This section is drawn from Question 11 on the Government Restrictions Index (“Was there harassment or intimidation of religious groups by any level of government?”) and Question 1 on the Social Hostilities Index (“Were there crimes, malicious acts or violence motivated by religious hatred or bias?”). The latter was a summary question that included several sub-components, including a question specifically asking about harassment and intimidation. (return to text)

25 As of 2010, Muslims made up nearly a quarter (23.4%) of the world’s population, according to the Pew Forum’s January 2011 report The Future of the Global Muslim Population. The Pew Forum is currently compiling population data on other world religions and intends to publish a series of reports on the demography of religion in 2011-2012. In the meantime, the population figures used here are from the World Religion Database at Boston University, which estimates that Christians comprise about a third (32.9%) of the world’s population. http://pewforum.org/Government/Rising-Restrictions-on-Religion(5).aspx