What is the greatest faith? Which religions have the largest number of believers

Over the centuries, religions have had a huge impact on shaping the history and culture of the world - from philosophy to law, from music to architecture, from war to peace.

Most of the world's greatest and most popular religions come from two sources - either from the religions of Abraham or from India. Abrahamic religions, whose common origin is the reports of the ancient patriarch Abraham - Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Indian subcontinent is the common birthplace of religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism.

The most popular religions in the world

1. Christianity - 2.4 billion believers

Christianity, which developed from Judaism over two thousand years ago, is now the religion with the largest following, accounting for nearly 32% of the world's population. Christianity is the dominant religion in Europe, Russia, North and South America, South, Central and East Africa and Oceania. Large Christian communities also inhabit other parts of the world, including Indonesia, the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East. The three main confessions of Christianity are Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy. Christians believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe, who sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to Earth to save mankind from sin. All who believe in the teachings proclaimed by Christ through his passion, death on the cross and resurrection will be guaranteed eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. The holy book of Christians is the Bible (Holy Bible), compiled from the books of the Old and New Testaments. The main moral commandments that every Christian must follow were revealed by God to Moses in the form of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments.

2. Islam - 1.8 billion believers

The second largest religion in the world is Islam, which is now the religion with the fastest growing number of followers. Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, the Middle East, Central and South Asia and North Africa. The two main branches of Islam are the Sunnis, which include about 75-90% of all Muslims and Shiites. Islam was born in the 7th century. in Mecca, where he came into the world and became the founder of the second largest religion in the world. For the followers of Islam, Muhammad is also the most important prophet to whom God, called Allah, revealed the text of the Qur'an, the holy book of Muslims, which is the source of their faith and practice. Sunni Islam is based on five pillars, which are: confession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca.

3. Hinduism - 1.15 billion believers

Hinduism, called the oldest religion in the world, was formed between 500 BC. and 300 AD, i.e. immediately after the Vedic period, in which the Vedas, which are holy books for Hinduism, were formed. Most of his followers are inhabited by the countries of the Indian subcontinent - India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan. Hinduism is not a uniform religion with a well-defined doctrine. Hinduism is rather a group of many factions, differing in their views on the essence of god and practice, and at the same time associated with the Vedas, the belief in reincarnation and karma, that is, the law of action and reaction, and in liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. Hinduism has a rich pantheon of all religions and is characterized by the belief in devas, multiple deities that are usually seen as representations of a single god. Among the most important of these is Vishnu, in iconography, depicted as a four-armed man with blue skin and Shiva, depicted with a characteristic headdress in which a crescent moon is attached, with a snake wrapped around his neck and a trident in his hand.

4. Buddhism - 520 million believers

Buddhism was formed in ancient India between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, from where it spread to much of Asia. Its creator was Shakyamuni Buddha, who proclaimed the Four Noble Truths, which formed the basis of this entire religion. Buddhism is classified as a metrological religion because it is not characterized by belief in a ruling god or gods of peace and worship. Buddhism is divided into two main schools: Theravada, which is popular mainly in Sri Lanka and in the countries of Southeast Asia and the Mahayana, with the largest number of followers in East Asian countries. All schools of Buddhism combine the desire to overcome suffering and liberation from samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth), but differ in their interpretation of the ways to achieve these goals.

5. Chinese folk religion - 400 million believers

The list of 5 largest religions in the world closes the Chinese folk religion. Although Communist Party-run China is an atheist state, the government officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism.

However, the largest religion in China is the Chinese folk religion, also known as the Han religion (Han makes up approximately 92% of the total population of China and almost half of the population of Taiwan), which was formed around the 2nd century BC. Because most Chinese people do not recognize their spiritual beliefs and related practices as a religion, and if they do, it is rarely a pure form of any religion, so it is very difficult to gather reliable statistics on this matter.

An estimated 400 million Chinese practice some form of folk religion or Taoism, according to a study done for the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the religion of the Han, an important role is played by the cult of ancestors, respect for the forces of nature and faith in the rational order of the world, in which people, deities and spirits interfere. Around the 11th century, Chinese folk religion also adopted the teachings and practices of other religions, including the concept of karma and reincarnation from Buddhism, the concept of a hierarchy of gods from Taoism or philosophical Confucian thought - thus forming a religious system that, although full of differences depending on region of the country.

