Christian countries
The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion (by denomination):
[edit]Catholic
Jurisdictions which recognize Catholicism as their state or official religion:
Alsace-Moselle
Costa Rica[2]
Liechtenstein[3]
Malta[4]
Monaco[5]
Vatican City (theocracy)
Other
A number of countries, including Andorra, Argentina,[6] Dominican Republic, El Salvador,[7] Panama, Paraguay,[8] Peru,[9] Poland,[10] Portugal and Spain[11] give special recognition to Catholicism in their constitutions despite not making it the state religion.
All Swiss cantons give official recognition to both the Roman Catholic Church and the Swiss Reformed Church, except Geneva and Neuchâtel. Switzerland itself has no official religion.
[edit]Eastern Orthodox
Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their state religion:
Greece: Church of Greece[12]
Other
The Finnish Orthodox Church[13] is not the state religion of Finland but has a special relationship with the Finnish state. The internal structure of the church is described in the Orthodox Church Act. The church has a power to tax its members and corporations if a majority of shareholders are members. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the state does not have the authority to affect its internal workings or theology.
[edit]Protestantism
[edit]Lutheran
Jurisdictions which recognize a Lutheran church as their state religion include the Nordic countries. Membership is very high among the general population, however the amount of actively participating members and believers is considerably lower than in many other countries with similar membership statistics. Furthermore, all of these churches have lately seen decline in the fraction of the population being members.
Denmark (Church of Denmark)[14] Also the Church of the Faroe Islands is the state church of the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark.
Iceland (Church of Iceland)[15] (76.81% of population members at 1 January 2012) [16]
Norway (Church of Norway) [17]
Other
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has a special relationship with the Finnish state, its internal structure being described in a special law, the Church Act.[13] The Church Act can be amended only by a decision of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and subsequent ratification by the parliament. The Church Act is protected by the Finnish constitution, and the state can not change the Church Act without changing the constitution. The church has a power to tax its members and all corporations unless a majority of shareholders are members of the Finnish Orthodox Church. The state collects these taxes for the church, for a fee. On the other hand, the church is required to give a burial place for everyone in its graveyards.[18] (77.2% of population members at the end of 2011).[19] The Finnish president also decides the themes for the intercession days. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the Finnish state does not have the power to influence its internal workings or its theology, although it has a veto in those changes of the internal structure which require changing the Church Act. Neither does the Finnish state accord any precedence to Lutherans or the Lutheran faith in its own acts.
Sweden relegated their state church, Church of Sweden, to a national church in 2000. In late 2011 the Church of Sweden had 68.8% of the population as its members in 2011 although only around 20% of the Swedish population believes in any religion. Memberships are high because until 1996 membership was compulsory, all born before 1996 have to actively leave the church.[20]
[edit]Reformed
Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their state religion:
Tuvalu (Church of Tuvalu)
Other
The Church of Scotland is recognized as the national church of Scotland, but is not a state church and thus differs from the Church of England. Its constitution, which is recognised by acts of the British Parliament, gives it complete independence from the state in spiritual matters.[21]
All Cantons in Switzerland give recognition to the main churches, i. e. both the Swiss Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church, except Geneva and Neuchâtel. Switzerland itself has no official religion.
[edit]Anglican
See also: State religion#Tabular summary
Jurisdictions that recognise an Anglican church as their state religion:
England (Church of England)
The Church of England is the officially established religious institution [22] in England, and also the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is the only established Anglican Church. The British monarch is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and is Defender of the Faith. In 19th century England there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the Church of England, even when most of its privileges had been removed by Parliament. The campaigners styled themselves "Liberationists" (the "Liberation Society" was founded by Edward Miall in 1853). Though their campaign failed, nearly all of the legal disabilities of nonconformists were gradually dismantled. The campaign for disestablishment was revived in the 20th century when Parliament rejected the 1929 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, leading to calls for separation of Church and State to prevent political interference in matters of worship.
