Encyclopedia of Law and Religion

Get access Subject: Law

Edited by: Gerhard Robbers and W. Cole Durham

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In recent years, issues of freedom of religion or belief and state-religion relations have become increasingly important worldwide. The Encyclopedia of Law and Religion, unique in its breadth and global coverage, provides an important foundational resource for study of these issues. The encyclopedia covers the relation between law and religion in its various aspects, including those related to the role of religion in society, the relations between religion and state institutions, freedom of religion, legal aspects of religious traditions, the interaction between law and religion, and other issues at the junction of law, religion, and state.

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Ecuador

(4,168 words)

Author(s): Jaime Baquero de la Calle Rivadeneira
I. Social Facts In Ecuador, as in other Latin American countries, the religious phenomenon has been part of the national identity since its formation as one of the republics independent from Spain. According to studies performed by the Ecuadorian Institute of Statistics and Censuses, 91.95% of the population claims to belong to a religion, while only 8.05% said they do not ascribe to any religion. Both urban and rural areas are characterized by the presence of churches, temples, and shrines dedicat…

Egypt

(11,830 words)

Author(s): Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron
I. Social Facts Egypt is a Muslim state, with the largest Christian community in the Middle East. No official data on the number of Christians currently residing in the country is available. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stopped collecting such data in 1986, to conform with a recommendation of the United Nations Statistical Commission to all statistical agencies in the world not to cover religion. According to the figures of 1986, the total population of Egypt w…