Mapping world religions and religiosity

Danny Dorling

The University Arms

Sheffield, 6th October 2010Thanks to John Pritchard for a lot of work on the data and Benjamin Hennig for creating the online version of this talk

See this and many other talks as full multimedia versions at http://sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/presentations/

In 2009 with Mark Newman and Anna Barford I published a new world atlas and this month a revised edition is being released containing several religious maps (more are on our website).

The obvious point the maps make is that what you happen to believe can depend as much on where you were born as what you think matters in the world.

The maps are based on data from many sources which add up to when the population of the world was 6.2 billion. In 2010 around 6.8 billion people live in

the world, so you need to add about 10% to all the numbers shown from here on. All sources of data and further notes are at www.worldmapper.org

This first map is of the distribution of all people alive in the world

You’ll need to try to memorise this distribution if you are to understand the 16 maps which follow. The colours of each country never change.

These maps appear in “The Atlas of the Real World, Mapping the way we live, revised and expanded edition, London: Thames and Hudson (2010).

367 Sunni Muslims: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to the Sunni denomination of Islam. Sunni Muslim adherents account for two thirds of the population in Northern Africa, 35% in the Middle East, 30%

in Asia Pacific, 25% in both Southern Asia and Eastern Europe (including Turkey), and 22% in East and South Africa.

Just over a billion people are believed to be adherents (i.e., practicing followers) of the main Sunni denomination of the religion of Islam.

368 Shia Muslims The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to the Shia denomination of Islam. Shia Muslims constitute a quarter of the population

of the Middle East, but no more than 6% in any other region. Just over half of all Shia Muslims in the Middle East live in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Shia Muslims

comprises some 15% of Muslims worldwide. Other groups are much smaller.

Shia Muslims differ from Sunni Muslims in also following the religious guidance of Muhammad’s family, who are referred to as the Ahl al-Bayt, and certain of his descendants, known as Shi'a Imams.

369 Catholic Christians. The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to the Catholic denomination of Christianity.

Just under a billion people are believed to be adherents of the main Catholic denomination of the religion of Christianity, a half of them

living in the Americas.

Catholic Christians account for some 80% of the population in South America, 60% in Central Africa, 55% in North America, 50% in Western Europe, and 28% in Eastern Europe.

370 Protestant Christians: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to the Protestant denominations of Christianity.

Over 430 million people are believed to be adherents of the various Protestant denominations of Christianity. These denominations include Anglicans,

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lutherans, Mormons and Quakers.

Almost a third of the populations of Central, South and Eastern Africa adhere to various Protestant Christian religions as well as a quarter of the populations of Western Europe and North America.

371 Orthodox Christians: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to the Orthodox denominations of Christianity.

Around 230 million people are recorded as being adherents of the various Orthodox denominations that separated in the 11th century from what later

became the Catholic Church.

This map includes adherents of both of the main denominations of Orthodox Christianity, the Eastern (Chalcedonian) and Oriental denominations, as well as smaller denominations such as Nestorianism.

372 Adherents to Judaism: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to Judaism. There are just over 14 million adherents to the Jewish

faith, a religion originating with the Israelites of the ancient Middle East.

Judaism is the oldest of the Abrahamic religions, which also include Christianity and Islam.

The highest proportion of Jewish adherents today is found in Israel (71%), followed by the Gaza Strip and West Bank (12%, all in the West Bank). Just two percent of the population of North America and one percent of the population of the Middle East adhere to Judaism.

373 Hindus: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents of Hinduism. There are over 820 million adherents of Hinduism, almost all of them in

India or Nepal. Hinduism as a conglomeration is the world's third-largest religion after Christianity and Islam, and the largest of the Dharmic religions, which originated in the Indian

subcontinent and also include Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Almost 60% of the population of South Asia adhere to Hinduism, but no morethan two percent of the population of any other region. After India andNepal, the largest numbers of Hindu adherents live in Bangladesh, thenIndonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, the United States, and South Africa.

374 Buddhists: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents ofBuddhism. Around 370 million people are adherents to various Buddhist

traditions, collectively the fourth largest religion in the world.There are, however, many variations in teaching within Buddhism. Buddhism began with the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha) around 2500

years ago.

Some 55% of people in Japan, 26% in Asia Pacific and 8% in East Asia areadherents of Buddhist traditions. The largest number of Buddhists is foundin China (107 million), followed by Japan (70 million), Thailand (52 million), Viet Nam (39 million), Myanmar (36 million) and Sri Lanka (13 million).

375 Sikhs: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents ofSikhism. There are estimated to be about 24 million adherents of Sikhism, 95% of whom live in India, although constituting only two percent of the Indian population.

Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

Of the relatively small number of Sikhs not living in India, just over a quarter live in the United Kingdom, just under a quarter in Canada and about a fifth in the United States.

