A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular, in which it is known as a secular marriage.
Countries maintaining a population registry of its residents keep track of marital status, and all United Nations (UN) member states except Iran, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tonga have signed or ratified either the United Nations Convention on C...