Why the share of Muslims in the world population is growing the fastest, and the number of religiously unaffiliated is decreasing

The religious characteristics of the world are changing very rapidly, primarily due to differences in birth rates and the size of the younger generation in the spheres of influence of the world's major religions, as well as the fact that people change religion. For the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. These current trends will last until 2050…

- The number of Muslims is almost equal to the number of Christians in the world.

“While there will be more atheists, agnostics and other people who do not associate themselves with any particular religion in countries such as the United States and France, their proportion will decrease in the total number of inhabitants of the earth.

— The number of Buddhists will remain approximately the same as in 2010, and there will be more Hindus and Jews than now.

- In Europe, the number of Muslims will be 10% of the total population.

“In India, Hinduism will still remain the majority religion, however, its Muslim population will also become the largest in the world, overtaking the Muslims of Indonesia.

- In the US, the number of Christians from three-quarters of the population in 2010 will drop to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. There will be more Muslims than people who define themselves as Jews on the basis of religion.

Four out of every ten Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.

These are some of the trends highlighted by the Pew Research Center's new population projections. Projections are based on the current coverage and geographic distribution of the world's major religions, age differences, birth and death rates, international migration, and patterns of transition from one religion to another.

As of 2010, Christianity was by far the largest religion in the world, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31%) of the world's total population of 6.9 billion. Islam ranked second with 1.6 billion adherents, i.e. 23% of all people.

However, if the current demographic trend continues, Islam will almost catch up with the leader by the middle of the 21st century. Between 2010 and 2050, the total population of the Earth is expected to grow to 9.3 billion, that is, by 35%. Over the same period, the number of Muslims - among whom on average there are many young people who provide high birth rates - is projected to increase by 73%. The number of Christians should also increase, but more slowly, at about the same rate (35%) as the general increase in the population of the Earth.

As a result, according to Pew Research Center forecasts, by 2050 the number of Muslims (2.8 billion or 30% of the population) will be almost equal to the number of Christians (2.9 billion or 31%), perhaps for the first time in history.

With the exception of Buddhism, all of the world's religions are poised for at least a small increase in absolute terms in the coming decades. The number of Buddhists in the world is expected to remain about the same due to low birth rates and aging populations in countries such as China, Thailand and Japan.

The number of Hindus worldwide is projected to increase by 34%, from just over a billion to nearly 1.4 billion, roughly in step with the average growth of the entire population on earth. Jews, the smallest religious group for which a separate forecast has been made, are expected to grow by 16%, from just over 14 million worldwide in 2010 to 16.1 million in 2050.

Context

Islam is not like all religions

Religion changed its mind about leaving Russia

Are earthly religions adapting to aliens?

Three poles that form in the world

Is France still a secular state?

The number of adherents of various religions, including African traditional beliefs, Chinese folk beliefs, Native American beliefs and Aboriginal Australian beliefs, is projected to increase by 11%, from 405 million to almost 450 million.

However, despite the growth in the absolute number of adherents of folk religions, Judaism and "other religions" (the entire combined category as a whole), they do not keep up with the general growth of the entire population of the earth. Each of these groups is projected to make up a smaller percentage of the population in 2050 than it did in 2010.

Similarly, the share of religiously unaffiliated people in the total population of the earth will decrease, although their absolute number will increase. Censuses and polls show that in 2010 there were about 1.1 billion atheists, agnostics, and people who do not identify with any particular religion. By 2050, the number of unaffiliated should reach 1.2 billion. But as for the percentage that will be allotted to them of the total number of people, by the middle of this century it is projected to decrease from 16% to 13%.

At the same time, however, the share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to increase in the population of much of Europe and North America. In the US, for example, the number of unaffiliated will grow from about 16% of the total population (including children) in 2010 to 26% in 2050.

The example of a group of religiously unaffiliated people shows how strongly geographical differences will influence the pattern of the growth of religions in the coming decades. One of the main determinants of future growth is where each group is geographically concentrated today. Religions with a large number of adherents in developing countries, where birth rates are high and infant mortality is gradually decreasing, are likely to grow rapidly. The global growth of Islam and Christianity, for example, is predicted to be fueled by sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast, religiously unaffiliated people are now densely concentrated in places with low birth rates and an aging population, such as Europe, North America, Japan, and China.

