Major religious groups

{{Further|List of religious populations}}

{{Main category|Religious demographics}}

File:Prevailing religious population by country percentage.svg

One way to define a major religion is by the number of current adherents. The population numbers by religion are computed by a combination of census reports and population surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example the United States or France), but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count.

There is no consensus among researchers as to the best methodology for determining the religiosity profile of the world's population. A number of fundamental aspects are unresolved:

• Whether to count "historically predominant religious culture[s]"{{Cite book |last1=Pippa Norris |url=http://www.cambridge.org/9780521839846 |title=Sacred and Secular, Religion and Politics Worldwide |last2=Ronald Inglehart |date=2007-01-06 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=43–44 |access-date=2006-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183400/https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/sacred-and-secular-religion-and-politics-worldwide-2nd-edition?format=HB&isbn=9781107648371 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}}
• Whether to count only those who actively "practice" a particular religion{{Cite web |last=Pew Research Center |date=2002-12-19 |title=Among Wealthy Nations U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=167 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822083255/http://pewglobal.org/2002/12/19/among-wealthy-nations/ |archive-date=22 August 2011 |access-date=2006-10-12 |publisher=Pew Research Center}}
• Whether to count based on a concept of "self-identification as adherents"{{Cite web |last=adherents.com |date=2005-08-28 |title=Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents |url=http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615140203/http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html |archive-date=15 June 2008 |access-date=2006-10-12 |publisher=adherents.com}}
• Whether to count only those who expressly self-identify with a particular denomination{{Cite web |last=worldvaluessurvey.org |date=2005-06-28 |title=World Values Survey |url=http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414075015/http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/ |archive-date=14 April 2014 |access-date=2006-10-12 |publisher=worldvaluessurvey.org}}
• Whether to count only adults, or to include children as well
• Whether to rely on official government-provided statistics{{Cite web |last=unstats.un.org |date=2007-01-06 |title=United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/popchar/popcharMeta.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110203016/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Demographic/sconcerns/popchar/popcharMeta.aspx |archive-date=10 January 2007 |access-date=2007-01-06 |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division}}{{not in citation given |date=December 2024}}
• Whether to use multiple sources and ranges or single "best source(s)"

{{Further|Religions by country}}

• Religions by country according to The World Factbook – CIA{{Cite web |title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212175800/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html |archive-date=12 December 2016 |access-date=2016-11-08 |website=www.cia.gov}}
• Religion by region
• Religion in Africa
• Religion in Antarctica
• Religion in Asia
• Religion in the Middle East
• Muslim world (SW Asia and N Africa)
• Religion in Europe
• Religion in the European Union
• Christian world
• Religion in North America
• Religion in Oceania
• Religion in South America

{{Further|Growth of religion}}

{{Gallery

|width=220

|height=120

|align=center

|File:Worldwide Importance of Religion, 2015.svg|alt1=|Map showing self-reported religiosity by country. Based on a 2015 worldwide survey by Pew.

|File:Irreligion statistics by country.png|alt2=|World map showing the percentages of people who regard religion as "non-important" according to a 2002 Pew survey

|File:Abraham Dharma.png|alt5=|Map showing the prevalence of "Abrahamic religion" (purple), and "Indian religion" (yellow) religions in each country|File:Christ Islam.png|alt6=|Map showing the relative proportion of Christianity (red) and Islam (green) in each country as of 2006

|File:Religions in the world by regions.png|alt7=|Distribution of world religions by country/state, and by smaller administrative regions for the largest countries (2012 data):{{Legend|Magenta|% Christian population}} {{legend|Cyan|% Islam population}} {{legend|Yellow|% all other religions but Judaism
(equal parts cyan/magenta - Judaism)}}

}}

{{Further|Comparative religion|Sociological classifications of religious movements}}

