List of religious populations
Learn more about List of religious populations
Of the 6,450,000,000 people on Earth as of June 2005, as published by the United States Census Bureau, 5,208,000,000 followed world's five largest religions (non religious numbers given for comparison).
Estimates:
- Christianity - 2,155 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Islam - 1,313 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
- Atheist / Non Religious - 939 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
- Hinduism - 870 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
- Buddhism - 384 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
Adherents sometimes give much higher figures for example:
After the largest religions there are significant populations of a number of smaller religions. Notably:
- Sikhism: 25 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
- Judaism: 15 million (2006 est., CIA)<ref name=cia06 />
- Bahá'í: 7 million (2000 est., WCE)<ref name="worldchristianencyclopedia">Barrett, David A. (2001). World Christian Encyclopedia, p. 4.</ref> (and see Demographics)
- Jainism: 4.2 million (??)
- Shinto: 4 million (??)
- Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million (??)
Note that these figures may incorporate populations of secular/nominal adherents as well as syncretist worshippers, although the concept of syncretism is disputed by some.
Contents |
[edit] By proportion
Countries with the greatest proportion of Christians (as of 2002):
- Vatican City, 100.0% (Roman Catholic 100.0%)
- Armenia, 100.0% Orthodox
- Greece, 98.0% (Orthodox 97.0%, Roman Catholic 1.0%, Muslim 1.3%)
- Romania, 97.4% (Orthodox 86.8%, Roman Catholic 5.4%, Other Christian 5.2%)
- Italy, 97% (Mostly Roman Catholic)
- Portugal, 97% (mostly Roman Catholic)
- Poland, 96% (mostly Roman Catholic)
- Republic of Ireland, 95% (mostly Roman Catholic)
- Argentina, 94% (mostly Roman Catholic, Jewish 2%)
- Spain, 94% (mostly Roman Catholic)
- Croatia, 92% (Roman Catholic 88%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%)
- France, 90% (Roman Catholic 81%, Muslim 8%, Jewish 1%)
- United States, 84% (Muslim 0.5%, Jewish 2%)
- Brazil, 80% (mostly Roman Catholic)
Countries with the greatest proportion of Muslims (as of 2005):
- Saudi Arabia, 100%
- Somalia, 100%
- Mauritania, 99.9%
- Maldives, 99.9%
- Western Sahara, 99.8%
- Turkey, 99.8%
- Iran, 99%
- Algeria, 99%
- Afghanistan, 99%
- Yemen, 99%
- Tunisia, 99%
- Oman, 99%
- Comoros, 99%
- Djibouti, 99%
- Morocco, 98.7%
- Iraq, 97%
- Libya, 97%
- Pakistan, 96.35%
- Tajikistan, 95%
- Jordan, 95%
Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus (as of 2002):
- Nepal 89.5%
- India, 80.5% (Muslim 13%, Sikh 2%, Christian 2%)
- Mauritius, 50%
- Fiji, 40% [?] (Indo-Fijians are 75% Hindu, Muslim 16%, Christian 6%)(see remarks below)
- Guyana, 35%
- Suriname, 27%
- Bhutan, 25%
- Trinidad and Tobago, 24%
- Bangladesh, 16%
- Sri Lanka 15%
- Bahrain, 7.7%
- United Arab Emirates, 7.5%
- Malaysia, 6.3%
- Indonesia, 7%
- Singapore, 4.4%
- Pakistan, 3%
- Philippines, 3%
- United Kingdom 1.6%
- South Africa, 1.5%
- Thailand, 94%
- Cambodia, 93%
- Mongolia, 93%
- Burma, 90%
- Bhutan, 74%
- Japan, Buddhist 71%
- Sri Lanka, 70% (Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7%)
- Laos, 60%
- Vietnam, 50%
- Singapore, 42.5%
- China, 30%
- Taiwan, 25%
- South Korea, 23.33%
- Malaysia, 19.2%
- Brunei, 13%
- Nepal, 11%
- Israel, 80% (Muslim 14%, Christian 2%)
- Nauru 9.22%
- Tonga 6.09%
- Tuvalu 5.86%
- Kiribati 4.70%
- Tokelau Islands 4.33%
- Cocos Islands 3.72%
- Bolivia 3.25%
- Falkland Islands 2.98%
- Vanuatu 2.78%
- Belize 2.73%
- Samoa 2.37%
- Guyana 2.09% (reported as 7% in 2004)
- United Arab Emirates 1.95%
- Sao Tome and Principe 1.88%
- Mauritius 1.84%
- Zambia 1.70%
- Dominica 1.61%
- Micronesia 1.61%
- Niue Island 1.53%
- Marshall Islands 1.50%
Sources: Year 2000 Estimated Baha'i statistics from: David Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2000; Total population statistics, mid-2000 from Population Reference Bureau [2] and The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004.