Lords Spiritual, who are the 26 most senior Archbishops and Bishops in the Church are reserved seats in Parliament in the House of Lords. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, Bishop of London, Bishop of Durham, and the Bishop of Winchester sit automatically with the 21 longest-serving Bishops. Both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party have proposed reserved seats for the Lords Spiritual in a reformed House of Lords which would contain elected members. Plans to reform the house however, have been abandoned for this current Parliament and so all 26 Lords Spiritual remain in their reserved seats.
[edit]Muslim countries
Main articles: Political aspects of Islam, Sharia, Caliphate, Islamic religious police (disambiguation), and Islamism

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Many Muslim-majority countries recognize Islam as their state religion. Proselytism on behalf of other religions is often illegal.
[edit]Islam (non-denominational)
Iraq
Pakistan
[edit]Sunni Islam
Afghanistan
Algeria
Bangladesh (Since 1988, when government reformed the constitution and add a new provision 2(a) which refers the state religion is Islam)
Brunei
Comoros
Egypt
Aceh Province of Indonesia
Jordan
Libya
Maldives
Malaysia
Mauritania
Morocco
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
[edit]Shi'a Islam
Iran (Theocracy)
[edit]Ibadi
Oman
[edit]Mixed Shia & Sunni
Kuwait
Yemen (Zaydi fiqh among Zaydi Shias)
Bahrain
[edit]Sufi
Somalia (Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a controlled regions)
[edit]Buddhist countries
Governments which recognize Buddhism, either a specific form of, or the whole, as their official religion:
[edit]Theravada Buddhism
Cambodia[23]
Other
The constitution in Sri Lanka accords Buddhism the "foremost place," However, Buddhism is not recognized as the state religion.[24]
Likewise, in Thailand, the 2007 Thai constitution recognized Buddhism as "the religion of Thai tradition with the most adherents" However, it is not formally named as state religion.
[edit]Vajrayana Buddhism
Bhutan (Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism)[25]
[edit]Israel
Israel is defined in several of its laws as a "Jewish and democratic state" (medina yehudit ve-demokratit). However, the term "Jewish" is a polyseme that can relate equally to the Jewish people or religion (see: Who is a Jew?). The debate about the meaning of the term Jewish and its legal and social applications is one of the most profound issues with which Israeli society deals.
At present, there is no specific law or official statement establishing the Jewish religion as the state's religion. However, the State of Israel supports religious institutions, particularly Orthodox Jewish ones, and recognizes the "religious communities" as carried over from those recognized under the British Mandate. These are: Jewish and Christian (Eastern Orthodox, Latin [Catholic], Gregorian-Armenian, Armenian-Catholic, Syrian [Catholic], Chaldean [Uniate], Greek Catholic Melkite, Maronite, and Syrian Orthodox). The fact that the Muslim population was not defined as a religious community is a vestige of the Ottoman period[citation needed] during which Islam was the dominant religion and does not affect the rights of the Muslim community to practice their faith. At the end of the period covered by this report, several of these denominations were pending official government recognition; however, the Government has allowed adherents of not officially recognized groups freedom to practice. In 1961, legislation gave Muslim Shari'a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status. Three additional religious communities have subsequently been recognized by Israeli law – the Druze (prior under Islamic jurisdiction), the Evangelical Episcopal Church, and the Bahá'í.[26] These groups have their own religious courts as official state courts for personal status matters (see millet system).
The structure and goals of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel are governed by Israeli law, but the law does not say explicitly that it is a state Rabbinate. However, outspoken Israeli secularists such as Shulamit Aloni and Uri Avnery have long maintained that it is that in practice. Non-recognition of other streams of Judaism such as Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism is the cause of some controversy; rabbis belonging to these currents are not recognized as such by state institutions and marriages performed by them are not recognized as valid. As of 2011 marriage in Israel provides no provision for civil marriage, marriage between people of different religions, marriages by people who do not belong to one of nine recognised religious communities, or same-sex marriages, although there is recognition of marriages performed abroad.
[edit]Additional notes
Nepal was once the world's only Hindu state, but has ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006.
Many countries indirectly fund the activities of different religious denominations by granting tax-exempt status to churches and religious institutions which qualify as charitable organizations.[27][28] However, these religions are not established as state religions.
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