Distribution of Major World Religions

Where Can I Get an Amen?

Religion: a large-scale system of symbolic practices and beliefs concerning man’s ultimate place in the universe

Monotheism: the assertion that God is One

Secular: not concerning religion or religious topics

SOME BASICS

Definition: a religion that attempts to be global in its distribution and to appeal to all people regardless of their local culture

Christianity Islam Buddhism

UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS

The three universalizing religions are divided into smaller parts

Branch: a large and fundamental division within a religion

Roman Catholic 52%Protestant 21%

Eastern Orthodox 10%

Sunni 83%Shia 17%

Mahayana 56%Theravada38%Tantrayana 6%

Denomination: a division of a branch that unites a number of local

congregations into a single body

Sect: a relatively small group that has broken away from an established

denomination

DIVISIONS

It is the world’s most populous religion with over 2 billion adherents.

North AmericaLatin America

Western EuropeEastern Europe

AustraliaMuch of Subsaharan

Africa

Predominant In:

In Europe, Catholicism dominates in the southwest and east, Protestantism in the northwest, and Orthodoxy in the east and southeast.Regions of Catholic and Protestant majorities often have sharp boundaries: Netherlands and Switzerland-- Protestants north, Catholics south Orthodox church is divided into 14 self-governing church denominations

In the Western Hemisphere, nearly 90% of people are ChristianRegional divisions are often sharp: Catholics are 93% of Latin America, only 40% in North America (clustered southwest/northeast US, Quebec)28% of Americans over age five identify themselves as protestant, with Baptists as the largest.

CHRISTIANITY

FACTORS INFLUENCING

AMERICAN RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY

MORMONS

Original Migration: began in the eastern US, migrated to escape persecutionSubsequent Migration: families grew/spread nearby to farm arable landLack of in-migration: During second/third peaks of US in-migration European migrants came primarily to urbanized east coast areasPhysical geography: arid/rigorous, unappealing for major development.

LUTHERANS

Original Migration: Germans and Scandanavian Lutherans migrated from Europe (peak 2 and 3). Railroad companies and governments recruited Lutherans to farm the upper Midwest, then chain migration caused others to follow.Lack of in-migration: little urban development, so later religious groups and rural-urban migration from the South did not enter region

BAPTIST

METHODIST Indigenous Religion: Based on European Calvinism, Baptist religion matured as an indigenous in the rural south. It has no requirement for formally credentialed clergy. It appealed heavily to African American communities excluded from mainline protestant denominations.Baptists included other groups that created locally specific church communities.Lack of in-migration: little urban development, so other immigrant groups were not attracted to the mainly agricultural region.

Original Migration: Methodism was brought to the US in the 1700s by Irish immigrants who slowly spread through the upper midwest to farm the frontiers of the expanding American territory. (map)

The world’s second largest religion (fastest growing) with over 1.3 billion adherents.

Predominant In:

Entire Mid-East Region½ of world’s muslims

live outside the middle east:

PakistanBangladeshIndonesia

India

Sunni muslims comprise 83% of the total population and are the largest branch in most muslim countries.Shia muslims comprise 16%.30% of Shia live in Iran (90% of pop), 15% in Pakistan, 10% in Iraq (>50% of pop)US and European Muslim population is growing rapidly. Muslims are now 5% of Europe’s population.4 million live in France (largest pop). 3 million live in Germany. Both have former colonies in mideast.5 million muslims live in US and Canada.

ISLAM

Buddhism is the world’s fourth largest religion with 400 million adherents.

Predominant in:

ChinaJapan

Southeast AsiaThe Koreas

Mahayana Buddhists comprise 56% of population. Mostly in: China, Japan and Korea.

Theravadins comprise 38% of pop. Mostly in: Cambodia, Loas, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

It’s difficult to count Buddhists: A) Most do not participate in formal institutions.

B) Buddhism does not require exclusive membership. One can be Buddhist AND another religion

BUDDHISM

Sikhism Baha’i25 million Sikh (sic) worldwide

Most clustered in the Punjab region in India

Begun by Guru Nanek in the 1500s

Guru Gobind Singh introduced formal practice in the 1600s

8 million Baha’i worldwide

Dispersed globally, but heavy in Africa and Asia

Founded in 1844 in Shiraz, Iran by Siyyid, Ali Muhammad, the Bab

Baha’u’lluh is the prophet of Baha’i

OTHER UNIVERSALIZING

RELIGIONS

Polytheism: the assertion that God is many

Pagan: Early Christianity’s word to refer to non-christians. Animism: belief that the various processes and features of nature are conscious and have discrete spirits

Shamanism: a religion that involves community acceptance of a shaman, a religious leader/healer who can intercede with and interpret the spirit world

MORE BASICTERMS

Hinduism Confucianism Taoism Shintoism Judaism

A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are based on the physical geography of the place where they concentrate.

ETHNICRELIGIONS

The world’s third largest religion with 900 million adherents.

Predominant in:

India (97% of world population)

Nepal

Hinduism has no central authority or set of orthodox doctrine and dogma.Most Hindu will follow one of four spiritual disciplines (yogas) towards moksha (enlightenmentt): Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, RajaFollowers of bhakti yoga will usually devote themselves to one of many incarnations of Brahman (God)

Vishnu (68%) Shiva (27%) Shakti

HINDUISM

Many people in East and Southeast Asia practice Confucianism and/or Taoism WITH Buddhism.

Predominant in:

China

Buddhism does not require exclusive adherence, and so many Chinese practice Taoism or Confucianism alongside Buddhism.Confucianism was developed from the teachings of Confucius (500s BCE)Taoism was developed from the teachings of Lao Tzu (late 500s BCE)Taoism was banned by the communist Chinese, but is still practiced in China and is legal in Taiwan

CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM

With 14 million adherents, it’s the world’s seventh largest religion.

Predominant in:

Israel (5 million)

Other concentrations:

US (6 million)Europe (2 million)

Latin America (1 million)Asia (1 milion)

Within the US, Jews are heavily concentrated in major cities (25% in New York alone).Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse monotheism as opposed to polytheism.Judaism is the mother religion of both Christianity and Islam.

JUDAISM

With 4 million adherents, it’s the world’s tenth largest religion.

Predominant In:

Japan

While it’s roots stretch back to the 8th century, Shinto became the official religion of Japan in the 1870s.Sinto is an animist religion that teaches that all matter is inhabited by animating spirits called Kami.Shinto is still widely practiced in Japan (no longer the state religion), often with Buddhism, since neither religion is exclusive.There are over 80,000 shinto shrines in Japan today.

SHINTOISM

In Africa, Islam (40%) dominates in the north.

Christianity (46%) dominates in the South.

Both Islam and Christianity were introduced religions.

The native religions of Africa are animist in nature, and about 16% of subsaharan Africans

practice on form or another of it.

Botswana Angola Benin Congo Republic Guinea-BissauMadagascar Mozambique Togo Zimbabwe

As recently as 1980, half of Africa’s population was reported as animist, but it’s now less than 15%.

Animism is declining in Africa due to the increase and spread of Christianity and Islam.

Christianity and Islam are universalizing religions growing at the expense of African, ethnic religions.

AFRICANRELIGIONS

Animism is still somewhat strong in: