Religion
What is Religion?
A definition of the word Religion: From Latin religi?, meaning “moral obligation” and “worship”.
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A system of beliefs, including belief in the existence of at least one of the following: a human soul or spirit, a deity or higher being, or self after the death of one?s body. “He couldn?t abide by any religion that didn?t allow for wrongdoers to be punished after death”.
- A number of customs and rituals associated with such beliefs. “When it comes to religion, she doesn?t believe, but she loves to attend the ceremonies.”
- Anything that involves the association of people in a manner resembling a religious institution or cult. “At this point, Star Trek has really become a religion.”
- Any system or institution which one engages with in order to foster a sense of meaning or relevance in relation to something greater than oneself.
| # | Religion | Number of Adherents | Remarks |
| 1 | Christianity | 1.9 billion | Has the most followers and most widespread presence of all well-recognized religions. Predominant religion in Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa, Oceania, and the Philippines. |
| 2 | Islam | 1.1 billion | A widespread religion with many countries majority Muslim, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, West Africa and some parts of Eastern Europe. |
| 3 | Hinduism | 781 million | Umbrella term for various Hindu denominations forming the majority in India, Nepal, North Eastern province of Sri Lanka, and the Bali & Java sub-province of Indonesia, parts of Latin America, Eastern Africa, Australia, USA and UK. |
| 4 | Buddhism | 324 million | Largely in East Asia and the Mainland Southeast Asia, and small parts of South Asia and Russia. |
| 5 | Sikhism | 25 million | Mostly in the Indian Punjab; also large numbers in other parts of India and the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Germany and East Africa [2]. |
| 6 | Judaism | 14 million | A widespread religion with a majority in Israel; large populations in North America, Western Europe, and South America. |
| 7 | Bah?’? Faith | 6.1 million | Youngest of the group of 10, second most widely dispersed religion after Christianity; fastest growing (percentage) of top 10. |
| 8 | Confucianism | 5.3 million | Mostly in China proper; and in Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam. |
| 9 | Jainism | 4.9 million | Mostly in India. |
| 10 | Shinto | 2.8 million | Mostly in (and formerly the state religion of) Japan. |
The world’s principal religions and spiritual traditions may be classified into a small number of major groups or world religions: the vast majority of religious and spiritual adherents follow one of Christianity (33% of world population), Islam (20%), Hinduism (13%), Chinese folk religion (6%) or Buddhism (5%).
Conversely, the major spiritual traditions may be parsed into denominations:
- Christianity into Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Nestorianism (see Christian denominations)
- Islam into Sunnism,Shi’ism, Sufism and Kharijites
- Hinduism into Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Smartha and others (see Hindu denominations)
- Buddhism into Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana
About 4% of world population follow indigenous tribal religions. About 12% of world population are irreligious (athiest or non religious).
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