Globally, Muslims have the highest birth rates, averaging 3.1 children per woman, well above the replacement level (2.1) required to maintain a stable population. Christians are in second place, with 2.7 children per woman. The Hindu birth rate is 2.4, about the same as the world average of 2.5. The birth rate among Jews on average in the world is 2.3, which is also above the minimum level of reproduction. Birth rates in all other groups are too low to support the population: folk beliefs - 1.8 children per woman, other religions - 1.7, religiously unaffiliated - 1.7 and Buddhists - 1.6.

In the coming decades, Christianity is expected to suffer the largest cumulative loss due to change of faith. Overall, about 40 million people are projected to convert to Christianity, while 106 million will abandon it, for the most part choosing to join the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated (see chart above).

In total, the unaffiliated group will add 97 million people and lose 36 million people due to religious change, for a net gain of 61 million people by 2050. A modest "net gain" from religion change is expected for Muslims (3 million), Folk Belief Group (3 million) and Other Religions Composite Group (2 million). Jews due to change of religion will lose about 300,000 people, while Buddhists will lose 3 million.

International migration is another factor influencing the projected size of religious groups in different regions and countries.

Predicting the future directions of migration is difficult, as migration is often linked to the politics of world governments and international events, which can change rapidly. Therefore, many demographic projections do not include migration in their models. But in collaboration with researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria, Pew Research has developed an innovative method of using data from past migration patterns to estimate the religious composition of migration flows for decades to come. (See Chapter 1 for more on how these projections are made.) .

The impact of migration can be seen in the examples in the graph to the right, which compare scenarios predicted with and without migration in regions where it matters the most. In Europe, for example, where migration must be taken into account along with other demographic factors such as birth rates and age as the cause of population change, the Muslim proportion is expected to rise from 5.9% in 2010 to 10.2% in 2050. Excluding migration, the share of Muslims in the European population is projected to be almost two percent lower (8.4%). In North America, if migration is included in the projection model, the proportion of Hindus will almost double over the coming decades, from 0.7% in 2010 to 1.3% in 2050. Excluding migration, the proportion of Hindus in the population of the region will remain almost unchanged (0. eight%).

In the Middle East and North Africa, continued Christian migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia) is expected to offset the exodus of Christians from other countries in the region . If migration were not taken into account in forecasts for 2050, by that time, according to calculations, the proportion of Christians there would have fallen below 3%. With migration included, it will be above 3% (down from 4% in 2010).

After 2050

This report talks about how the religious landscape of our planet will change if current demographic trends remain in place. From year to year, however, the possibility of unforeseen circumstances - war, famine, epidemics, technological innovations, political upheavals, etc. - that can change the size of a particular religious group does not decrease. Because of the difficulty in predicting events more than a few decades into the future, forecasts end at 2050.

Readers may wonder, however, what happens if the demographic trajectories recorded in the report are extended further into the second half of this century? Given the rate at which the proportion of Muslims in the world is projected to increase, will Muslims really outnumber Christians? And if so, when?

The answer depends on how the trend can continue, as described in Chapter 1. If the basic forecasting model is extended beyond 2050, the share of Muslims in the world population will roughly equal the share of Christians around 2070 at around 32% for each group. After that, the number of Muslims will overtake Christians, but both religious groups will continue to grow at about the same pace, as shown in the graph above. By 2100, there will be about 1% more Muslims in the world (35%) than Christians (34%).

© AFP 2016, Amos Gumulira High school girls in Mchinji, Malawi

The predicted growth in the number of Muslims and Christians will be due in large measure to the fact that the population of Africa will continue to grow. Due to the high concentration of Muslims and Christians in this region with a high birth rate, the share of both groups in the total population of the earth will increase. Together, these two largest religious groups will cover more than two-thirds of the world's population (69%) in 2100, up from 61% in 2050 and 55% in 2010.

It should be reiterated, however, that many factors can alter these developmental curves. For example, if a large proportion of China's population converts to Christianity (a possibility discussed in this box), this phenomenon alone could strengthen Christianity's current position as the world's largest religion. Or if a shift towards unaffiliation becomes common in countries with large numbers of Muslims—as is now the case in countries with large numbers of Christians—this trend could slow or even reverse the growth of the Muslim group.

