(In China, just 1% of adults report attending religious services weekly.) And in the Middle East-North Africa region, most Jordanians (64%) and Egyptians (62%) attend services weekly, while only 30% of Israelis do. . ..…

Recently around Beijing a big speculative boom in housing surfaced and some of the best cropland in north China was diverted to build estates for wealthy people. ..…

A distinct bias of “boy preference” can be found in countries extending from North Africa and West Asia to South Asia, including India, and East Asia, including China. ..…

Muslims are a majority in 49 countries, including 19 of the 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The religiously unaffiliated make up a majority of the population in six countries, of which China is by far the largest. ..…

For China, the Japanese onslaught was an unmitigated disaster, but during the war, Mao was able to consolidate his leadership, reorganize and expand the Party and army, imbuing them with his ideas, and extend CCP control over large areas of north China. ..…

Also, of the 10 countries with very government restrictions, only two are in Middle East and North Africa, while seven are Asia. Six are Asia-Pacific and four are in Middle East and North Africa. ..…