Quakers

==National and international divisions and organisation==
===By country===
[[File:Quaker-Distribution-World.svg|thumb|upright=2|Worldwide distribution of Quakers by country in 2017 according to the [[Friends World Committee for Consultation]]: {{Legend|#C0C0C0|No data}}
{{Legend|#FFE5E5|1–99}}
{{Legend|#FFA9A9|100–999}}
{{Legend|#FF6565|1,000–3,999}}
{{Legend|#FF2B2B|4,000–9,999}}
{{Legend|#CE0000|10,000–119,285}}]]
Like many religious movements, the Religious Society of Friends has evolved, changed, and split into sub-groups.

Quakerism started in England and Wales, and quickly spread to Ireland, the Netherlands,<ref name=Netherlands/> Barbados<ref name=Barbados/> and North America. In 2012, there were 146,300 Quakers in Kenya, 76,360 in the United States, 35,000 in Burundi and 22,300 in Bolivia. Other countries with over 5,000 Quakers were Guatemala, the United Kingdom, Nepal, Taiwan and Uganda.<ref name="FWCC2012">{{Cite web |url=http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1100905870059-495/FINAL_map_123012.pdf |title=Finding Quakers Around the World |publisher=Friends World Committee for Consultation |access-date=4 July 2016}}</ref> Although the total number of Quakers is around 377,000 worldwide,<ref name="FWCC2012"/> Quaker influence is concentrated in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]; [[Kaimosi]], Kenya; [[Newberg, Oregon]]; [[Greenleaf, Idaho]]; [[Whittier, California]]; [[Richmond, Indiana]]; [[Friendswood, Texas]]; [[Birmingham]], England; [[Ramallah]], Palestine, and [[Greensboro, North Carolina]].

====Africa====
{{Main|Religious Society of Friends in Africa}}

The highest concentration of Quakers is in Africa.<ref name="Qworldstats">– 43 per cent of Quakers worldwide are found in Africa, versus 30 per cent in North America, 17 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 6 per cent in Europe, and 4 per cent in Asia/West Pacific. See [http://www.quakerinfo.org/resources/worldstats.html ''Quaker Information Center''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429211156/http://www.quakerinfo.org/resources/worldstats.html |date=29 April 2008 }}.</ref> The Friends of East Africa were at one time part of a single East Africa Yearly Meeting, then the world's largest. Today, the region is served by several distinct yearly meetings. Most are affiliated with the [[Friends United Meeting]], practise programmed worship and employ pastors. Friends meet in Rwanda and Burundi; new work is beginning in North Africa. Small unprogrammed meetings exist also in Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In 2012, there were 196,800 adult Quakers in Africa.<ref name="FWCC2012"/>

====Australia and New Zealand====
Friends in Australia and New Zealand follow the unprogrammed tradition, similar to that of the [[Britain Yearly Meeting]].
Considerable distances between the colonies and small numbers of Quakers meant that Australia Friends were dependent on London until the 20th century. The Society remained unprogrammed and is named Australia Yearly Meeting, with local organizations around seven Regional Meetings: Canberra (which extends into southern New South Wales), New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia (which extends into Northern Territory), Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.quakers.org.au/ |title=Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia Inc. |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> [[The Friends' School, Hobart|The Friends' School]] is found in [[Hobart]]. An annual meeting each January, is hosted by a different Regional Meeting over a seven-year cycle, with a Standing Committee each July or August. The Australia Yearly Meeting published ''This We Can Say: Australian Quaker Life, Faith and Thought'' in 2003.

Meetings for worship in New Zealand started in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] in 1842 and in [[Auckland]] in 1885. In 1889 it was estimated that there were about 30 Quakers in Auckland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18890417.2.17?query=Ellerslie%20Racecourse%20platform |access-date=10 May 2017 |title=Auckland Star |date=17 April 1889 |publisher=Auckland Star}}</ref> The New Zealand Yearly Meeting, today consists of nine monthly meetings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://quaker.org.nz/structure-of-the-society-of-friends |title=Structure of the Society of Friends |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> The Yearly Meeting published Quaker Faith and Practice in Aotearoa New Zealand, in 2003.