Forecasts at the level of regions and countries

In addition to forecasts at the global level, this report talks about forecasts for religious changes in 198 countries and territories with a population of at least 100,000 people, where 99.9% of the world's population lived in 2010. Demographic estimates for an additional 36 countries and territories are included in the regional and global totals throughout the report. The report divides the world into six major regions and looks at potential changes in the religious composition of each region that could occur between 2010 and 2050, based on the assumption that current migration and other demographic trends will continue.

Largely due to high birth rates, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience its fastest growth period, rising from 12% of the global population in 2010 to about 20% in 2050. The Middle East and North Africa region is also projected to grow faster than the world as a whole, expanding from 5% of the world's population to 6%. The constant growth of both regions will contribute to the growth of the proportion of the Muslim population of the earth. In addition, the Christian population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double, rising from 517 million in 2010 to 1.1 billion in 2050. The proportion of all Christians living in sub-Saharan Africa will increase from 24% in 2010 to 38% in 2050.

At the same time, the share of the Asia-Pacific region in the world population will decrease (53% in 2050 instead of 59% in 2010). This will lead to a slower growth of religions concentrated in the region, including Buddhism and Chinese folk religions, as well as a slower growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated residents of the region. The only exception would be Hinduism, which is predominantly concentrated in India, which has a younger population and higher birth rates than China and Japan. As stated earlier, Hinduism is projected to grow roughly in step with global population growth. India's large Muslim population is also set for rapid growth. Although India will continue to have a Hindu majority, by 2050 the Muslim population of this country will also be the largest in the world, overtaking the Indonesian.

The share of other geographic regions in the global population will also decline: Europe is projected to fall from 11% to 8%, Latin America and the Caribbean from 9% to 8%, and North America from 5% to just under 5%.

Europe is the only region whose population as a whole will decrease. In the coming decades, there will be 100 million fewer Christians in Europe, from 553 million to 454 million. While remaining the largest religious group in Europe, Christians are projected to comprise not three-quarters of the population, as they do now, but less than two-thirds. It is expected that by 2050 almost a quarter of all Europeans (23%) will be religiously unaffiliated, and the number of Muslims in the region will increase from 5.9% in 2010 to 10%. During the same period, the number of Hindus in Europe will almost double, from just under 1.4 million (0.2% of Europe's population) to nearly 2.7% (0.4%), largely due to immigration. The same trend appears to be true for Buddhists, who are projected to increase from 1.4 million to 2.5 million.

In North America, Muslims and followers of "other religions" are the fastest growing groups. For example, in the US, the percentage of the population belonging to "other religions" is projected to more than double, albeit starting from a very small base - from 0.6% to 1.5%. The number of Christians is projected to decrease from 78% of the US population in 2010 to 66% in 2050, while the share of the religiously unaffiliated will increase from 16% to 26%. And it looks like there will be more Muslims (2.1%) than Jews (1.4%) in the US by mid-century.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Christianity will remain the largest religious group, covering 89% of the population in 2050, down slightly from 90% in 2010. The religiously unaffiliated population of Latin America is projected to grow both in absolute terms and as a percentage, from about 45 million or 8% in 2010 to 65 million or 9% in 2050.

Religious Majority Change

Some countries are predicted to have a change in religious majorities by 2050 from what they were in 2010. The number of Christian-majority countries should decrease from 159 to 151, due to the fact that the number of Christians will be less than 50% of the population, in Australia , Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Macedonia and the UK.

© AP Photo, Boris Grdanoski Wedding celebration in Macedonia

Muslims are expected to make up more than 50% of the population in 51 countries by 2050, two more than in 2010, as they become the religious majority in the Republic of Macedonia and Nigeria. But Nigeria's Christian population will also remain very large. What's more, by 2050 Nigerian Christians are predicted to be the third largest group of Christians in the world, after the United States and Brazil.

As of 2050, the largest religious group in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands should be the religiously unaffiliated.

About these predictions

Although many have made predictions about the future of religions, these are the first official demographic projections based on data on age, births, deaths, migrations and conversions for numerous religious groups around the world. Demographers from the Pew Research Center in Washington and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, collected input data from more than 2,500 surveys, surveys, and population registers—a work that took six years and is still incomplete.

These demographic projections cover eight major groups: Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians, folk believers, non-religious people, and people who are not religiously affiliated (see Appendix C: Definition of Religious Groups). Since censuses and surveys in many countries do not provide information on religious subgroups—such as Sunnis and Shiites in Islam, or Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox in Christianity—the forecasts treat religious groups as homogeneous. Data on the composition of the religiously unaffiliated group is also not available in many countries. As a result, it is not possible to model separate predictions for atheists or agnostics.

