number of injuries caused by terrorists per year, and total property damage caused by terrorism per year. Terrorist groups Terrorism comes in several forms from a variety of groups with differing intentions. Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan in 2021 can help explain the high ranking of Afghanistan, but the country has been plagued by terrorist activities for many decades. The operation of numerous groups alongside or in conflict with the Islamic State and the Taliban has led to Afghanistan falling victim to a high number of attacks. Moreover, IS now operates across several countries and regions, including in Burkina Faso. Economic damages On the non-human casualty side of the index, property loss is an important metric as loss of shelter or livelihood has a long lasting impact on those who survive the attack physically unharmed. The high percentage of attacks in advanced economies in the most expensive terrorist attacks by insured property loss demonstrates the limitation of using comparative financial data. Although the insured losses are lower in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, this does not suggest the impact of property loss is lower. The instability in these countries often makes insurance unaffordable for most citizens.

Christianity is the major religion in numerous African countries. As of 2024, around 96 percent of the population of Zambia was Christian, representing the highest percentage on the continent. Seychelles and Rwanda followed with roughly 95 percent and 94 percent of the population being Christian, respectively. While these countries present the highest percentages, Christianity was also prevalent in many other African nations. For instance, in South Africa, Christianity was the religion of nearly 85 percent of the people, while the share corresponded to 71 percent in Ghana. Religious variations across Africa Christianity and Islam are the most practiced religions in Africa. Christian adherents are prevalent below the Sahara, while North Africa is predominantly Muslim. In 2020, Christians accounted for around 60 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population, followed by Muslims with a share of roughly 30 percent. In absolute terms, there were approximately 650 million Christians in the region, a number forecast to increase to over one billion by 2050. In contrast, Islam is most prevalent in North Africa, being the religion of over 90 percent of the population in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Christianity in the world As opposed to other religions, Christianity is widely spread across continents worldwide. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe each account for around 25 percent of the global Christian population. By comparison, Asia-Pacific and North America make up 13 percent and 12 percent of Christians worldwide, respectively. In several regions, Christians also suffer persecution on religious grounds. Somalia and Libya presented the most critical situation in Africa in 2021, reporting the strongest suppression of Christians worldwide just after North Korea and Afghanistan.

Worldwide, the male population is slightly higher than the female population, although this varies by country. As of 2023, Hong Kong has the highest share of women worldwide with almost 55 percent. Moldova followed behind with 54 percent. Among the countries with the largest share of women in the total population, several were former Soviet-states or were located in Eastern Europe. By contrast, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman had some of the highest proportions of men in their populations.

Muslims residing in Oslo, Norway will be fasting in the middle of the month of Ramadan for a total of 13 hours and 51 minutes, between the times of 5:50 am and 7:41 pm. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, observing Muslims worldwide abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual activities from sunrise to sunset. RamadanThe Islamic calendar is based on the lunar year; therefore, it is ten days shorter than the Gregorian solar calendar. Thus, Ramadan will take place from the 1st to the 29th of March 2025. The fasting hours are calculated from dusk until dawn of each day for the whole of the month of Ramadan. Differing fasting times in different places result from the fact that the length of each day varies based on the latitude of each location and changes each day due to the Earth's orbit around the sun. However, there might be slight interpretational differences between different schools of thought and branches of Islam. Muslim worldAccording to the latest estimations there are over 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide. It is estimated that that by 2026 the Muslim population will increase to over 2.98 billion narrowing the gap with Christianity, whose community is projected to grow to just over three billion by then. The majority of Muslims worldwide are located in Asia, though it is only a quarter of the continent’s population.

In 2021, 53.3 percent of the total population in Canada were Christian, 4.9 percent were Muslim, but almost more than a third are not religious at all – with the rest stating they adhere to Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, the Jewish faith, and other Christian denominations. Canada’s religious pluralismCanada is not a very religious country in general. Canadians adhere to a wide variety of beliefs and faiths, with the majority following Christianity, followed by those who do not believe in any deity or religion at all. As with many Western countries, the younger generations are less inclined to identify with faith, and Christianity in particular is not as popular as it is among the older generations. Alternative worship for the younger generations?Canadian teenagers are no less enthusiastic about religion than their parents, and they are just as grounded in their faith as the older generations. They are, however, also just as indecisive when it comes to whether they would call themselves religious or not. Interestingly, they seem much more interested in traditional aboriginal spirituality than in the Judeo-Christian model. They also seem quite interested in another alternative to Christianity: Buddhism is quite popular among the younger generations. Whether this signifies a general trend away from Christianity and towards religious alternatives remains to be seen.

The two countries with the greatest shares of the world's Jewish population are the United States and Israel. The United States had been a hub of Jewish immigration since the nineteenth century, as Jewish people sought to escape persecution in Europe by emigrating across the Atlantic. The Jewish population in the U.S. is largely congregated in major urban areas, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with the New York metropolitan area being the city with the second largest Jewish population worldwide, after Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel is the world's only officially Jewish state, having been founded in 1948 following the first Arab-Israeli War. While Jews had been emigrating to the holy lands since the nineteenth century, when they were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, immigration increased rapidly following the establishment of the state of Israel. Jewish communities in Eastern Europe who had survived the Holocaust saw Israel as a haven from persecution, while the state encouraged immigration from Jewish communities in other regions, notably the Middle East & North Africa. Smaller Jewish communities remain in Europe in countries such as France, the UK, and Germany, and in other countries which were hotspots for Jewish migration in the twentieth century, such as Canada and Argentina.