Matrimonial websites or marriage websites or matrimonial apps or marriage apps are websites that allow users to meet individuals to establish a relationship that leads to

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. Matrimonial websites contrast with dating websites in that matrimonial websites have marriage as the goal of the meeting of two persons, rather than short-term or casual relationships.

Usage

Matrimonial sites register users, after which they are able to upload their profiles onto a searchable database maintained by the website. Those users looking to find suitors search the database with customized searches that typically include nationality, age, gender,

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, and geographic location, as well as the availability of photographs. In addition to being popular in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

(particularly

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), matrimonial sites are popular in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) and among South Asians settled overseas. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India, the online matrimony business is expected to be a $250 Million business by 2017. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', there are over 1500 matrimonial websites in India. Matrimonial websites have been used often by men in the West for the purposes of marriage tourism, and by people in Eastern Europe and South Asia for the purpose of finding a spouse overseas.

Criticism

There have been reports of abuse of information obtained from matrimonial websites.Man forges divorce papers, marries 6 girls in 2 yrs http://ibnlive.in.com/news/man-forges-divorce-papers-marries-6-girls-in-2-yrs/100115-3.html

Usage

Criticism

See also

References

Further reading