====Asia====
Quaker meetings occur in India, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Japan and Nepal.

India has four yearly meetings – the unprogrammed [[Mid-India Yearly Meeting]], programmed Bhopal Yearly Meeting, and the Mahoba Yearly Meeting. [[Bundelkhand Yearly Meeting]] is an evangelical Friends Church affiliated to Evangelical Friends International. Other programmed and unprogrammed worship groups are not affiliated to any yearly meeting.

Evangelical Friends Churches exist in the Philippines and Nepal and are affiliated to Evangelical Friends International.

====Europe====
{{main|Quakers in Europe}}
In the United Kingdom, the predominantly liberal and unprogrammed [[Britain Yearly Meeting|Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain]], has 478 local meetings,<ref name="Tabular statement 2010"/> and 14,260 adult members,<ref name="Tabular statement 2010">{{Cite web |title=Tabular Statement as at 31 xii 2010 |url=http://www.quaker.org.uk/sites/default/files/Tab%20Stat%202011%20v_lo%20res.pdf |author=Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115151223/http://www.quaker.org.uk/sites/default/files/Tab%20Stat%202011%20v_lo%20res.pdf |archive-date=15 January 2016}}</ref> with an additional 8,560 non-member adults who attend worship<ref name="Tabular statement 2010"/> and 2,251 children.<ref name="Tabular statement 2010"/> The number has declined steadily since the mid-20th century.<ref name="Tabular statement 2010"/> Programmed meetings occur, including in [[Wem]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meeting Style – Wem Quaker Meeting |url=http://www.wemquakers.org.uk/index.php/meeting-style |author=Wem Quaker Meeting |access-date=21 January 2012 |archive-date=16 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416064516/http://www.wemquakers.org.uk/index.php/meeting-style |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nwlondonquakers.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35|title=NW London Quakers – Friends House Meeting|access-date=21 January 2012|archive-date=24 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624071254/http://www.nwlondonquakers.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35|url-status=dead}}</ref> Small groups of Conservative Friends meet in Ripley and Greenwich in England, and Arbroath in Scotland,<ref name="RipleyAndArboarth">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcquakers.lomaxes.me.uk/|title=IIS Windows Server|website=www.rcquakers.lomaxes.me.uk}}</ref> who follow [[Ohio Yearly Meeting]]'s [[Book of Discipline (Quaker)|Book of Discipline]].<ref name=rcquakers>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rcquakers.lomaxes.me.uk/events/news.htm |title=News and Events |publisher=Ripley Christian Quakers |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218092051/http://www.rcquakers.lomaxes.me.uk/events/news.htm |archive-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Evangelical Friends Central Europe Yearly Meeting has 4,306 members<ref name="FWCC2012"/> across six nations,<ref>{{Citation |title=Europe|author=Evangelical Friends Church International}}</ref> including Albania, Hungary and Romania.<ref name="FWCC2012"/>

[[Ireland Yearly Meeting]] is unprogrammed and more conservative than Britain Yearly Meeting. It has 1,591 members<ref name="FWCC2012"/> in 28 meetings<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quakers in Ireland |url=http://www.quakers-in-ireland.ie/ |author=Ireland Yearly Meeting}}</ref> across the Republic of Ireland, and in Northern Ireland.

German Yearly Meeting is unprogrammed and liberal and has 340 members,<ref name="FWCC2012"/> worshipping in 31 meetings in Germany and Austria.

Small groups of Friends in Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Ukraine attend meetings for worship there.<ref name="FWCC2012"/>

====Middle East====
Middle East Yearly Meeting has meetings in [[Lebanon]] and [[State of Palestine|Palestine]].

There has been an active and vibrant Palestinian Quaker community in [[Ramallah]] since the late 1800s. In 1910 this community built the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse and later added another building that was used for community outreach. The Ramallah Friends Meeting has always played a vital role in the community. In 1948 the buildings and grounds became home to many Palestinian refugees. Throughout the years, the members of the Ramallah Friends Meeting organised numerous community programmes such as the Children's Play Centre, the First Day School, and women's activities.

