Share of counties where whites are a minority has doubled since 1980
As of last summer, 364 counties, independent cities and other county-level equivalents (11.6% of the total) did not have non-Hispanic white majorities – the most in modern history.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Religion
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How the Supreme Court’s decision for gay marriage could affect religious institutions
Some legal scholars and others are trying to determine how a ruling granting same-sex couples a constitutional right to wed might affect religious institutions.
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Same-Sex Marriage, State by State
In June of 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry nationwide. This timeline highlights the changes in state policies leading up to that ruling.
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Same-sex marriage makes some legal gains in Latin America
While laws allowing same-sex marriage have become more common in European countries and in U.S. states, gay marriage advocates also have gained ground in some parts of Latin America. Most recently, the Mexican Supreme Court issued a ruling making it much easier for gay and lesbian couples to wed.
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Jindal followed a rare path, from Hinduism to Catholicism
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a newly declared Republican candidate for president, is hoping to attract support from conservative evangelical Christian voters. Jindal himself is a Catholic, and, as the son of immigrants from Hindu-majority India, was raised in the Hindu faith.
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What is each country’s second-largest religious group?
While either Christians or Muslims make up the largest religious group in nine-in-ten nations around the globe, the religiously unaffiliated rank second in size in most of the Americas and Europe, as well as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Growth from Asia drives surge in U.S. foreign students
Asians, especially Chinese, are responsible for most of the sharp increase in foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities. Foreign students are more likely to study science, engineering and math than U.S. students as a whole, especially at the post-baccalaureate level.
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U.S. Catholics less positive toward pope on environment, sex abuse scandal than other issues
55% of Catholics rated Francis positively on addressing sex abuse, and 53% gave him high marks on environmental issues. But these were two out of nine areas in which Francis drew the least positive ratings.
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Catholics Divided Over Global Warming
A solid majority of U.S. Catholics believe that Earth is warming. But climate change is a highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.
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Catholics Divided Over Global Warming
A solid majority of U.S. Catholics believe that Earth is warming. But climate change is a highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.
