# What is the largest predominantly Christian country with no legal divorce

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 8, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145 "2004-05-08T05:22:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/1 "2004-05-08T05:22:48Z")

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I know that Chile used to be the record holder in this category, but the government finally approved a divorce law (just in time for me to take my vacation in Chile! Woo hoo!)

[http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=721&e=8&u=/ap/20040508/ap\_on\_re\_la\_am\_ca/chile\_divorce](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=721&e=8&u=/ap/20040508/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_divorce)

So, which predominantly Christian countries now do not allow divorce?

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/2 "2004-05-08T05:33:18Z")

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Does Vatican City count?

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/3 "2004-05-08T05:43:13Z")

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> [@Ranchoth](#):
>
> Does Vatican City count?

Well, yeah, but only to 28. :rolleyes: Place your bets, gentlemen.  
Was that too obscure? Rhythm method=Vatican roulette=betting on the right night=boy, I hate to explain 'em. 😛

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/4 "2004-05-08T05:43:52Z")

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It would count, but I’m sure that some other country is bigger (even if it’s just somebody like Andorra), and I doubt that many of the Vatican’s permanent residents are married.

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**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/5 "2004-05-08T12:05:36Z")

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Philippines.

According to a similar  
[BBC article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3693627.stm),

> [@](#):
>
> Malta and the Philippines are the only other countries that currently do not have a divorce law.

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-predominantly-christian-country-with-no-legal-divorce/244145/6 "2004-05-08T14:48:44Z")

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And the Philippines is definitely not a small country. In fact, the Philippines has a lot more people than Chile. I should double-check the qualifier used in my Chilean travel guide.