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Included Nations/Regions: Bahrain [x], Western Asia [x], The World [x]


Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1

Religion Indexes (Bahrain)

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

Ranking: 13/253
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 39/253
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 43/253
State Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 47/253
For details on how these indexes were constructed, click here

Bahrain: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Buddhists, Ethnic religionists, Jews, New religionists, Nonreligious.


Bahrain: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Agnostics, Atheists, Independents, Mahayanists, Orthodox, Protestants.


Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2

Religion Bahrain
[x]
Western Asia
[x]
The World
[x]
Baha'is 0.24% 0.06% 0.11%
Buddhists 0.22% 0.23% 6.83%
--Mahayanists 0.22% 0.06% 4.89%
--Theravadins --- 0.16% 1.72%
--Lamaists --- 0.00% 0.23%
Chinese folk-religionists --- 0.02% 5.98%
Christians 12.07% 5.58% 32.16%
--unaffiliated Christians --- 0.05% 1.46%
--Orthodox 0.41% 2.94% 3.75%
--Catholics 9.99% 2.39% 15.90%
--Protestants 0.78% 0.13% 7.51%
--Independents 0.89% 0.15% 5.00%
Daoists --- --- 0.11%
Confucianists --- --- 0.11%
Ethnic religionists 0.03% 0.03% 3.65%
Hindus 6.38% 0.78% 13.58%
--Vaishnavites 2.63% 0.27% 5.15%
--Shaivites 2.74% 0.29% 4.86%
--Saktists 1.01% 0.21% 3.57%
Jains --- 0.00% 0.08%
Jews 0.00% 2.47% 0.19%
Muslims 80.58% 89.15% 24.20%
--Sunnis 28.22% 62.22% 21.56%
--Shias 52.36% 25.50% 2.44%
--Islamic schismatics --- 1.43% 0.21%
New religionists 0.03% 0.28% 0.85%
Shintoists --- --- 0.04%
Sikhs --- 0.08% 0.34%
Spiritists --- --- 0.19%
Zoroastrians --- 0.00% 0.00%
Non-Religious 0.45% 1.32% 11.57%
--Agnostics 0.42% 1.18% 9.65%
--Atheists 0.03% 0.14% 1.92%

Religious demographics (Bahrain)3

The country has an area of 231 square miles and a population of 1,050,000, according to a January 2008 government statement. The citizen population is 99 percent Muslim; Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Baha'is constitute the remaining 1 percent. Muslims belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam, with Shi'a constituting an estimated 70 percent of the Muslim population.

Foreigners, mostly from South Asia and from other Arab countries, constitute an estimated 49 percent of the population. Approximately half of resident foreigners are non-Muslim, including Christians (primarily Roman Catholic, Protestant, Syrian Orthodox, and Mar Thoma from South India), Hindus, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Sikhs.

Summary Information

Bahrain
[x]
Western Asia
[x]
The World
[x]
Region Western Asia The World --
Total Population4 1,367,431 262,021,707 7,335,774,068
Area in square miles 286 1,865,418 196,939,900
Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 76.9 74.9 71.9
Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 -- 23,220.8 16,101.0
Description of Polity Score6 (strongly autocratic) -- --
Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 -- -- 0.8
Official Religion(s)8 Sunni Islam -- --

Bahrain - Google Map


Religion and the State

Religion and State Collection (2014)

Bahrain
[x]
Is proselytizing Legal?1 Yes
Is religious registration someties denied?1 Registration is required but sometimes denied
What are the consequences of registration?1 Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups.
Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 State Controlled Religion, Positive Attitude
The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 Mandatory for some who have no ability to opt out; the course must be in religion but optional for others or there exists for some the option of taking a non-religious course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world.
The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 Government funding of religion goes primarily to one religion but at least some other religions receive some funds.
The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 Some or all officials must take an oath of office which includes mention of God or religion in general.

Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]

Constitution

Bahrain
[x]
Constitution Year10 2002
Last Amended10 2017
Source10 Constitute Project
Translation10 Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff.
Current as of10 September 27, 2018

Socio-Economic Measures

Military Measures

Bahrain
[x]
Western Asia
[x]
The World
[x]
Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 0.0005457 0.003493871 0.005162584
2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 3.1 4.1 --

Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society


Constitution Clauses Related to Religion


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

Preamble

In the name of God on high, and with His Blessing, and with His help … in acknowledgment of our obligations to God …

… God willing … declaring their adherence to Islam as a faith …

The amendments to the Constitution proceed from the premise that the noble people of Bahrain believe that Islam brings salvation in this world and the next, and that Islam means neither inertness nor fanaticism but explicitly states that wisdom is the goal of the believer wherever he finds it he should take it, and that the Qur’an has been remiss in nothing.

… consistent with our religion …

… these constitutional amendments … base our political system on a constitutional monarchy founded on counsel [shura], which in Islam is the highest model for governance …

Article 1.

(a) The Kingdom of Bahrain is … [an] Islamic … State …

Article 2.

The religion of the State is Islam. The Islamic Shari’a is a principal source for legislation.

Article 5.

(a) The family is the basis of society, deriving its strength from religion, morality …

(b) The State guarantees reconciling the duties of women towards the family with their work in society, and their equality with men in political, social, cultural, and economic spheres without breaching the provisions of Islamic canon law (Shari’a).

(d) Inheritance is a guaranteed right governed by the Islamic Shari’a.

Article 6.

The State safeguards the … Islamic heritage. It … strives to strengthen the bonds between the Islamic countries …

Article 7.

(b) The law regulates care for religious … instruction …

Article 9.

(a) Ownership, capital and work—in accordance with the principles of Islamic justice—are basic constituents of the social entity …

Article 18.

People are equal in human dignity, and citizens are equal before the law in public rights and duties. There shall be no discrimination among them on the basis of … religion or creed.

Article 22.

Freedom of conscience is absolute. The State guarantees the inviolability of worship, and the freedom to perform religious rites and hold religious parades and meetings in accordance with the customs observed in the country.

Article 23.

… Everyone has the right to express his opinion and publish it …, provided that the fundamental beliefs of Islamic doctrine are not infringed, … and … sectarianism is not aroused.

Article 27.

The freedom to form associations and unions … is guaranteed …, provided that the fundamentals of the [sic] religion … are not infringed.

Article 33.

(a) The King is … the loyal protector of the religion …

Article 89

(b) No member of the Consultative Council or the Chamber of Deputies shall be called to account for expressing his opinions or ideas in the Council or its committees unless the opinion expressed is prejudicial to the fundamentals of the [sic] religion …

Variable Details

  • For more details on State Funding of Religion (FUN_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions (SOC_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Regulation of Majority or All Religions (NXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Discrimination of Minority Religions (MXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • Sources

    1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.

    2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).

    3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.

    4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.

    5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.

    7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.

    8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.

    9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are aware of any incorrect information provided on this page.

    11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.

    13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

    18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.

    19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

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