[en] Abstract from English Wikipedia: Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally recognised union between people, called spouses, that establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. The definition of marriage varies around the world, not only between cultures and between religions, but also throughout the history of any given culture and religion. Over time, it has expanded and also constricted in terms of who and what is encompassed. Typically, it is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged or sanctioned. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. A marriage ceremony is called a wedding. Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, social, libidinal, emotional, financial, spiritual, and religious purposes. Whom they marry may be influenced by gender, socially determined rules of incest, prescriptive marriage rules, parental choice and individual desire. In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, child marriage, polygamy, and sometimes forced marriage, may be practiced as a cultural tradition. Conversely, such practices may be outlawed and penalized in parts of the world out of concerns regarding the infringement of women's rights or children's rights (both female and male) or as a result of international law. Around the world, primarily in developed democracies, there has been a general trend towards ensuring equal rights for women within marriage and legally recognizing the marriages of interfaith, interracial, and same-sex couples. These trends coincide with the broader human rights movement. Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization, a religious authority, a tribal group, a local community, or peers. It is often viewed as a contract. When a marriage is performed and carried out by a government institution in accordance with the marriage laws of the jurisdiction, without religious content, it is a civil marriage. Civil marriage recognizes and creates the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony in the eyes of the state. When a marriage is performed with religious content under the auspices of a religious institution, it is a religious marriage. Religious marriage recognizes and creates the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony in the eyes of that religion. Religious marriage is known variously as sacramental marriage in Catholicism, nikah in Islam, nissuin in Judaism, and various other names in other faith traditions, each with their own constraints as to what constitutes, and who can enter into, a valid religious marriage. Some countries do not recognize locally performed religious marriage on its own, and require a separate civil marriage for official purposes. Conversely, civil marriage does not exist in some countries governed by a religious legal system, such as Saudi Arabia, where marriages contracted abroad might not be recognized if they were contracted contrary to Saudi interpretations of Islamic religious law. In countries governed by a mixed secular-religious legal system, such as Lebanon and Israel, locally performed civil marriage does not exist within the country, which prevents interfaith and various other marriages that contradict religious laws from being entered into in the country; however, civil marriages performed abroad may be recognized by the state even if they conflict with religious laws. For example, in the case of recognition of marriage in Israel, this includes recognition of not only interfaith civil marriages performed abroad, but also overseas same-sex civil marriages. The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved, and any offspring they may produce or adopt. In terms of legal recognition, most sovereign states and other jurisdictions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples and a diminishing number of these permit polygyny, child marriages, and forced marriages. In modern times, a growing number of countries, primarily developed democracies, have lifted bans on, and have established legal recognition for, the marriages of interfaith, interracial, and same-sex couples. In some areas, child marriages and polygamy may occur in spite of national laws against the practice. Since the late twentieth century, major social changes in Western countries have led to changes in the demographics of marriage, with the age of first marriage increasing, fewer people marrying, and more couples choosing to cohabit rather than marry. For example, the number of marriages in Europe decreased by 30% from 1975 to 2005. Historically, in most cultures, married women had very few rights of their own, being considered, along with the family's children, the property of the husband; as such, they could not own or inherit property, or represent themselves legally (see, for example, coverture). In Europe, the United States, and other places in the developed world, beginning in the late 19th century, marriage has undergone gradual legal changes, aimed at improving the rights of the wife. These changes included giving wives legal identities of their own, abolishing the right of husbands to physically discipline their wives, giving wives property rights, liberalizing divorce laws, providing wives with reproductive rights of their own, and requiring a wife's consent when sexual relations occur. These changes have occurred primarily in Western countries. In the 21st century, there continue to be controversies regarding the legal status of married women, legal acceptance of or leniency towards violence within marriage (especially sexual violence), traditional marriage customs such as dowry and bride price, forced marriage, marriageable age, and criminalization of consensual behaviors such as premarital and extramarital sex.

[es] Resumen extraído de Wikipedia en español: El matrimonio (del latín: matrimonÄ"um) es una institución social, presente en gran cantidad de culturas, que establece un vínculo conyugal entre personas naturales, reconocido y consolidado por medio de prácticas comunitarias y normas legales, consuetudinarias, religiosas o morales. La unión matrimonial establece entre los cónyuges \"y en muchos casos también entre las familias de origen de estos\" derechos y obligaciones que varían considerablemente según las normas que lo regulan en cada sociedad. El matrimonio es una realidad que tiene su propio modo de ser, que puede y debe ser regulado por el ordenamiento jurídico, pero no es creada ni definida por las leyes. Las normas matrimoniales están vinculadas con aquellas que regulan las relaciones sexuales (incesto, adulterio, exclusividad sexual, monogamia, poligamia), la reproducción y la filiación de los hijos, según las reglas del sistema de parentesco vigente. El matrimonio suele estar estrechamente relacionado con la familia y en algunos casos constituye su núcleo. Las reglas sobre finalización del matrimonio incluyen aquellas referidas al divorcio. En diversos momentos de la historia y en lugares diferentes, el matrimonio podía ser llevado a cabo sin tener en cuenta la voluntad de los contrayentes, incluso contra su voluntad o por la fuerza, muchas veces legitimando la posesión forzada de las mujeres por parte de los hombres. En los últimos dos siglos se ha universalizado la exigencia del libre y pleno consentimiento de los contrayentes para contraer matrimonio, como uno de los derechos humanos fundamentales. Con respecto al género de los contrayentes, en los últimos años el movimiento LGBT ha obtenido en varios países el reconocimiento legal del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. En las sociedades actuales existen dos formas principales de matrimonio: matrimonio civil y matrimonio religioso. En el primer caso son las leyes del Estado las que establecen los derechos, deberes y requisitos, mientras que en el segundo caso son las normas o costumbres de la religión bajo la que se celebra. La coexistencia de ambas formas y el reconocimiento de su validez varían de acuerdo a cada sociedad.