Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 (Burma) is a multi-religious country. There is no official state religion, but the government shows preference for Theravada Buddhism, the majority religion.
According to both the statistics published by the Burmese government and the CIA, it is practiced by 89% of the population. of the population, especially among the Bamar

Bamar

The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...

, Rakhine

Rakhine people

The Rakhine , is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of...

, Shan, Mon

Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...

, and Chinese.

The new constitution provides for the freedom of religion; however, it also grants broad exceptions that allow the regime to restrict these rights at will.

Although Burma's Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 once numbered in the thousands, there are currently only approximately 20 Jews in Yangon

Yangon

Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...

 (Rangoon), where the country's only synagogue

Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue

Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue is the last remaining Jewish house of worship in Downtown Yangon and Burma's only synagogue. The colonial relic stands nestled between Indian paint shops and Muslim traders on a small street near the city center...

 is located. Most of the Jews left Myanmar at the commencement of the Second World War, and also after General Ne Win

Ne Win

Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...

 took over in 1962.

Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 is practiced mainly by Burmese Indians

Burmese Indians

Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian subcontinental ethnicity who live in Myanmar . While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid 19th century to the...

.

Alleged persecution

The Muslim and Christian populations are said to face religious persecution in Myanmar. Since independence, successive governments (both democratic and military) did not grant the citizenship of the Muslim Rohingya of Northern Rakhine and forbid missionary activities. The Rohingyas have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh or to Muslim states. Their claim to citizenship has been marred by disputes with the ethnic Arakanese, who are mainly Buddhists. Some Rohingyas claim to be the original inhabitants of the region, even stating that the temples of Mrauk U were once Rohingya mosques. Those claims have caused the Buddhist Arakanese to be hostile to the Rohingya.

Many minority religions claim that they have a greater following than the official statistics but they also tend to overrepresent the number of adherents.

Religious freedom of Buddhists

Buddhists, although clearly professed by the majority of people in Myanmar, has their complaints regarding religious freedom. A political party, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army

Democratic Karen Buddhist Army

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army is a breakaway group of Buddhist former soldiers and officers of the Karen National Liberation Army , one of the larger insurgent armies in Burma...

, split from the main Karen nationalist movement, the Karen National Union

Karen National Union

The Karen National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army that represents the Karen people of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen area is called...

 (KNU), after the Buddhists were denied to rebuild and repair the stupas at Manerplaw

Manerplaw

Manerplaw is a city in the Kayin State of Burma and is also the suggested capital of the proposed Kawthoolei state that the Karen people of Burma have been trying to establish since the late 1940s. The headquarters of the Karen National Union were located in Manerplaw until January 1995.The...

. The top leadership of the KNU were also dominated by Christians, although roughly 60% of the Karen are Buddhist.

Many monks took part in the 2007 Saffron Revolution and were reportedly arrested by government security forces. Some of the leading monks are still detained in various prisons across the country.

Religious freedom of Christians

Christians are also said to face persecution. Christians have not moved to the higher echelons of power. A small number of foreign organizations have been permitted to enter the country to conduct humanitarian works, such as World Vision

World Vision

World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...

 following Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis , was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma. The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities...

. A long standing ban on the free entry of missionaries and religious materials persists since independence in 1948, which is seen as hostile to Christianity. The burning of Christian churches is reported in South Eastern Myanmar, where the Karens live.

Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 is practiced by 4% of the population, primarily among the Kachin, Chin

Chin people

The Chin , known as the Kuki in Assam, are one of the ethnic groups in Burma. The Chins are found mainly in western part of Burma and numbered circa 1.5 million. They also live in nearby Indian states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and Assam. Owing to Mizo influence and Baptist missionaries'...

 and Kayin, and Eurasians

Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....

 because of missionary work in their respective areas. About four-fifths of the country’s Christians are Protestants, in particular Baptists of the Myanmar Baptist Convention; Roman Catholics make up the remainder.

Religious freedom of Muslims

Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, mainly of the Sunni sect, is practiced by 4% of the population according to the government census. However, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2009 international religious freedom report, the country's non-Buddhist populations were underestimated in the census. Islamic scholars claim the country's muslim population at around 6 to 10% of the total populace. Muslims are divided amongst Indians, Indo-Burmese, Persians

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

, Arabs, Panthay

Panthay

Panthays form a group of Chinese Muslims in Burma. Some people refer to Panthays as the oldest group of Chinese Muslims in Burma. However, because of intermixing and cultural diffusion the Panthays are not as distinct a group as they once were.-Etymology:...

s, Rohingya

Rohingya people

The Rohingya is a predominantly Muslim ethnic group of disputed origin who live in Arakan State, western Burma. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated to the cities of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw.-Etymology:...

s, and the Chinese Hui people

Hui people

The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...

.