The forecasting model was developed in collaboration with researchers from the Age and Cohort Change project at IIASA, world leaders in demographic forecasting methodology. The model uses an improved version of the cohort-component method, which is commonly used by demographers to predict population growth. She starts with basic age groups, or cohorts, separated by gender and religious affiliation. For each cohort, a forecast is made by adding potential future adherents (immigrants and people who have adopted this religion as adults) and subtracting possible losses (death, emigration, people who leave this religion) year by year. The youngest cohorts, aged 0 to 4 years, are created on the basis of age categories for fertility for each female reproductive age group (15-49) and children are assigned to the mother's region. You can read more about this in the Methodology.

In the process of collecting input data and developing a predictive model, Pew Research Center published preliminary reports on the current size and geographic location of major religious groups, including Muslims (2009), Christians (2011) and data for several other faiths (2012). The original set of forecasts for one religious group, Muslims, was published in 2011, however, it did not take into account the change of faith.

Some social theorists have suggested that as countries develop economically, more of their inhabitants will refuse to identify themselves with a particular religion. Although this has been the main trend in some parts of the world, especially Europe, it is not yet clear if this pattern is universal. In any case, our projections are not based on a theory that links economic development to secularization.

Related Articles

Buddhists against Abramovich

Christianity, the religion of the few

Instead, these projections build on current recorded trends in religion change in those countries for which such information was available (70 countries in total). In addition, the projections reflect the UN's expectation that in countries with currently high fertility rates, fertility rates will gradually decline over the coming decades as women's education levels rise. Projections also suggest that life expectancy will gradually increase in most countries. These and other key inputs and assumptions are detailed in Chapter 1 and the Methodology (Appendix A).

Since forecasts of religious change have never been made on such a scale before, a few cautionary words must be said. Demographic projections are assumptions based on current population data and a preliminary estimate of demographic trends such as declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy in specific countries. Forecasts are what will happen if actual data and current trends continue. But many events—scientific discoveries, armed conflicts, social movements, political upheavals, and much, much more—can change demographic trends in unforeseen ways. That is why projections are limited to a period of 40 years, and in the subsequent chapters of this report we will try to give an idea of ​​how different the results could be if the key points were different.

For example, China's population of 1.3 billion people (as of 2010) has a very strong influence on global trends. At the moment, about 5% of the Chinese are Christians, and more than 50% are religiously unaffiliated. Since there are no reliable data on religious conversion in China, these projections do not include any assumptions about religious conversion in this most populous country in the world. But if Christianity spreads in China in the coming decades, as some experts predict, then by 2050 the total number of Christians on earth could be higher than predicted, and the decrease in the proportion of the religiously unaffiliated in the world could be even more significant (more on the possible impact of the process of change of faith for China, see Chapter 1).

As a final reminder, readers should keep in mind that within each major religious group there is a range of degrees of belief and observance. Predictions are based on the number of people who self-identify with a particular religious group, regardless of their level of compliance with the rules. Understanding what it means to be a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or any other faith can change from person to person, country to country, and decade to decade.

Words of gratitude

These demographic projections were made by the Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which is dedicated to analyzing religious change and its impact on society around the world. Funding for the project was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation.

Many members of the Religion & Public Life Project at the Pew Research Center have been involved in this hard work. Conrad Hackett was the lead researcher on the project and the main author of this report. Alan Cooperman became editor-in-chief. Anne Shi and Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa were the most significant contributors to data collection, storage and analysis. Bill Webster created the graphs, while Stacy Rosenberg and Ben Wormald oversaw the development of interactive data presentations and the Global Religious Futures website. Sandra Stencel, Greg Smith, Michael Lipka and Aleksandra Sandstrom assisted with editing. The report figures were verified by Shea, Esparanza Ochoa, Claire Gecewicz and Angelina Theodorou.

Several researchers from the Age and Cohort Change project at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis have collaborated on the projections, providing invaluable expertise in advanced (multi-component) demographic modeling and input data standardization. Marcin Stonawski wrote the groundbreaking software for these forecasts and led the data collection and analysis for Europe. Michaela Potančoková standardized fertility data. Vegard Skirbekk coordinated the MIASA research. Finally, Guy Abel of the Vienna Institute of Demography helped construct the country-level migration flow data used in these projections.

