Arab countries ranked by ... divorce rates

Traditions and rituals have made it exceptionally hard for married couples in the Arab world to file for divorce. Societal and cultural barriers have forced people to tip-toe around the subject, even when  target="_blank">reported cases of reported domestic abuse are present.

Despite all these obstacles, divorce rates in many parts of the Arab world are incredibly high. Jordan's divorce rate is actually among the highest in the world, as reported by The Telegraph. 

Here's a list of the Arab countries included in The Telegraph's map - from highest to lowest divorce rates:

>>According to Jordan Times, divorce rates among Jordanians dropped in 2015, reversing the rising trend in the number of divorce cases recorded in previous years.

Malek Khasawneh, a spokesperson for the Civil Status and Passports Department (CSPD), said that 53,666 marriages and 9,991 divorces were registered in 2015. 

In 2014, the number of recorded divorce cases amounted to 11,229 - up from 11,111 in 2013, 10,263 in 2012, and 9,456 in 2011.

Earlier this year, statistics released by Kuwait's Ministry of Justice revealed that around 60 percent of marriages in the country have ended in divorce, according to Gulf News.

The report also revealed that there has been a decrease in the number of marriages, as well as an increase in divorces. 

The number of documented marriages in January and February amounted to 2,001 marriages - down from 2,425 in the same period in 2016. 

The number of divorces in the first two months of 2017 was 1,193 - up from 1,180 last year.

The reasons for divorce - outside the traditional reasons - include "interest-driven marriages" which suggests that newly-weds get married for the loans and financial assistance provided to them. 

The research also mentioned that obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship is also another reason couples have been tying the knot.

Earlier this year, Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that he was "alarmed" by the country's high divorce rate. 

He stated that 40 percent of marriages in the country end within the first five years.

Sisi then suggested a legislation that would put an end to Muslim men's ability to divorce their wives "verbally" - meaning not having to go through a court of law. One month later, it was rejected by the country's religious council, Al-Azhar.

According to >statistics from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the divorce rate in Lebanon between 2000 and 2013 increased by 55 percent. 

Divorce cases in the country are in the hands of the various religious courts, each with its own set of rules when it comes to dissolving a marriage.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report in 2015 titled "Unequal and Unprotected: Women’s Rights Under Lebanon’s Religious Personal Status Laws," analyzing 447 recent legal judgments by religious courts concerning issues of divorce, custody, and spousal and child support. 

The report sheds light on the impact of such laws on women's rights. One such example is the fact that out of 150 rulings issued before Sunni and Jaafari courts, only 3 accepted that the wife applies a clause allowing her to initiate unilateral divorce included in the marriage contract. 

None of the women interviewed by HRW had included this clause in their marriage contracts.

Under Algerian Muslim law, a "divorce may only be established by a court judgment preceded by an attempt at reconciliation by the judge which shall not exceed a period of three months," as depicted in Article 49 of Law No. 84-II. 

The law does not recognize marital property, which has forced hundreds of women out of their homes. 

In 2006, at least 540 women who filed for divorce in the country were victims of the nation’s Family Code, according to SOS Women in Distress, a women's rights organization in Algeria, despite it being amended in 2005. 

An adult woman must get approval from a male guardian to conclude her marriage contract, a requirement not imposed on men, as target="_blank">reported by Human Rights Watch.

"A man can divorce unilaterally, while a woman must apply to the courts. If a woman wishes to divorce without her husband’s consent and without justification, she needs to pay back her dowry, or an equivalent amount of money, to her husband in return for the divorce," the report states. 

In 2016, the General Authority of Statistics in Saudi Arabia revealed that there are about five cases of divorce filed every hour, according to Arab News. 

The report revealed that more than 157,000 marriages were recorded in the courts that same year with over 46,000 divorce cases filed during the same period.

The divorce rate that year went down from 2015, which saw more than 54,000 cases of divorce.

In the wake of the Syrian war, divorce cases have seen a spike, becoming a widespread phenomenon in the country. 

A report published in 2016 highlighted unemployment as the main cause for the increase in divorce cases. 

Maha Atasi, a psychiatric specialist who has worked with a number of Syrian refugees, said that "unemployment, staying at home and the lack of a source of living" has put a strain on Syrian families.

Earlier this year, statistics revealed that the divorce rate in Qatar increased by 71 percent over a 15-year period, according to Gulf News. 

It was reported that 807 Qataris filed for divorce in 2015, up from 471 Qataris in 2000. 

Ahmad Al Buainain, a family and social activist who spoke on the topic at the time, said the main causes for the spike in divorce cases include "poor choices of spouses" followed by the "incompatibility of the spouses".

In 2015, 500 of 6,344 married couples in Bahrain got divorced during their first year of marriage, according to Arabian Business. 

The statistic for that year was reported to be much lower than it was 5 years ago - when 952 of 5,828 married couples filed for divorce.

In 2016, it was reported that 351 couples in the country opted for family counseling to resolve familial issues. Of those, 106 ended in positive results, whereas 66 were settled "amicably by couples who withdrew their complaints".