The Legal Framework of Religion-State Relations in Southeast Asia

Abstract

According to a general consensus among geographers and political scientists Southeast Asia includes eleven major countries. Though in terms of headcount Islam is the largest religion of Southeast Asia, it is the faith of the majority only in three states in the region - of the remaining eight six are dominated by the Buddhists and two by the Christians. The legal framework of religion-state relations is not uniform either in Southeast Asia as a whole or within any of these three religion-based groups of countries. The wide diversity of religion-state relations in Southeast Asia is indeed fascinating.