Editing Georgia (country) (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Georgia (country)}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Main religions (2014)<ref name="geostat.ge">{{cite web|url=http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|title=2014 General Population Census – Main Results|date=28 April 2016|publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat)|access-date=7 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205175903/http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2017}}</ref>{{efn|name=a}}
|label1 = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]]
|value1 = 83.4
|color1 = DarkOrchid
|label2 = [[Muslim]]
|value2 = 10.7
|color2 = MediumSeaGreen
|label3 = [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]]
|value3 = 2.9
|color3 = FireBrick
|label4 = [[Roman Catholicism in Georgia|Roman Catholic]]
|value4 = 0.5
|color4 = Violet
|label5 = Others
|value5 = 2.5
|color5 = YellowGreen
}}
Today, 83.4 percent of the population practices [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christianity]], with the majority of these adhering to the national [[Georgian Orthodox Church]].<ref name="Religion">{{cite web |url=http://census.ge/files/results/english/22_Population%20by%20regions%20and%20religion.xls |title=Immigrants by previous country of residence and usual place of residence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809001940/http://census.ge/files/results/english/22_Population%20by%20regions%20and%20religion.xls|archive-date=9 August 2016|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>{{efn|name=a}} The [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] is one of the world's oldest Christian churches, and claims apostolic foundation by [[Saint Andrew]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patriarchate.ge/_en/?action=istoria |title=The History of Georgian Orthodox Church |website=Patriarchate of Georgia |access-date=10 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111023844/http://www.patriarchate.ge/_en/?action=istoria |archive-date=11 January 2015 }}</ref> In the first half of the 4th century, Christianity was adopted as the state religion of Iberia (present-day eastern Georgia), following the missionary work of [[Saint Nino]] of [[Cappadocia]].<ref name="Toumanoff1963">{{cite book |author-link=Cyril Toumanoff |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |year=1963 |chapter=Iberia between Chosroid and Bagratid Rule |title=Studies in Christian Caucasian History |publisher=Georgetown |pages=374–377 |url=http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Toumicb/toumicb.html |access-date=4 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208043427/http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Toumicb/toumicb.html |archive-date=8 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Rapp2007">{{cite book|last=Rapp|first=Stephen H. Jr|title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&pg=PA137|access-date=11 May 2012 |year=2007 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-3361-9|page=138|chapter=7 – Georgian Christianity}}</ref> The Church gained [[autocephaly]] during the early Middle Ages; it was abolished during the Russian domination of the country, restored in 1917 and fully recognized by the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://patriarchate.ge/geo/martlmadidebluri-eklesiebi/avtokefaluri-eklesiebi|title=მართლმადიდებელი ავტოკეფალური ეკლესიები|publisher=საქართველოს საპატრიარქო|access-date=27 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228165838/http://patriarchate.ge/geo/martlmadidebluri-eklesiebi/avtokefaluri-eklesiebi/|archive-date=28 February 2017}}</ref>

The special status of the Georgian Orthodox Church is officially recognized in the Constitution of Georgia and the [[Concordat of 2002]], although religious institutions are separate from the state.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Religious minorities of Georgia include Muslims (10.7 percent), [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Christians]] (2.9 percent) and Roman Catholics (0.5 percent).<ref name="Religion" />{{efn|name=a}} 0.7 percent of those recorded in the 2014 census declared themselves to be adherents of other religions, 1.2 percent refused or did not state their religion and 0.5 percent declared no religion at all.<ref name="Religion" />

[[Islam in Georgia (country)|Islam]] is represented by both Azerbaijani [[Shia]] Muslims (in the south-east), ethnic Georgian [[Sunni]] Muslims in Adjara, Chechen sub-ethnic group of Sunni [[Kist people|Kists]] in the Pankisi Gorge, and [[Laz language|Laz]]-speaking Sunni Muslims as well as Sunni [[Meskhetian Turks]] along the border with Turkey. In Abkhazia, a minority of the Abkhaz population is also Sunni Muslim. There are also smaller communities of [[Greek Muslims]] (of [[Pontic Greek]] origin) and [[Armenian Muslims]], both of whom are descended from Ottoman-era converts to Turkish Islam from [[Eastern Anatolia]] who settled in Georgia following the [[Lala Mustafa Pasha's Caucasian campaign]] that led to the Ottoman conquest of the country in 1578. Georgian Jews trace the history of their community to the 6th century BC<ref>Constantine B. Lerner. "The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medieval Historical Chronicle The Conversion of Katli and The Life of St. Nino", England: Bennett and Bloom, London, 2004, p. 60</ref> but due to immigration to Israel, by the early 2000s their numbers had dwindled to several thousand.<ref>Jacobs, Dan Norman. Paul, Ellen Frankel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M6QK-J-34jMC&pg=PA14 ''Studies of the Third Wave: Recent Migration of Soviet Jews to the United States''] VNR AG, 1 January 1981 {{ISBN|978-0-86531-143-5}} pp. 13–14</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistics.ge/main.php?pform=145&plang=1|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831235152/http://www.statistics.ge/main.php?pform=145&plang=1|url-status=dead|title=statistics.ge|archivedate=31 August 2006|website=www.statistics.ge}}</ref>

Despite the long history of religious harmony in Georgia,{{sfnp|Spilling|Wong|2008|p={{page needed|date=June 2022}}}} there have been instances of religious discrimination and violence against "nontraditional faiths", such as [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], by followers of the [[defrocked]] Orthodox priest [[Basil Mkalavishvili]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/georgia/georgia_memo_full.htm |title=Memorandum to the U.S. Government on Religious Violence in the Republic of Georgia |date=August 29, 2001 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=5 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102220649/http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/georgia/georgia_memo_full.htm |archive-date=2 November 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In addition to traditional religious organizations, Georgia retains [[Secularism and Irreligion in Georgia|secular and irreligious segments of society]] (0.5 percent),<ref name="Netgazeti">{{cite web |url=http://netgazeti.ge/news/110839/ |title=საქართველოს მოსახლეობის საყოველთაო აღწერის საბოლოო შედეგები |date=28 April 2016 |website=netgazeti.ge |publisher=Netgazeti |access-date=28 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513213217/http://netgazeti.ge/news/110839/ |archive-date=13 May 2016 }}</ref> as well as a significant portion of religiously affiliated individuals who do not actively practice their faith.<ref>[http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/CAD-20.pdf Caucasus Analytical Digest No.20] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325085305/http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/CAD-20.pdf |date=25 March 2015 }}, [[Heinrich Böll Foundation|Heinrich Böll Stiftung]], 11 October 2010</ref>