World Religion Database: field definitions

Data source: Gina A. Zurlo, ed., World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).

Table Field Description
version_2015_survey_religion WRD Religion Religion ID.
version_2020_country Adult % Adults (age 15 and over) as percentage of this country's total population. Primary source: United Nations 2019.
version_2020_country Adult literacy % The ability to read and write, as measured by the percentage of the population ages 15 and older who can, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on their everyday life. Primary source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2018) (in HDR 2018: most recent year in the period 2006-2016).
version_2020_country Adult literates The ability to read and write, as measured by the percentage of the population ages 15 and older who can, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on their everyday life. Primary source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2018) (in HDR 2018: most recent year in the period 2005-2018).
version_2020_country Adults Population of those age 15 and over in this country in 2020. Primary source: United Nations 2019 revision.
version_2020_country Agnostic % Number of agnostics as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020 These are persons professing no religion, or professing unbelief or non-belief, non-believers, agnostics, freethinkers, liberal thinkers, non-religious humanists, indifference to both religion and atheism, apathetic, opposed on principle neither to religion nor to atheism; sometimes termed secularists or materialists; also post-Christian, dechristianized or de-religionized populations.
version_2020_country Agnostics Number of agnostic persons in this country's population. These are persons professing no religion, or professing unbelief or non-belief, non-believers, agnostics, freethinkers, liberal thinkers, non-religious humanists, indifference to both religion and atheism, apathetic, opposed on principle neither to religion nor to atheism; sometimes termed secularists or materialists; also post-Christian, dechristianized or de-religionized populations.
version_2020_country All languages count Count of all ISO languages spoken as the primary language of peoples in this country.
version_2020_country Atheist % Number of atheists as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020. Atheists are militantly anti-religious or anti-Christian agnostics, secularists, or marxists.
version_2020_country Atheists Number of Atheists in this country's population. Atheists are persons professing atheism, skepticism, impiety, disbelief or irreligion, or Marxist-Leninist Communism regarded as a political faith, or other quasi-religions, and who abstain from religious activities and have severed all religious affiliation; and others opposed, hostile or militantly opposed to all religion (anti-religious); dialectical materialists, militant non-believers, anti-religious humanists, skeptics.
version_2020_country Baha'i % Number of Bahais as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020. Bahais are followers of the Bahai World Faith, founded by Bahaullah, since 1844. In government censuses Bahais are usually counted as Muslims or Hindus and not shown separately.
version_2020_country Baha'is Number of Bahais in this country's population. Bahais are followers of the Bahai World Faith, founded by Bahaullah, since 1844. In government censuses Bahais are usually counted as Muslims or Hindus and not shown separately.
version_2020_country Birth % Birth rate for this country as a percentage per year. Source material is expressed as cases per 1000. Primary source: United Nations 2019.
version_2020_country Buddhist % Number of Buddhists as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020. Followers of the Buddha, include: (a) Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) or Northern Buddhism; (b) Theravada (Teaching of the Elders) or Southern Buddhism, stigmatized by Mahayanists as Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle, i.e. available to fewer people), actually the older, purer form of Buddhism; (c) Vajrayana, Mantrayana, Guhyamantrayana, or Tantrayana (Esoteric Vehicle), known as Tantrism, Shingon or Lamaism; and (d) traditional Buddhist sects, but excluding neo-Buddhist new religions or religious movements.
version_2020_country Buddhists Number of Buddhists in this country's population. Followers of the Buddha, including: (a) Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) or Northern Buddhism; (b) Theravada (Teaching of the Elders) or Southern Buddhism, stigmatized by Mahayanists as Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle, i.e. available to fewer people), actually the older, purer form of Buddhism; (c) Vajrayana, Mantrayana, Guhyamantrayana, or Tantrayana (Esoteric Vehicle), known as Tantrism, Shingon or Lamaism; and (d) traditional Buddhist sects, but excluding neo-Buddhist new religions or religious movements.
version_2020_country Chinese folk-religionist % Number of Chinese folk-religionists as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020.
version_2020_country Chinese folk-religionists Number of Chinese folk-religionists in this country's population.
version_2020_country Christian % The number of Christians as a percentage of the country's population in 2020.
version_2020_country Christians The total number of Christians in this country, 2020.
version_2020_country Cities Number of cities in this country whose population exceeds 300,000 persons (or smaller capital cities).
version_2020_country Confucianist % Number of Confucianist as a percentage of the country's population in year 2020. Confucians are non-Chinese followers of Confucius and Confucianism; mostly Koreans and in Korea.
version_2020_country Confucianists Number of Confucianists in this country's population. Confucianists are Non-Chinese followers of Confucius and Confucianism; mostly Koreans and in Korea.
version_2020_country Corruption Index Transparency International's "Corruption Perceptions Index" (CPI) measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country. Expressed here in reverse so that higher values indicate higher levels of corruption. Primary source: Transparency International, 2019.
version_2020_country Country footnote Note to clarify the areas included in this country.
version_2020_country Country ID Unique country identifier (primary key) used by the database. A four-letter abbreviation or code assigned by WCD to each country is also unique, but not unchanging.
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Religions

Data on 18 categories of religion, including non-religious, by country, province, and people.

Countries and regions

Data on all religions, Christian activities, and trends.

Denominations

Membership data, year begun, and rates of change.

Cities & provinces

Population and religion data on all major cities & provinces.

Peoples & languages

Detailed information covering religion, culture, and geography.

Archive

A repository of historical data, including a chronology of Christianity from the 1st to 21st centuries.