{{More citations needed section|date=May 2014}}

Religious traditions fall into super-groups in comparative religion, arranged by historical origin and mutual influence. Abrahamic religions originate in the Middle East,{{Cite book |last1=Salem |first1=Mohamed Omar |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/spirituality-and-psychiatry/DA5475A8B3957E3284F8951CDB8E4781/listing |title=Spirituality and psychiatry |last2=Foskett |first2=John |date=January 2018 |publisher=Royal College of Psychiatrists |isbn=9781108609074 |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Chris |location=Cambridge |page=236 |chapter=Religion and religious experiences |access-date=2023-10-03 |orig-date=Published in print in 2009 |editor-last2=Powell |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Sims |editor-first3=Andrew}}{{Cite web |title=Abraham, Father of the Middle East |url=http://www.dangoor.com/74064.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316013146/http://www.dangoor.com/74064.html |archive-date=16 March 2016 |access-date=2016-11-08 |website=www.dangoor.com}} Indian religions in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) and East Asian religions in East Asia.{{Cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&q=East+Asian+religions&pg=PA216 |title=World Religions in America, Fourth Edition: An Introduction |date=2009-10-07 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=9781611640472 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183342/https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&q=East+Asian+religions&pg=PA216 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}} Another group with supra-regional influence are Afro-American religion,{{Cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&q=+African+american+religion&pg=PA216 |title=World Religions in America, Fourth Edition: An Introduction |date=2009-10-07 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=9781611640472 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183355/https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&q=+African+american+religion&pg=PA216 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}} which have their origins in Central and West Africa.

• Middle Eastern religions:{{Cite web |title=Classification of religions |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/classification-of-religions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214003036/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38030/classification-of-religions |archive-date=14 December 2007 |access-date=22 May 2020 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}
• Abrahamic religions are the largest group, and these consist mainly of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. They are named for the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, and are unified by the practice of monotheism. Today, at least 3.8 billion people are followers of Abrahamic religions{{Cite web |last1=Statistician |first1=Howard Steven Friedman |last2=Teacher |first2=health economist for the United Nations |last3=University |first3=Columbia |date=2011-04-25 |title=5 Religions with the Most Followers |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/5-religions-with-the-most_b_853000.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208123701/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/5-religions-with-the-most_b_853000.html |archive-date=8 December 2016 |access-date=2016-11-08 |website=The Huffington Post}} and are spread widely around the world apart from the regions around East and Southeast Asia. Several Abrahamic organizations are vigorous proselytizers.{{Cite book |last=Brodd |first=Jeffrey |title=World Religions |publisher=Saint Mary's Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-88489-725-5 |location=Winona, Minnesota}} Abrahamic religions with fewer adherents include the Baháʼí Faith, the Druze faith, Samaritanism, and Rastafari.{{Cite web |last=Abulafia |first=Anna Sapir |author-link=Anna Abulafia |date=23 September 2019 |title=The Abrahamic religions |url=https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/the-abrahamic-religions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712150432/https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/the-abrahamic-religions |archive-date=12 July 2020 |access-date=9 March 2021 |website=www.bl.uk |publisher=British Library |location=London}}
• Iranian religions, partly of Indo-European origins,{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007}} include Zoroastrianism, Yazdânism, Uatsdin, Yarsanism, Manichaeism, and Yazidism.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=YAZIDIS i. GENERAL |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |publisher=Columbia University |location=New York |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1 |access-date=9 January 2022 |last=Allison |first=Christine |date=20 September 2016 |orig-date=20 July 2004 |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_1252 |issn=2330-4804 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117105537/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1 |archive-date=17 November 2016 |url-status=live |doi-access=free}}
• Gnosticism, including historical traditions of Mandaeism, which is still alive in the Middle East and diaspora.{{Cite web |last=Sly |first=Liz |date=16 November 2008 |title='This is one of the world's oldest religions, and it is going to die.' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-11-16-0811160073-story.html |access-date=5 November 2021 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}
• Eastern religions:
• Indian religions, originated in Greater India and they tend to share a number of key concepts, such as dharma, karma, reincarnation among others. They are of the most influence across the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, Southeast Asia, as well as isolated parts of Russia. The main Indian religions are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
• East Asian religions consist of several East Asian religions which make use of the concept of Tao (in Chinese), Đạo (in Vietnamese) or Dō (in Japanese or Korean). They include many Chinese folk religions, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese religions, which are influenced by Chinese religious thought.
• Indigenous ethnic religions, found on every continent, now marginalized by the major organized faiths in many parts of the world or persisting as undercurrents (folk religions) of major religions. Includes traditional African religions, Asian shamanism, Native American religions, Austronesian and Australian Aboriginal traditions, Chinese folk religions, and postwar Shinto. Under more traditional listings, this has been referred to as "paganism" along with historical polytheism.
• African religions:
• The religions of the tribal peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, but excluding ancient Egyptian religion, which is considered to belong to the ancient Middle East;
• African diasporic religions practiced in the Americas, imported as a result of the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 18th centuries, building on traditional religions of Central and West Africa.
• New religious movement is the term applied to any religious faith which has emerged since the 19th century, often syncretizing, re-interpreting or reviving aspects of older traditions such as Ayyavazhi, Mormonism, Ahmadiyya, Jehovah's Witnesses, polytheistic reconstructionism, and so forth.