Over the past six years, some former Pew Research Center employees have also been instrumental in creating these demographic projections. Phillip Connor provided background information on migration, created descriptions of outcomes and modes of migration, and helped write sections for each religious group and geographic region. Noble Kuriakose was involved in almost all phases of the project and helped develop the demographics and methodology section. Former intern Joseph Naylor helped design the maps, and David McClendon, another former intern, contributed to research on global trends of religious change. The original concept for this study was developed by Luis Lugo, former Project Manager for Religion & Public Life at the Pew Research Center, with assistance from former Principal Scientist Brian J. Grim and Visiting Senior Scientist Mehtab Karim .

Other Pew Research Center staff members who provided editorial and scientific advice include Michael Dimock, Claudia Deane, Scott Keeter, Jeffrey S. Passel, and D'Vera Cohn (D "Vera Cohn). Communications was handled by Katherine Ritchey and Russ Oates.

We also received very helpful advice and feedback on parts of the report from Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt, political economists at the American Enterprise Institute; Roger Finke, Director of the Religion Data Archives Association and Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University; Carl Haub, Senior Demographer, Bureau of Population Information; Todd Johnson, world Christianity expert and director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon Conwell of Theological Seminary; Ariela Keysar, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College; Chaeyoon Lim, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Arland Thornton, Research Fellow, Center for Population Research, Michigan State University; Jenny Trinitapoli, Associate Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University; David Voas, Professor of Population Studies and Acting Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex; Robert Wuthnow, professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University; and Fenggang Yang, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University.

Because our consultants and experts led the data collection and methodology, Pew Research Center is solely responsible for interpreting and reporting the data.

Report guide

The remainder of the report goes into more detail about forecasts from different angles. The first chapter looks at the demographic factors that shape projections, including sections on fertility rates, life expectancy, age structure, religious change, and migration. The next chapter details the forecasts by religious group, separately for Christians, Muslims, religiously unaffiliated, Hindus, Buddhists, adherents of folk or traditional religions, and followers of "other religions" (considered as a collective group), and Jews. The final article provides detailed forecasts for geographic regions, namely Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

World experience in the spread of religions shows that the religious composition of the population is not static and is subject to significant and sometimes fundamental changes over time. This dynamics, according to religious scholars, is caused by a complex of reasons, and of a different nature: missionary activity, people's disillusionment with the confession they previously professed, migrations and conquests, differences in natural growth among various religious groups (due to their unequal attitude to childbearing, abortion, celibacy, etc.), religious persecution, etc.

According to Gallup International, an association of research companies, two-thirds (66%) of the world's inhabitants consider themselves religious people, regardless of whether they visit places of religious worship or not. A quarter of the respondents (25%), on the contrary, called themselves non-religious people. And only 6% said they were staunch atheists.

The strongest adherence to religion is on the African continent, where 9 out of 10 respondents identified themselves as religious (91%), in countries such as Nigeria and Ghana, this figure is 94% and 96%, respectively, and is the highest in the world. The least religious were the inhabitants of Ethiopia - 66% of respondents called themselves religious and 23% non-religious. 8 out of 10 Latin Americans (82%) also described themselves as religious people. The exceptions are Guatemala (64%) and Uruguay (54%). In the Middle East, 79% of the population is religious. In Turkey, 83% of the country's population is religious and only 1% are convinced atheists. The results of a survey of the Israeli population are somewhat out of the general Middle East picture - 52% consider themselves religious people, 33% called themselves non-religious, 11% are, according to them, convinced atheists. 7 out of 10 North Americans consider themselves religious (73%), a quarter - non-religious (25%) and only 1% called themselves atheists. In Canada, the proportion of the religious population is smaller - 58%, 33% are non-religious, and 6% are atheists.

The level of religiosity in Western Europe averages 60%. Greece is the most religious country among Western European countries (86%), while Norway is the least religious (36%). Although in most countries in this region the majority of the population is religious, in countries such as Norway, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the number of religious and non-religious residents is approximately the same.

In all Eastern and Central European countries, at least 6 out of 10 respondents are religious. The exception is the Czech Republic, where half of the population consider themselves non-religious (51%) and one-fifth (20%) are atheists. The highest rates of religiosity were found in Kosovo (86%), Macedonia, Poland and Romania (85% in all three countries).

