1. Chapter 6 Key Issue 1 Where Are the World’s Religions Distributed?

2. Big Question
Describe the distribution of the world’s 4 largest religions.
Describe the distribution of ethnic religions other than Hinduism.

3. Key Terms Congregations Denominations Branches
Chinese Traditional Ethnic Religions
Syncretic
Confucianism
Taoism
Primal-Indigenous Ethnic Religions
Shamanists
African Traditional Folk Religions
Animism

4. Global Distribution of Religions
It appears simple to figure out the global distribution of religions
Christianity in the Americas, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa
Islam in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia
Hinduism is India
Buddhism in Southeast Asia
Judaism in Israel
No religious affiliation in China

5. Global Distribution of Religions
The difficulty comes when looking at distribution on a regional or local scale or when dividing religions into branches
Many of the world’s people actually live in countries where their religion is the minority faith

6. Global Distribution of Religions
The areas of the world with the most religious diversity include
East Asia (50% no affiliation 50% Buddhist or folk religions)
South Asia (67% Hindu and 33% Muslim)
Southeast Asia (40% Muslim, 24% Buddhist, 21% Christian)
Sub-Saharan Africa (67% Christian 33% Muslim)

7. Distribution of Christians
Many religions are divided into congregations, denominations, and branches
Christianity has three major branches: Roman Catholic (50%), Protestant (38%), and Orthodox (12%)
Europe’s Christians are divided with 47% that are Catholic, 18% are Protestant, and 35% are Orthodox (see figure 6-6 on page 188 for branches of Christianity map) and some countries are split between branches

8. Distribution of Christians
The Western Hemisphere is 86% Christian with Latin America being 81% Catholic and North America being 63% Protestant
The religious in the U.S. are split into multiple divisions including 29% Roman Catholics, 26% Evangelical Protestant (Southern Baptist, Pentecostal), 18% Mainline Protestants (Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc.), 7% Black Protestant, 3% other Christian, and 5% other faiths
The distribution of these denominations do follow some geographic pattern…see figure 6-7 on page 189 for distribution of Christian denomination in U.S.

9. Distribution of Muslims
Islam is the major religion of Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and North Africa but most of the world’s followers of Islam live in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia
Islam is Arabic for “submission to the will of God” and “peace” and those who follow Islam are known as a Muslim, which means “one who surrenders to God” in Arabic

10. Distribution of Muslims
Islam is divided into two main branches: Sunni (88%) and Shiite (11%)…see figure 6-10 on page 191 for distribution of branches of Islam
Europe and North America have seen a rapid increase in recent years numbering 4 million in France, 3 million in Germany, and 1-5 million in the U.S.

11. Distribution of Buddhists
Buddhism is the third largest universalizing religion, distributed primarily in East and Southeast Asia
Buddhism is split into three main branches: Mahayana (56%), Theraveda (38%), and Vajrayana (6%)…see figure 6-11 on page 191 for distribution of branches of Buddhism

12. Distribution of Buddhists
Buddhists are difficult to count because they don’t follow formal Buddhist institutions and unlike Christians and Muslims who follow only that faith, many Buddhists follow other traditional religions as well

13. Distribution of Ethnic Religions
Ethnic religions are usually more geographically clustered in one area than are universalizing religions and they also stay within the culture where they originate
Hinduism is the largest ethnic religion with 1 billion adherents and 97% of them living in India
Hindus are polytheistic but usually have allegiance to a particular God, Vishnu (Krishna), Shiva, Brahma, etc.

14. Distribution of Ethnic Religions
Chinese traditional ethnic religions are known as syncretic meaning they combine several traditions
Chinese usually combine Buddhism with Confucianism or Taoism

15. Distribution of Ethnic Religions
Primal-Indigenous Ethnic Religions include 300 hundred million people living mostly in Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, Myanmar…see figure 6-14 on page 193 for distribution of Primal-Indigenous religions in Southeast Asia
Followers of Primal-Indigenous religions are often known as Shamanists and believe that God dwells within all things and that everything is spiritual

16. Distribution of Ethnic Religions
African Traditional Folk Religions are sometimes called animism and account for 27 million Africans (2% of the continent)
According to animism, inanimate objects such as plants, stones, thunderstorms and earthquakes are animated and have spirits and a conscious
Africa has changed dramatically since 1900 when 70% of the continent followed African traditional folk religions but Islam and Christianity have pushed animists to a narrow belt in Central and Eastern Africa

17. Distribution of Other Religions
Many other religions are highly clustered into one or two countries
Pages and figure 6-16 shows the distribution of ten religions with under 25 million adherents. These ten include Sikhism, Juche, Spiritism, Judaism, Bahá’i, Tenrikyo, Jainism, Shinto, Cao Dai, Zoroastrianism

18. Big Question & Key Terms
Describe the distribution of the world’s 4 largest religions.
Describe the distribution of ethnic religions other than Hinduism.
Congregations
Denominations
Branches
Chinese Traditional Ethnic Religions
Syncretic
Confucianism
Taoism
Primal-Indigenous Ethnic Religions
Shamanists
African Traditional Folk Religions
Animism