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An interactive map of marriage around the world — and a timeline of marriage through history. Colour the globe by any perspective: divorce rate, children per woman, share of adults married, marriage rate, age at marriage, the minimum legal age, child marriage, polygamy, or same-sex marriage. Click any country for its full marriage profile.
Below, scrub the history of marriage — from the earliest recorded marriage law in Mesopotamia to civil marriage, women's property rights, no-fault divorce and marriage equality — and see where each milestone first happened.
Please read: figures are the latest reliable estimates and definitions vary between countries (e.g. “divorce rate” can be measured several ways). Treat cross-country comparisons as indicative, not exact.
Sources: UN DESA (World Marriage Data) · OECD Family Database · World Bank · Pew Research · Our World in Data · Eurostat & national statistics. Borders: Natural Earth. Globe: globe.gl.
Explore marriage, divorce and family across every country — then travel through the history of marriage itself.
Figures are latest reliable estimates; definitions vary by country. See About for sources.
The same data as the globe — every country coloured by the chosen perspective — on a flat map.
How marriage has changed worldwide over the last century.
Global / representative-developed-world averages; illustrative. Fertility has roughly halved since 1950; age at first marriage and the divorce rate have risen across much of the world.