The Asia-Pacific region can rightfully be called a region of contrasts. In several countries, such as the Philippines (90%) and India (87%), adherence to religion is very strong, while Thailand and Japan have the largest number of respondents who identify as non-religious (65% and 59% respectively). Hong Kong is the only country in the world where the share of convinced atheists exceeds half of the country's inhabitants - 54%. The data on the atheistic mood among the population of the planet Earth will also be interesting here. According to the American College Pitzer, the top ten atheistic countries included: Sweden (minimum 45%, maximum 85% of the inhabitants of this state are atheists), Vietnam (81%), Denmark (43-80%), Norway (31-72%), Japan (64 - 65%), Czech Republic (54 - 61%), Finland (28 - 60%), France (43 - 54%), South Korea (30 - 52%) and Estonia (49%). Russia in this list was in 12th place (24-48%), and the United States was not included in the list of the most atheistic states in the world. An important characteristic feature of the contemporary religious situation in the world is religious pluralism, the diversity of religions.

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, published in Great Britain, there are about 10,000 different religious movements in the world.

Fig.1

The largest but not dominant religion is Christianity (33.0% of the total population). One fifth of the world's population professes Islam (19.6% of the world's population). 13.4% profess Hinduism. 6.4% - Chinese ethnic religion. Buddhists represent 5.9%. Ethnic religions - 3.6%. New Asian religions - 1.7%. Outside of any religion are 12.7% of the world's population. Atheists - 2.5% of the world's population. Less than one percent are the following small religious groups Sikhists - 23 million people, about 0.3%. Judaists -14 million people, about 0.2%. Baha'is - 7 million people, about 0.1%.

It should be noted that there are a large number of religions and religious movements that differ from each other in terms of religious beliefs. But the total number of believers significantly exceeds the number of atheists, therefore religion regulates the life of a person and society as a whole. The development of atheism provokes the absence of common moral principles and attitudes, stereotypes of behavior, differentiates the worldview of people. The consequence of this action of atheism is the spread of conflicts.

Religion is a certain worldview, seeking to know the higher mind, which is the root cause of everything that exists. Any belief reveals to a person the meaning of life, his destiny in the world, helping to find a goal, and not an impersonal animal existence. There have always been and will be many different worldviews. Thanks to the eternal human search for the root cause, the religions of the world were formed, the list of which is classified according to two main criteria:

How many religions are there in the world?

Islam and Buddhism are recognized as the main world religions, each of which is divided into numerous large and small branches and sects. It is difficult to say how many religions, beliefs and beliefs there are in the world, due to the regular creation of new groups, but according to some information, there are thousands of religious movements at the present stage.

World religions are called so because they have gone far beyond the borders of the nation, the country, have spread to a huge number of nationalities. Non-worldly confessions within a smaller number of people. The basis of the monotheistic view is the belief in one God, while the pagan view suggests the presence of several deities.

The largest world religion that arose 2,000 years ago in Palestine. It has about 2.3 billion believers. In the 11th century there was a division into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and in the 16th century Protestantism also separated from Catholicism. These are three large branches, there are more than a thousand other small ones.

The main essence of Christianity and its distinctive features from other religions are as follows:

Orthodox Christianity has adhered to the tradition of faith since apostolic times. Its foundations were formulated by the Ecumenical Councils and dogmatically enshrined in the Creed. The teaching is based on Holy Scripture (mainly the New Testament) and Holy Tradition. Divine services are performed in four circles, depending on the main holiday - Easter:

• Daily.
• Seven.
• Movable annual.
• Fixed annual.

In Orthodoxy, there are seven main Sacraments:

• Baptism.
• Chrismation.
• Eucharist (Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ).
• Confession.
• Unction.
• Wedding.
• Priesthood.

In the Orthodox understanding, God is one in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The ruler of the world is interpreted not as an angry avenger for the misdeeds of people, but as a Loving Heavenly Father who takes care of his creation and bestows the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments.

Man is recognized as the image and likeness of God, with free will, but fallen into the abyss of sin. Those who wish to restore their former holiness, to get rid of passions, the Lord helps on this path.

