World Religion Database: field definitions

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

Table Field Description
version_2020_province Province Pop Province population in each MCD (Major Civil Division-United Nations term for the next level of administrative or political subdivision in a country immediately below nationwide level) in 2020.
version_2020_province Province Pop % Province population in each MCD (Major Civil Division-United Nations term for the next level of administrative or political subdivision in a country immediately below nationwide level) as a percentage of the country's population.
version_2020_province Religions over 1% Provides the best estimate of the majority religion percentage (rounded to integer); and then a list of the names of other religions over 1%.
version_2020_province Religious conflict Religious conflict Index, 0-10, low is less conflict: a comparative measure of religious violence (persecution, which includes displacement and property damage) and religion-related conflict (civil wars).
version_2020_province Religious Freedom Index Restriction of Religious Freedom Index, 0-10, high is less freedom: Calculated as the country average of government restrictions (GRI) and social restrictions (SRI). Province scores within countries are increased by up to 3 additional points: +1 if a particular province has Shari'a Law (only added if not already counted in the country's overall scores), +1 if religious violence (persecution) was documented in the province, and + 1 if there legal issues in that province that would be likely to adversely affect religious freedom.
version_2020_province Religious violence Religious violence Index, 0-10, low is less violence: a comparative measure of religious violence (persecution, which includes displacement and property damage).
version_2020_province Social Hostilities Index Social Hostilities of religion Index, 0-10, low is less restriction: a comparative measure of the restrictions placed on practice, profession, or selection of religion by other religious groups or associations or the culture at large.
version_2020_province Version 2020 Country code Four-letter abbreviation assigned to country for database purposes.
wlc_language Anglicized name Anglicized name.
wlc_language Country count Count of countries with people speaking this as their primary mother-tongue.
wlc_language indent Reference name The autoglossonym of a language or dialect, or a cover name for groups of languages. Languages are indented 2 spaces; dialects are indented 4 spaces.
wlc_language Language Cluster Also termed outer language, a grouping of languages which shares 80% or more lexical similarity (shared words, the basic vocabulary of human experience).
wlc_language Language code Three letter ISO 639-3 language code. A single code usually means 'this WLC dialect is included as part of this ISO language'. Multiple codes indicate either that 'this WLC cluster of languages {includes} these ISO languages', or that 'there is no match to the ISO (yet), but as a guide these {near} ISO codes occur elsewhere in the cluster.
wlc_language Language level The level that this language code occupies in the World Language Classification hierarchy. Languages and dialects are spoken and other levels describe groups of languages of variable inter-intelligibility.
wlc_language Language level number Number of the level that this language code occupies in the World Language Classification hierachy. Languages and dialects are spoken and other levels describe groups of languages of variable inter-intelligibility.
wlc_language Language net A grouping of languages sharing 70% or more common vocabulary.
wlc_language Language population Mother tongue speakers.
wlc_language Language population 2025 Mother tongue speakers 2025.
wlc_language Note {b}bilingual: notes on bilingual communities {c}communities: notes on speech communities {e}epicentre: notes on locations or epicentres {l}language: notes on languages {r}relationships: notes on contacts and relationships among languages {w}written: notes on scripts or written models #nomenclature: notes on nomenclature.
wlc_language People count The number of people groups with this language code.
wlc_language Reference name The autoglossonym (as used by its own speakers) of a language or dialect, or the cover name for groups of languages.
wlc_language WLC Language code World Language Classification language code.
wlc_language WLC Language ID World Language Classification ID number.
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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.