376 Jains: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents of Jainism. There are about 5.5 million adherents of Jainism in the world, 98% of them in India. Jains follow one of the oldest of the world's religions, based on the teachings of the

24 Jinas (conquerors), also known as Tirthankaras. The 23rd Tirthankar is the earliest who can be dated and lived about 3000 years ago.

Outside of India the largest groups of Jains are found in Kenya (61thousand), Tanzania (8 thousand), the United States (7 thousand), Nepal (6 thousand), Myanmar (3 thousand) and Uganda (2 thousand).

377 Taoic Religions: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to various Taoic religions. About 390 million people are adherents of the various Taoic religions, including Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism itself and Chinese

Universalism.

Nine out of every ten adherents to Taoic religions live in China.

Taoism itself was founded by Lao-Tse, a contemporary of Confucius, and is most common in Taiwan. Confucianism is concentrated in China, as is Chinese Universalism, which has by far the most adherents (380 million). This map also includes the 2.8 million adherents of Shintoism, most of whom live in Japan.

378 Baha'i: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents of the Baha'I religion. There are just over 7 million adherents of the Baha'i faith

worldwide. Baha'i is one of the youngest of the world's major religions, founded in 19th century Persia (now Iran) by Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892). Baha'I teachings include abandoning all prejudice, eliminating extremes of poverty and wealth,

and realizing universal education.

By region the Baha'i faith is most popular in Central Africa where 0.5% of the population are adherents. By country, however, the largest numbers of followers are found in India (1.8 million), the United States (800,000), Iran (400,000), and Viet Nam (350,000). Overall the Baha'i religion is one of the most evenly distributed worldwide.

379 Pagans: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents to various pagan religions. There are thought to be about 240 million people

worldwide who adhere to various pagan religions, including animists, spirit-worshippers, ancestor-worshippers, shamanists, polytheists, pantheists, cargo cults, and tribal messianic movements. Many of these religions are confined to

a single tribe or people. Virtually all pagans live in Africa and Asia.

Pagans constitute one in seven people in South and East Africa, one in nine in Northern Africa, one in eighteen in Central Africa. “There is a respect for all of life and usually a desire to participate with rather than to dominate other beings.” Prudence Jones, The Pagan Federation (at some point in the 2000s)

380 Spiritualists: The size of each territory indicates the number of adherents of Spiritualism. Spiritualism has some 13 million adherents. Spiritualism is a philosophical doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century

based on a series of books written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail (1804-1869) under the pseudonym Allan Kardec.

On the lid of Rivail's burial chamber in Paris is written “Naitre, mourir, renaitreencore et progresse sans cesse, telle est la loi” "To be born, die, still to reappear and progress unceasingly, such is the law." Tombstone of Allan Kardec, 1869

381 Agnostics: The size of each territory indicates the number of people living there who are believed to be agnostic as concerns religion. Some 770 million

people are thought to be agnostics. Agnosticism is not a religion. Agnostics are people who believe either that it is not possible to have certain knowledge of the existence of a god or gods, or alternatively that while individual certainty may be possible, they personally have no such certainty (or just can’t decide either way).

Agnostics do not deny the possibility of the existence of a god or gods but are not themselves adherents of any faith. The most agnostics live in China (540 million), the United States (28 million), Russia (26 million), then Germany (15 million), and then Japan (13 million).

382 Atheists: The size of each territory indicates the number of people living there who are believed to be atheistic as concerns religion. Some 150 million

people worldwide are thought to be atheists, with almost three quarters of them living in East Asia. Atheism is not a religion but an absence of belief in the

existence of a god or gods, or a dismissal of such beliefs as illogical.

There are many different kinds of atheism. Indeed some religions do not advocate belief in any god and their followers could therefore be considered atheists. Some forms of Buddhism, for example, are sometimes classified as atheistic (but not here).

Conclusion: Beliefs and booksThere are many great books and interesting beliefs, and many ways of thinking

about the world are worth studying, although clearly most are incompatible.

It can be great to read books you don’t agree with, even ones with the most unfortunate of alternative titles, such as “…The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life” or those with uninviting subtitles, such as: “Kritik der politischen Ökonomie ” (but you don’t have to read in the original language, often the cartoon versions of some of these tombes are better!)

But one great writer, Hannah Arendt, said: the danger comes when that reading is accompanied by a “…total absence of thinking … the refusal to read, to think critically or deeply, the rejection of all but one or one kind of book”*

*Goldberg, D. T. (2009). The Threat of Race: Reflections on racial neoliberalism. Oxford, Blackwell. (page 373), referring to Hannah Arendt’s description of the thoughtless man, that “greatest danger to humankind”, she in turn, among many books was referring to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Now available on Kindle! It is worth looking at the reviews for what they say about just how bad Hitler’s writing was. The Book that could have been called “The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life” was the alterative title of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie was the subtitle to Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, also available in Kindle!).

The religious beliefs I have most trouble with concern faith in free market economics and the god of equilibriums, as yet we cannot map those adherents.

for more maps of much else see www.worldmapper.org

See this and many other talks as full multimedia versions at http://sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/presentations/