Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία polygamía, "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at the same time, it is called polyandry. In contrast, in sociobiology and zoology, researchers use "polygamy" more broadly to refer to any form of multiple mating. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties. Like "monogamy", the term "polygamy" is often used in a de facto sense, applied regardless of whether a state recognizes the relationship. In many countries, the law only recognises monogamous marriages (a person can only have one spouse, and bigamy is illegal), but adultery is not illegal, leading to a situation of de facto polygamy being allowed without legal recognition for non-official "spouses". Worldwide, different societies variously encourage, accept or outlaw polygamy. In societies which allow or tolerate polygamy, polygyny is the accepted form in the vast majority of cases. According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, of 1,231 societies noted from 1960 to 1980, 588 had frequent polygyny, 453 had occasional polygyny, 186 were monogamous, and 4 had polyandry – although more recent research found some form of polyandry in 53 communities, which is more common than previously thought. In cultures which practice polygamy, its prevalence among that population often correlates with social class and socioeconomic status. Polygamy (taking the form of polygyny) is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Nigeria.
Biological and social distinctions The term "polygamy" may be referring to one of various relational types, depending upon context. Four overlapping definitions can be adapted from the work of Ulrich Reichard and others:
Marital polygamy occurs when an individual is married to more than one person. The other spouses may or may not be married to one another. Social polygamy occurs when an individual has multiple partners that they live with, have sex with, and cooperate with in acquiring basic resources (such as shelter, food and money). Sexual polygamy refers to individuals who have more than one sexual partner or who have sex partners outside of a primary relationship. Genetic polygamy refers to sexual relationships that result in children who have genetic evidence of different paternity. Biologists, biological anthropologists, and behavioral ecologists often use polygamy in the sense of a lack of sexual or genetic (reproductive) exclusivity. When cultural or social anthropologists and other social scientists use the term polygamy, the meaning is social or marital polygamy. In contrast, marital monogamy may be distinguished between:
classical monogamy, "a single relationship between people who marry as virgins, remain sexually exclusive their entire lives, and become celibate upon the death of the partner" serial monogamy, marriage with only one other person at a time, in contrast to bigamy or polygamy Some definitions of serial monogamy consider it to be polygamy, as it can result in evidence of genetic polygamy. It can also be considered polygamy for anthropological reasons. Outside of the legal sphere, defining polygamy can be difficult because of differences in cultural assumptions regarding monogamy. Some societies believe that monogamy requires limiting sexual activity to a single partner for life. Others accept or endorse pre-marital sex prior to marriage. Some societies consider sex outside of marriage or "spouse swapping" to be socially acceptable. Some consider a relationship monogamous even if partners separate and move to a new monogamous relationship through death, divorce, or simple dissolution of the relationship, regardless of the length of the relationship (serial monogamy). Anthropologists characterize human beings as "mildly polygynous" or "monogamous with polygynous tendencies." The average pre-historic man with modern descendants appears to have had children with between 1.5 women (70,000 years ago) to 3.3 women (45,000 years ago), except in East Asia. While the forms of non-monogamy in prehistorical times is unknown, these rates could be consistent with a society that practices serial monogamy. Anthropological observations indicate that even when polygyny is accepted in the community, the majority of relationships in the society are monogamous in practice – while couples remain in the relationship, which may not be lifelong. Thus, in many historical communities, serial monogamy may have been the accepted practice rather than a lifelong monogamous bond. The genetic record indicates that monogamy increased within the last 5,000-10,000 years, a period associated with the development of human agriculture, non-communal land ownership, and inheritance.
Forms Polygamy exists in three specific forms:
Polygyny, where a man has multiple simultaneous wives Polyandry, where a woman has multiple simultaneous husbands Group marriage, where the family unit consists of multiple husbands and multiple wives of legal age
Polygyny
Incidence
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