By the early 1990s the Meetinghouse and Annex, which housed meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, fell into disrepair as a result of damage inflicted by time and the impact of conflict. So serious was the deterioration of the meetinghouse that by the middle 1990s it was impossible to use the building at all. A further blow to the Friends and the wider Palestinian community was the high level of emigration brought on by the economic situation and the hardships arising from continuing Israeli military occupation. The Meetinghouse, which had served as a place of worship for the Friends in Ramallah could no longer be used as such and the Annex could no longer be used for community outreach.

In 2002 a committee consisting of members of the Religious Society of Friends in the US and the Clerk of the Ramallah Meeting began to raise funds for the renovations of the buildings and grounds of the Meetinghouse. By November 2004 the renovations were complete, and on 6 March 2005, exactly 95 years to the day after the dedication, the Meetinghouse and Annex were rededicated as a Quaker and community resource. Friends meet every Sunday morning at 10:30 for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship. Everyone is welcome to attend.

====North and South America====
{{see also|Quakers in North America|Quakers in Latin America}}
Quakers can be found throughout the Americas. Friends in the United States in particular have diverse worship styles and differences of theology, vocabulary, and practice.

A local [[wikt:congregation|congregation]] in the unprogrammed tradition is called a ''meeting'', or a ''monthly meeting'' (e.g., ''Smalltown Meeting'' or ''Smalltown Monthly Meeting''). The reference to "monthly" is because the meeting meets monthly to conduct the group's business. Most "monthly meetings" meet for worship at least once a week; some meetings have several worship meetings during the week. In programmed traditions, local congregations are often referred to as "Friends Churches" or "Meetings".

Monthly meetings are often part of a regional group called a ''quarterly meeting'', which is usually part of an even larger group called a ''yearly meeting;'' with the adjectives "quarterly" and "yearly" referring specifically to the frequency of ''meetings for worship with a concern for business''.

Some yearly meetings, like Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, belong to larger organisations to help maintain order and communication within the Society. The three chief ones are [[Friends General Conference]] (FGC), [[Friends United Meeting]] (FUM), and [[Evangelical Friends Church International]] (EFCI). In all three groups, most member organisations, though not necessarily members, are from the United States. FGC is theologically the most liberal of the three groups, while EFCI is the most evangelical. FUM is the largest. [[Friends United Meeting]] was originally known as "Five Years Meeting". Some monthly meetings belong to more than one larger organisation, while others are fully independent.

===Service organisations===
[[File:Quaker star-T.svg|thumb|upright|Star symbol used by many service organisations of the Religious Society of Friends]]

There are many Quaker service organizations dedicated to peace and humanitarian activities overseas. The first, the British [[Friends Service Council]] (FSC), was founded in Great Britain in 1927 and shared the 1947 [[Nobel Prize for Peace]] with the [[American Friends Service Committee]] (AFSC).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Friends-Service-Council|title= Friends Service Council|last=|first=|date= January 2017|website= Britannica|publisher= Encyclopædia Britantica|access-date= 16 July 2021 |quote= }}</ref>

The Quaker star is used by many Quaker service organizations, such as The American Friends Service Committee, Canadian Friends Service Committee and [[Quaker Peace and Social Witness]] (previously Friends Service Council). It was originally used by British Quakers performing [[Humanitarian aid|war relief]] efforts during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] to distinguish themselves from the [[Red Cross]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gill |first=Rebecca |date=2009 |title=The Rational Administration of Compassion?: The Origins of British Relief in War |url=http://www.cairn.info/revue-le-mouvement-social-2009-2-page-9.htm |journal=Le Mouvement Social |language=fr |volume=227 |issue=2 |pages=9 |doi=10.3917/lms.227.0009 |s2cid=144568446 |issn=0027-2671}}</ref> Today the star is used by multiple Quaker organizations as their symbol to represent "a common commitment to service and the spirit in which it is provided."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-30 |title=The Red and Black Star |url=https://www.afsc.org/story/red-and-black-star |access-date=2021-07-14 |website=American Friends Service Committee |language=en |archive-date=14 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714190704/https://www.afsc.org/story/red-and-black-star |url-status=dead }}</ref>