{{globalize|date=March 2020}}

File:Civilization and religion map 1821.jpg

File:1883 religions map.jpg]]

Initially, Christians had a simple dichotomy of world beliefs: Christian civility versus foreign heresy or barbarity. In the 18th century, "heresy" was clarified to mean Judaism and Islam;{{Cite book |last1=Glaser |first1=Daryl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwuUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |title=Twentieth-Century Marxism: A Global Introduction |last2=Walker |first2=David M. |date=2007-09-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135979744 |language=en |access-date=8 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217033701/https://books.google.com/books?id=MwuUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |archive-date=17 December 2019 |url-status=live}} along with paganism, this created a fourfold classification which spawned such works as John Toland's Nazarenus, or Jewish, Gentile, and Mahometan Christianity,{{Cite book |last1=Toland |first1=John |url=https://archive.org/details/nazarenusorjewis00tola |title=Nazarenus, or, Jewish, gentile, and Mahometan Christianity : containing the history of the antient Gospel of Barnabas, and the modern Gospel of the Mahometans ... also the original plan of Christianity explain'd in the history of the Nazarens ... with the relation of an Irish manuscript of the four Gospels, as likewise a summary of the antient Irish Christianity |last2=La Monnoye |first2=Bernard de |date=1718-01-01 |publisher=London : J. Brotherton, J. Roberts and A. Dodd}} which represented the three Abrahamic religions as different "nations" or sects within religion itself, the "true monotheism."

Daniel Defoe described the original definition as follows: "Religion is properly the Worship given to God, but 'tis also applied to the Worship of Idols and false Deities."{{Cite book |last=Masuzawa |first=Tomoko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=Religion+is+properly+the+Worship+given+to+God%2C+but+%27tis+also+applied+to+the+Worship+of+Idols+and+false+Deities&pg=PA60 |title=The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism |date=2012-04-26 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226922621 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183415/https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=Religion+is+properly+the+Worship+given+to+God%2C+but+%27tis+also+applied+to+the+Worship+of+Idols+and+false+Deities&pg=PA60 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}} At the turn of the 19th century, in between 1780 and 1810, the language dramatically changed: instead of "religion" being synonymous with spirituality, authors began using the plural, "religions", to refer to both Christianity and other forms of worship. Therefore, Hannah Adams's early encyclopedia, for example, had its name changed from An Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects... to A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations.{{sfn|Masuzawa|2005|pp=49–61}}{{Cite book |last=Masuzawa |first=Tomoko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=hannah+adams&pg=PA60 |title=The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism |date=2012-04-26 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226922621 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183342/https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=hannah+adams&pg=PA60 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}}

