CHAPTER 6 KEY ISSUE 1 Where Are Religions

CHAPTER 6 KEY ISSUE 1 Where Are Religions Distributed?

Geographers distinguish two types of religions

1. ) UNIVERSALIZING religions that attempt to be GLOBAL by appealing to all people, not just those in a particular location.

• 58% of the world’s population practices a universalizing religion.

The LARGEST THREE Universalizing religions are- Christianity – 2. 1 billion adherents Islam – 1. 5 billion adherents Buddhism – 376 million adherents

2. ) Ethnic religions appeal primarily to one group of people living in one place.

• 26% of world’s population practices an ETHNIC religion.

The LARGEST Ethnic religions are. HINDUISM – 900 million adherents CHINESE TRADITIONAL (Confucianism/Taoism) - 394 million ASIAN PRIMAL-INDIGENOUS – 300 million AFRICAN TRADITIONAL – 100 million

16% of the Earth’s population is nonreligious, either rejecting religion or simply not taking part in it. • ATHETISTS reject the existence of God altogether • AGNOSTICS reject that anything can truly be known about God- “I don’t know, and neither do you”

UNIVERSALIZING religions tend to be internally divided into BRANCHES, DENOMINATIONS, and SECTS

A branch is a large and fundamental division within a religion Examples include: • CHRISTIANITY – • CATHOLIC / PROTESTANT/ ORTHODOX • ISLAM – • SUNNI v. SHIITE

A denomination is a division of a branch that unites a number of congregations in a single legal and administrative body PROTESTANT = • Baptist, Episcopal, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal… BAPTIST = • Southern, NBC USA/America, Nat’l Missionary Baptist, Progressive Nat’l…

A sect is a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.

DENOMINATIONS & DISTRIBUTION OF UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS

BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY 1. ) Roman Catholic (51% of world’s Christians) 2. ) Protestant (24% of world’s Christians) 3. ) Orthodox (11% of world’s Christians)

DISTRIBUBUTION OF CHRISTIANITY

Christianity in Europe • Roman Catholicism southwestern and eastern Europe. • Protestantism northwestern Europe. • Orthodoxy eastern and southeastern Europe.

Christianity in the Western Hem. 93% of Christians in Latin America are Roman Catholic. �Only 40% in North America

Protestant churches have approximately 82 million US members • Baptist churches have largest number of US adherents (37 million), mostly in the South. • Other Christian denominations such as Lutherans, Mormons, and Methodists also have significant geographic

DISTRIBUTION OF ISLAM

2 Main Branches of ISLAMSUNNI – 83% of Muslims SHIA (SHIITE) – 17% of Muslims

SUNNIS are evenly dispersed throughout the Islamic world. SHIA are highly concentrated in Iran and surrounding countries, as well as in Syria and Yemen.

Three branches of BUDDHISM 1. ) Mahayana – 56% of Buddhists 2. ) Theravada – 38% 3. ) Vajrayana – 6%

ETHNIC RELIGIONS �Often remain within the culture where they originated. �Have more clustered distributions than do universalizing religions. �Often do not widely attract adherents from other

Ethnic religion with largest number of followers is HINDUISM. • 900 million adherents • Nearly all concentrated in India and Nepal

RELIGIONS OF ASIA �All three UNIVERSALIZING religions form the majority in some Asian countries. Christianity: the Philippines Islam: Indonesia & Malaysia Buddhism: Many continental countries (also Japan)

Nearly 400 million Chinese practice either Confucianism or Taoism

300 million people throughout Asia practice ‘primal-indigenous’ religions. Most of these lack a literary tradition and are transmitted ORALLY

Religion in AFRICA Like in Asia, universalizing religions dominate in most countries, though ethnic religions continue to exist in remote places.

Animists believe that inanimate objects or natural events- like natural disastershave spirits and conscious life. • 100 million Africans adhere to animism.

As universalizing religions have expanded, ethnic religions have begun to disappear in Africa

An Ethnic Outlier: Though it has deeply influenced Judaism both Islam and Christianity, Judaism is a decidedly ETHNIC religion.

• The world’s first MONOTHEISTIC religion • World’s 12 million Jews are highly clustered, almost exclusively found in Israel (2/5) and the United States (2/5). • Unlike Islam and Christianity, Judaism is not a PROSELYTIZING religion, meaning its adherents do not actively promote the conversion of others.