Incidence and Distribution of Circumcision
(Male Genital Mutilation)
Worldwide

Who Aren't Cut - and Who Are

Intact Virtually all: Chinese, Japanese, North Koreans, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Burmese, Thais Hindu, Sikh, Parsee and Christian Indians Scandinavians Zulus, Shona, certain other African nations most Melanesian and some Western Polynesian (Rennell, Bellona) peoples, The great majority of: Europeans men of the former Soviet Union Central and South Americans New Zealand Maori Younger men of Britain and the Commonwealth, especially New Zealand and Australia About half of: Malaysians (Hindu and Christian Tamils, Chinese and Orang Asli) A significant minority of: Americans, especially younger, Hispanic, and in the South West Bangladeshis (20% are Hindu)

Cut About 500,000,000 Muslims More than 100,000,000 USAmericans About 25,000,000 Filipini Some tens of millions of older men of Britain and the Commonwealth Some tens of millions of African tribesmen About 14,000,000 South Koreans 7,000,000 Jews Some hundreds of thousands of Central and Eastern Polynesians (Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau) and Melanesians (Fiji, Vanuatu, parts of Solomon Islands and small parts of PNG) Some thousands of aboriginal Australians, mainly in the north and west

Click on the map for a larger image.

Of necessity, this map generalises. In South Africa, for example, whites circumcised "medically" until recently, Xhosa circumcise tribally and Zulus have never circumcised. Even in Israel (barely visible even on the larger map), surprisingly many parents leave their sons intact.

South Africa On June 19, 2006 the South African President assented to the Children's Act, which outlaws male genital cutting except for religious and medical purposes, or with the consent of a child over 16. (This has not seriously impeded non-therapeutic circumcision.) Sweden On June 1, 2001, the Swedish Parliament passed a law restricting circumcision to licenced practitioners, except for religious circumcision in the first two months of life. The law comes into effect on October 1 and will be reviewed in four years. Finland Late in 1999, the Juridic Ombudsman of the Finnish Parliament, Riitta-Leena Paunio, noted that infant circumcision is not recommended without a medical reason and recommended that children should be consulted and should give their permission. She said the Finnish Parliament should weigh up the parents' religious rights over their children against the obligation of society to protect its children from ritualistic operations without immediate benefit to them. This decision is believed to be the first of its kind in any country. As an immediate result, the consent of both parents is now required.

Incidence and Distribution of Female Genital Mutilation Worldwide

Click on the map for a larger image.

(FGM is outlawed in countries marked with blue crosshatching but is still prevalent at the rate shown in the underlying shade of pink.)

One striking conclusion from these two maps is that wherever Female Genital Mutilatin is prevalent, male circumcision is also (though the reverse is of course not the case).

People who object that there is no comparison between FGM and MGM should see the list of comparisons.

Updates and corrections welcome. You can email me.

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