U.S Department of State published International Religious Freedom Report

Baku. 29 June.REPORT.AZ/ U.S Department of State published their annual International Religious Freedom Report. As Report informs citing official site of US State Department, it reflects the situation of religious freedom in 200 countries.

As it was noted in the report, Azerbaijani Constitution provides freedom of religion. ' Many religious groups have faced little or haven't faced at all with state intervention' However, it's registered that, import of some religious literature is still limited by government.

According to statistics given in the report, 96% out of 9,6 million population is Muslims, 65% is Sunnites and 35 is Shiites.

The group, which includes the remaining 4% of the population consists of members of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Seventh Day Adventists and other Christians, Jews, Molokans, Bahais, and unbelievers. It was said in the report, that 'the government doesn't control the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Nevertheless, religious groups and NGOs, including Jehovah's Witnesses and the Forum 18 reported that they had encountered some restrictions and abuses in Nagorno-Karabakh'.

According to the report, the most repressive country in the world because of the prohibition of religious organizations and criminal penalties for any unauthorized religious activities is North Korea. Such countries as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan "imposed severe restrictions on members of religious groups that don't meet state-approved religions" in 2013. It's reported that in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China and Cuba "religious activities can be carried out only if they are obviously authorized by the State".