David Masci

The public unrest that swept across Iran starting in late December began as a protest against poor economic conditions, but it quickly turned into a call for an end to the country’s theocratic regime.

Substantial shares of Americans of nearly all religious groups – as well as those who have no religious affiliation – say they meditate at least once a week.

Read five facts about Christmas in America and how people celebrate the holiday.

Read a Q&A with Conrad Hackett, associate director of research and senior demographer at Pew Research Center, on estimating the European Muslim population.

Read a Q&A with George Demacopolous, a professor of theology at Fordham University, to examine trends and issues in the Orthodox Christian world.

Today, more than 80 countries either have an official religion or favor one or more religious groups over others.

Many Russians say the collapse of the Soviet Union has been a bad thing for their country. Nostalgia for the Soviet past also extends to views of Josef Stalin.

Twenty years after the world’s first clone made from the cells of an adult mammal was unveiled, here are five facts about cloning and public opinion.

While many, especially in the U.S., may associate Islam with the Middle East or North Africa, nearly two-thirds of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lack of formal education is widespread in many countries in south Asia, the Middle East and Africa.