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Religions of Jordan


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Islam is the predominant religion in Jordan. It is the official religion and approximately 92% of the population is Muslim, primarily of the Sunni branch of Islam. Islamic and Christian studies are offered to students but are not mandatory and do not factor into the University entry school exams. Jordan has laws promoting religious freedom, but they fall short of protecting all minority groups. Muslims who convert to another religion as well as missionaries face societal and legal discrimination.

According to the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index, less than half of Jordanians regularly attend religious services (around 40%), a moderate percentage in comparison to industrialized countries. However, this rate is among the lowest of all the Arab countries and it is one of the lowest in the entire Muslim World.

Jordan has an indigenous Christian minority. Christians of all ethnic backgrounds permanently residing in Jordan form approximately 6% of the population and are allocated respective seats in parliament (The Department of Statistics released no information about the religion distribution from the census of 2004). Christians made up 30% of the Jordanian population in 1950. However, heavy Muslim immigration from Iraq and Mandatory Palestine and lower birth rates compared to Muslims have significantly decreased the ratio of the Christian population. Most Jordanian Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The remainder include members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Latin Rite Catholic Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Maronite Church, Ancient Church of the East, and Anglican Communion.

Among the Christian non-Arab population, significant part is made up of Armenians in Jordan; the Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian Catholic Church (and some in other churches). Others include expatriate Christians in Jordan from various countries, as evinced,
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