Catholic teaching is a major trend in Christianity, spread mainly in Europe, Latin America and the United States. This creed has much in common with Orthodoxy in understanding God and the relationship between the Lord and man, but there are fundamental and important differences:

• the infallibility of the head of the church of the Pope;
• Holy Tradition is formed from 21 Ecumenical Councils (the first 7 are recognized in Orthodoxy);
• the distinction between the clergy and the laity: people in dignity are endowed with Divine Grace, they are assigned the role of shepherds, and the laity are herds;
• the doctrine of indulgence as a treasury of good deeds done by Christ and the Saints, and the Pope, as the vicar of the Savior on earth, distributes the forgiveness of sins to whom he wants and who needs it;
• adding your understanding to the dogma of the Holy Spirit emanating from the Father and the Son;
• introduction of dogmas on the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and Her bodily ascension;
• the doctrine of purgatory as the average state of the human soul, cleansed from sins as a result of severe trials.

And there are also differences in the understanding and performance of some Sacraments:

It arose as a result of the Reformation in Germany and spread throughout Western Europe as a protest and a desire to transform the Christian Church, getting rid of medieval ideas.

Protestants agree with Christian ideas about God as the Creator of the world, about human sinfulness, about the eternity of the soul and salvation. They share the understanding of hell and heaven, while rejecting the Catholic purgatory.

Distinctive features of Protestantism from Catholicism and Orthodoxy:

• minimizing church sacraments - until Baptism and Communion;
• there is no division into clergy and laity, every well-prepared person in matters of Holy Scripture can be a priest for himself and for others;
• worship is held in the native language, is based on joint prayer, reading psalms, sermons;
• there is no veneration of saints, icons, relics;
• monasticism and the hierarchical structure of the church are not recognized;
• salvation is understood only by faith, and good deeds will not help to be justified before God;
• recognition of the exclusive authority of the Bible, and each believer interprets the words of Scripture at his own discretion, the criterion is the point of view of the founder of the church organization.

The main directions of Protestantism: Quakers, Methodists, Mennonites, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons.

The youngest world monotheistic religion. The number of believers is about 1.5 billion people. The founder is the prophet Mohammed. Holy book - Koran. For Muslims, the main thing is to live according to the prescribed rules:

• pray five times a day;
• observe the fast of Ramadan;
• give alms 2.5% per year of income;
• make a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

Some researchers add the sixth duty of Muslims - jihad, manifested in the struggle for faith, zeal, diligence. There are five types of jihad:

• inner self-perfection on the way to God;
• armed struggle against unbelievers;
• struggle with your passions;
• separation of good and evil;
• taking action against criminals.

Currently, extremist groups use the jihad of the sword as an ideology to justify their bloody activities.

A world pagan religion that denies the existence of a Deity. Founded in India by Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Briefly boils down to the teaching of the four noble truths:

1. All human life is suffering.
2. Desire is the cause of suffering.
3. To conquer suffering, one must get rid of desire with the help of a specific state - nirvana.
4. To free yourself from desire, you need to follow eight basic rules.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, to acquire a calm state and intuition, to clear the mind will help:

• a correct understanding of the world as a lot of suffering and sorrow;
• gaining a firm intention to curtail your wishes and aspirations;
• control of speech, which should be friendly;
• performing virtuous deeds;
• trying not to harm living beings;
• the expulsion of evil thoughts and the mood for good ones;
• the realization that human flesh is evil;
• perseverance and patience in achieving the goal.

The main branches of Buddhism are Hinayana and Mahayana. Along with it, there are other religions in India, spread to varying degrees: Hinduism, Vedism, Brahminism, Jainism, Shaivism.

What is the oldest religion in the world?

The ancient world was characterized by polytheism (polytheism). For example, the Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman religions, druidism, asatru, Zoroastrianism.

Judaism is considered one of the ancient monotheistic beliefs - the national religion of the Jews, based on the 10 commandments given to Moses. The main book is the Old Testament.

Judaism has several branches:

• Litvaks;
• Hasidism;
• Zionism;
• orthodox modernism.

There are also different types of Judaism: Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Humanist and Renovationist.

Today it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question "What is the oldest religion in the world?", as archaeologists regularly find new data to confirm the emergence of different worldviews. We can say that beliefs in the supernatural have been inherent in mankind at all times.

The huge variety of worldviews and philosophical beliefs since the emergence of mankind does not make it possible to list all the religions of the world, the list of which is regularly updated with both new currents and branches from existing world and other beliefs.