In 1838, the four-way division of Christianity, Judaism, Mahommedanism (archaic terminology for Islam) and paganism was multiplied considerably by Josiah Conder's Analytical and Comparative View of All Religions Now Extant among Mankind. Conder's work still adhered to the four-way classification, but in his eye for detail he puts together much historical work to create something resembling the modern Western image: he includes Druze, Yazidis, Mandaeans, and Elamites{{Clarify|date=April 2012|reason=What does he mean by that? In modern usage, the Elamites are an ancient people.}}{{Cite book |last=Masuzawa |first=Tomoko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=+Josiah+Conder%27s+Analytical+and+Comparative+View+of+All+Religions+Now+Extant+among+Mankind&pg=PA60 |title=The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism |date=2012-04-26 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226922621 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183348/https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=+Josiah+Conder%27s+Analytical+and+Comparative+View+of+All+Religions+Now+Extant+among+Mankind&pg=PA60 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}} under a list of possibly monotheistic groups, and under the final category, of "polytheism and pantheism", he listed Zoroastrianism, "Vedas, Puranas, Tantras, Reformed sects" of India as well as "Brahminical idolatry", Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Lamaism, "religion of China and Japan", and "illiterate superstitions" as others.{{sfn|Masuzawa|2005|pp=65–66}}{{Cite book |last=Masuzawa |first=Tomoko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=+Josiah+Conder+illiterate+superstitions&pg=PA60 |title=The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism |date=2012-04-26 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226922621 |language=en |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183359/https://books.google.com/books?id=Quu3VvTFnnAC&q=+Josiah+Conder+illiterate+superstitions&pg=PA60 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live}}

The modern meaning of the phrase "world religion", putting non-Christians at the same level as Christians, began with the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago. The Parliament spurred the creation of a dozen privately funded lectures with the intent of informing people of the diversity of religious experience: these lectures funded researchers such as William James, D. T. Suzuki, and Alan Watts, who greatly influenced the public conception of world religions.{{sfn|Masuzawa|2005|pp=270–281}}

In the latter half of the 20th century, the category of "world religion" fell into serious question, especially for drawing parallels between vastly different cultures, and thereby creating an arbitrary separation between the religious and the secular.{{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Stephen R. L. |date=1990 |title=World Religions and World Orders |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20019386 |journal=Religious studies |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=43–57 |doi=10.1017/S0034412500020199 |jstor=20019386 |s2cid=170963021 |issn=0034-4125}}

In Islam, the Quran mentions three categories: Muslims, the People of the Book, and idol worshipers.

{{portal|border=no|Religion|World}}

• Irreligion
• List of religions and spiritual traditions
• List of religious populations
• World religions
• Numinous
• Religious conversion
• State religion

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Anthony |first=David W. |title=The Horse, the Wheel and Language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian Steppes shaped the modern world |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2007}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url={{Google books|IDsk47MeksAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |editor-last=Doniger |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy Doniger |isbn=978-1593392666}}
• {{Cite book |last=Samuel |first=Geoffrey |title=The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |author-link=Geoffrey Samuel}}
• {{Cite book |last=Voorst |first=Robert E. Van |url={{Google books|mD8aCgAAQBAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |title=RELG: World |date=2014 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-43468-1 |edition=2 |author-link=Robert E. Van Voorst}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url={{Google books|id=IDsk47MeksAC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |editor-last=Doniger |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy Doniger |isbn=978-1593392666 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2012 |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Los Angeles |url={{Google books|id=B105DQAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |editor-last=Juergensmeyer |editor-first=Mark |editor-link=Mark Juergensmeyer |volume=1 |isbn=978-0-7619-2729-7 |ref=none |editor-surname2=Roof |editor-given2=Wade Clark}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1999 |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |publisher=Merriam-Webster |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |url={{Google books|id=ZP_f9icf2roC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=0-87779-044-2 |ref=none}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/civilisations/index.shtml Animated history of World Religions]—from the "Religion & Ethics" part of the BBC website, interactive animated view of the spread of world religions (requires Flash plug-in).
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ BBC A-Z of Religions and Beliefs]
• [http://greenmangos.net/Beliefs-And-Ideas/world-religions.aspx Major World Religions]
• [http://www.icirc.org International Council for Inter-Religious Cooperation]

{{Religion topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Major Religious Groups}}

Category:Religion-related lists

Category:Religious demographics

eo:Religio#Listo de religioj laŭ grandeco