World Religions:An Overview

Our Experiences

What is your personal experience with other faiths?

Have you experienced worship in a Synagogue? Mosque? Hindu Temple? Buddhist Temple/Shrine?

Do you have friends or acquaintances who are of another faith?

Have you traveled to a country with a predominantly different religion than your own?

Religious Maps from the Past

Map #1: “Moral and Political Chart of the Inhabited World “ from 1821

“Entered according to act of Congress the 28th day of Sept. 1821 by Wm. C. Woodbridge of the state of Connecticut”

Religious MapFrom the Past

Map #2: An 1883 Religious Map of the world

Divided into colors representing "Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Mohammedans and Pagans".

Our Religious World Today

Map # 3: Religions of the world, mapped by distribution.

Map as of 2008 survey

Religious PopulationsReligion Believe

rs% of World Population

Christianity 2.2 Billion 32%

Islam 1.6 Billion 23%

Hinduism 1 Billion 15%

Buddhism 500 Million 7%

Judaism 14 Million 0.2%

Folk or Traditional Religions (African, Chinese, Native American, Australian Aboriginal Religions)

400 Million 6%

Other Religions (Baha’I, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, etc)

58 Million <1%

Religious Groups

Majority or Minority? Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the world’s people

live in countries in which their religious group makes up a majority of the population.

Only about a quarter (27%) of all people live as religious minorities. (This does not include subgroups, such as Shia Muslims living in Sunni-majority countries or Catholics living in Protestant-majority countries.)

Overwhelmingly, Hindus and Christians tend to live in countries where they are in the majority. Fully 97% of all Hindus live in the world’s three Hindu-majority countries (India, Mauritius and Nepal), and nearly 9/10 Christians (87%) are found in the world’s 157 Christian-majority countries.

Christianity in the World

Judaism in the World

Islam in the World

Hinduism in the World

Buddhism in the World

Importance of Religion