[edit] By population
Largest Christian populations (as of 2002)[citation needed]:
- United States, 189,983,000
- Brazil, 175,405,000
- Mexico, 96,614,000
- China, 86,801,000
- Philippines, 72,225,000
- Germany, 60,712,000
- Nigeria, 54,012,000
- Italy, 47,704,000
- France, 45,505,000
- Ethiopia, 45,000,824
- Congo, 42,283,000
Largest Muslim populations (as of 2002)[citation needed]:
- Indonesia, 182,570,000
- Pakistan, 134,480,000
- India, 121,000,000
- Bangladesh, 114,080,000
- Turkey, 65,510,000
- Iran, 62,430,000
- Egypt, 58,630,000
- Nigeria, 53,000,000
- Algeria, 30,530,000
- Morocco, 28,780,000
-
Remarks:
1) China's Muslim population is estimated to be over 37,000,000 by many estimates but lower according to the Chinese government. [3]
Largest Hindu populations (as of 2003)[citation needed]:
- India, 816,000,000
- Nepal, 13,300,000
- Bangladesh, 12,600,000
- Indonesia, 4,800,000
- Sri Lanka, 3,000,000
- Malaysia, 1,600,000
- Mauritius, 650,000
- United Kingdom, 500,000
- Fiji, 335,000
- Trinidad and Tobago, 280,000
-
Remarks:
1) Hindus include the Yoga practitioners in the population which may have 50 million practitioners in the United States. There are around 150 million who practise Yoga worldwide. After including Yoga practitioners, Hinduism has around 1.1 billion followers worldwide.
2)75% Hindu at Fiji refers to Indo-Fijians who make up 44% of the population, while ethnic Fijians are mostly Christian (acc. to: Fiji).
Largest Buddhist populations (as of 2005)[citation needed]:
- China, 392,000,000
- Japan, 90,000,000
- Thailand, 62,000,000
- Vietnam, 42,000,000
- Burma, 39,000,000
- Sri Lanka, 14,000,000
- Cambodia, 13,000,000
- Korea, South, 11,000,000
- India, 8,000,000
- Taiwan, 6,000,000
- Korea, North, 5,000,000
- Malaysia, 5,000,000
- Laos, 4,000,000
- Nepal, 3,000,000
- United States, 3,000,000
- Mongolia, 2,600,000
- Indonesia, 2,000,000
- Singapore, 1,900,000
- Bhutan, 1,700,000
- Bangladesh, 700,000
- Russia, 700,000
Largest National Bahá'í populations (as of 2000):
- India 1,716,148 0
- United States 753,423
- Iran 463,151
- Viet Nam 356,133
- Kenya 308,292
- Bolivia 269,246
- South Africa 255,775
- Philippines 229,522
- Congo (Zaire) 224,596
- Zambia 162,443
- Thailand 144,243
- Venezuela 141,072
- Tanzania 140,593
- Malaysia 97,078
- Chad 80,683
- Myanmar 79,044
- Pakistan 78,658
- Uganda 66,546
- Colombia 64,758
- Cameroon 64,286
Source: Year 2000 Estimated Baha'i statistics from: David Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2000; Total population statistics, mid-2000 from Population Reference Bureau [4]
Remarks:
1) Because officially atheist Communist governments still rule a number of traditionally Buddhist countries and also because Buddhists often also practise other traditional East Asian religions, the figures could also be much higher. China alone could add an additional 400 million or more in this way. Similarly, the figures for Vietnam and North Korea may be higher, while Japan could easily add another 12 million.
[edit] Lists by country
- Buddhism by country
- Hinduism by country
- Islam by country
- Jews by country
- Roman Catholics by country
- Protestants by country
- Christianity by country
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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