Marriage

====Number of spouses====
[[File:Legality of polygamy.svg|thumb|400px
 | <div style="margin:0 0.5em;">
{{legend|#56b4e9|Polygamy is legal}}
{{legend|#009e73|Polygamy is legal only for Muslims}}
{{legend|#0072b2|Polygamy is legal in some regions (Indonesia)}}
{{legend|#d55e00|Polygamy is illegal, but practice is not criminalised}}
{{legend|#000000|Polygamy is illegal and practice criminalised}}
{{legend|#e0e0e0|Legal status unknown}} </div>
{{Bulleted list |style=margin:0.5em 0.5em 0.25em;border-top:1px solid#aaa;font-size:94%; |item_style=line-height:1.3em;
| In India, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore polygamy is only legal for [[Muslim]]s.
| In Nigeria and South Africa, polygamous marriages under customary law and for Muslims are legally recognized.
| In Mauritius, polygamous unions have no legal recognition. Muslim men may, however, "marry" up to four women, but they do not have the legal status of&nbsp;wives.
}}]]{{Main|Legality of polygamy}}

Polygyny is widely practiced in mostly [[Muslim]] and African countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waleg.com/archives/001129.html |title=Polygamy in Muslim countries |publisher=Waleg.com |date=26 June 2005 |access-date=4 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901020418/http://www.waleg.com/archives/001129.html |archive-date=1 September 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wehaitians.com/polygamy%20practiced%20in%20secrecy%20follows%20africans%20to%20new%20york%20city.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720144224/http://www.wehaitians.com/polygamy%20practiced%20in%20secrecy%20follows%20africans%20to%20new%20york%20city.html |archive-date=20 July 2008 |title=Polygamy, Practiced in Secrecy, Follows Africans to New York City |newspaper=The New York Times|date= 25 March 2007|author=Berstein, Nina}}</ref> In the Middle Eastern region, Israel, Turkey and [[Polygamy in Tunisia|Tunisia]] are notable exceptions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/tunisia.htm |title=Tunisia: Notable Features: Polygamy |publisher=Law.emory.edu }}</ref>

In most other jurisdictions, polygamy is illegal. For example, In the United States, polygamy is illegal in all [[List of states and territories of the United States|50 states]].<ref name="quietly">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90857818|title=Some Muslims in U.S. Quietly Engage in Polygamy|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]: [[All Things Considered]]|date=27 May 2008|author=Hagerty, Barbara Bradley }}</ref>

In the late-19th century, citizens of the self-governing territory of what is present-day [[Utah]] were forced by the United States federal government to abandon the practice of [[polygamy]] through the vigorous enforcement of several [[Act of Congress|Acts of Congress]], and eventually complied. [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] formally abolished the practice in 1890, in a document labeled '[[1890 Manifesto|The Manifesto]]' (see [[Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century]]).<ref>{{Cite book|first=Edward Leo |last=Lyman |contribution=Statehood for Utah |url=http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/s/STATEHOOD.html |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Allan Kent |year=1994 |title=Utah History Encyclopedia |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]] |isbn=978-0-87480-425-6 |oclc=30473917   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101131036/http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/s/STATEHOOD.html |archive-date=1 November 2013 }}</ref> Among [[Islam in the United States|American Muslims]], a small minority of around 50,000 to 100,000 people are estimated to live in families with a husband maintaining an illegal polygamous relationship.<ref name=quietly/>

Several countries such as India and Sri Lanka,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://genderindex.org/country/sri-lanka |title=Sri Lanka: Family Code |publisher=Genderindex.org  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027130820/http://genderindex.org/country/sri-lanka |archive-date=27 October 2010 }}</ref> permit only their Islamic citizens to practice polygamy. Some Indians have converted to [[Islam]] in order to bypass such legal restrictions.<ref>See [[Polygyny in India|Polygamy in India]]</ref> Predominantly Christian nations usually do not allow [[Polygamy|polygamous unions]], with a handful of exceptions being the [[Polygamy in the Republic of the Congo|Republic of the Congo]], Uganda, and [[Polygamy in Zambia|Zambia]].