If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     Islamic Countries 1 Although Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions, many people, particularly in the West, know very little about the Islamic world. Let’s begin our exploration of Islamic countries by identifying the scope of Islam. Note that it is helpful to remember that a Muslim is a follower of Islam. CLICK DATA FILE: SHARES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: WORLD-REL CLICK: [Continue] 1. What percentage of the world’s people identify themselves as Muslims? (Correct Answer: 19.6 percent) 2. How many other world religions have more members than Islam? (Correct Answer: one) 3. Identify the other world religions that have more members than Islam. (Correct Answer: Christianity) CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: MUSLIM-MAJ CLICK: [Continue] 4. True or False: A majority of countries have populations that include Muslims. (Correct Answer: True) 5. How many countries have populations that are at least 50 percent Muslim? (Correct Answer: 42) 6. How many countries have populations that are at least 75 percent Muslim? (Correct Answer: 34) CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: MUSLIM-MAJ CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 7. True or False: The Middle East region consists primarily of countries with majority Muslim populations. (Correct Answer: True) 8. True or False: Southern Africa has more countries with majority Muslim populations than Northern Africa. (Correct Answer: False) 9. True or False: Asia as a whole has more countries with large Muslim populations (i.e., 25 percent or more) than the entire Western Hemisphere. (Correct Answer: True) Another way to evaluate the global scope of Islam is to examine the membership of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body designed to promote the interests of Muslims worldwide. CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: OIC MEMBER CLICK: [Continue] 10. How many countries are members of the OIC? (Correct Answer: 57) 11. True or False: A majority of the world’s countries are OIC members. (Correct Answer: False) CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: OIC MEMBER CLICK: [Legend] 12. True or False: The members of the OIC are concentrated in eastern Asia. (Correct Answer: False) 13. Identify the continents that have either at least one OIC member and/or observer. (Correct Answer: Africa, Asia, Europe, South America) Another way to identify Islamic countries is to determine how many countries in the world have populations that consist predominantly of Muslims (i.e., Muslims form a plurality). While the level of influence of Islam in these countries clearly varies, it nonetheless exists and, at a minimum, indirectly influences the environment within which political decisions are made. CLICK: VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: MUSLIMPRED CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 14. How many countries have populations that consist predominantly of Muslims? (Correct Answer: 52) 15. True or False: Countries with populations that are predominantly Islamic are concentrated mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. (Correct Answer: True) Now let’s examine some of the key socio-economic and political characteristics of Islamic countries, beginning with fertility. As you likely recall, Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions. Many people convert to Islam annually, but population increases also account for much of the growth. It’s helpful to remember that to maintain a stable population, a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman is necessary. Rates higher than 2.1 indicate populations that are expanding, all other factors held constant. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-FRTLTY CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 16. True or False: A majority of predominantly Islamic countries have fertility rates greater than 2.1. (Correct Answer: True) 17. How many predominantly Islamic countries have fertility rates lower than 2.1? (Correct Answer: three) Another important factor to examine is the relative wealth of Islamic countries. CLICK: VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISLGDP/CAP CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 18. Which country has the highest GDP per capita? (Correct Answer: Kuwait) 19. What is the GDP per capita of the country with the highest GDP per capita? (Correct Answer: $22,500) 20. True or False: Most Islamic countries have a GDP per capita of less than $3,000. (Correct Answer: True) 21. How many Islamic countries have a GDP per capita less than $2,000? (Correct Answer: 28) Literacy is another socio-economic issue that affects development in the Islamic states. Advanced industrial democracies typically have literacy rates in the range of 95 – 100 percent. Let’s examine literacy in the predominantly Islamic states of the world. CLICK: VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-LIT% CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 22. What is the range (i.e., the lowest and highest literacy rates) for the predominantly Islamic states? (Correct Answer: 17.6 percent to 99.4 percent) 23. How many predominantly Islamic states have literacy rates of 95 percent or more? (Correct Answer: Seven) 24. True or False: The majority of these states have literacy rates of less than 75 percent. (Correct Answer: True) 25. How many of these states have literacy rates of less than 50 percent? (Correct Answer: Fifteen) There is a lot of variation in the political systems of predominantly Islamic states. Let’s examine this. CLICK: VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-GOVTYP CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 26. How many of these states are in transition? (Correct Answer: Seven) 27. True or False: Dictatorships form the second most common type of government in these countries. (Correct Answer: False) 28. True or False: A minority of these countries are democracies. (Correct Answer: False) Theocracy is a form of government wherein secular rulers are subordinate to religious leaders. 29. How many countries are theocracies? (Correct Answer: one) CLICK: BACK (use your browser’s back button) CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-GOVTYP CLICK VIEW: Alphabetical Table CLICK: [Continue] 30. Identify the countries that fall into the theocracy category. (Correct Answer: Iran) Traditional monarchies that allowed hereditary rulers to exercise real political power were typical throughout the world in past centuries, but have become much less common. Most of the world’s remaining monarchies are constitutional monarchies, where the monarch serves as a figurehead and real political power is vested in elected parliaments. The Islamic states possess both traditional and constitutional monarchies. Let’s examine this. CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: ISL-GOVTYP CLICK: [Continue] 31. How many predominantly Islamic states are monarchies? (Correct Answer: Nine) 32. What percentage of predominantly Islamic states are monarchies? (Correct Answer: 17.6 percent) CLICK: VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: ISL-MONRCH CLICK: [Continue] 33. True or False: A majority of monarchies in the predominantly Islamic states are constitutional monarchies. (Correct Answer: True) 34. How many traditional monarchies exist? (Correct Answer: Four) CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-MONRCH CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 35. True or False: The traditional monarchies are located primarily in the Middle East. (Correct Answer: True) Now let’s turn our attention to the level of freedom and equality in these states. CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-DEMOC CLICK: [Continue] 36. True or False: None of these states are ranked in the highest category of freedom (i.e., a "seven"). (Correct Answer: True) 37. What percentage of these states are in the lowest two categories of the freedom rankings? (Correct Answer: 70.6 percent) CLICK: TASKS CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ISL-%FEM.L CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 38. True or False: Most of these states have legislatures with female membership rates of less than ten percent. (Correct Answer: True) 39. How many of these states have legislatures without a single female representative? (Correct Answer: Three) 40. Provide a reasonable argument that might explain what you’ve observed about equality and freedom in the Islamic states.