Mass Wedding: Nigerian Couples Tie The Knot In Mass Ceremony (PHOTOS)

A group of Nigerian divorcees and widows tied the knot in a mass wedding ceremony on Tuesday at the central mosque in Kano, Nigeria.

The women, about 100 in total, are part of a religious police program that matches up unmarried men with divorced or widowed women with the goal of promoting stable families, AFP reports.

In an effort to reduce the country's high divorce rate, the Hisbah -- or Nigerian Sharia police -- screened 1,000 divorced and widowed women for re-marriage. The brides who were married in Tuesday's mass ceremony were the first group from the program, which launched in February 2012, to tie the knot.

The program was created in conjunction with the Voice of Divorcees and Widows Association of Nigeria (VOWAN), and allows men and women to meet each other at the Hisbah offices before deciding who they wish to marry, according to officials.

While the program in Nigeria may be new, mass wedding ceremonies are old hat in the rest of the world. Click through the slideshow below to see the other international mass weddings.

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