2013/03/26 by Todd M. Johnson, Brian J. Grim · 4 citations
Social Sciences · #Religion and Society Interactions #Religion, Society, and Development #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
paper · doi:10.1002/9781118555767.ch1
openalex publication_date 2013/03/26 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Religion is a fundamental characteristic of humankind. While it is possible to find commonalities in different religions across history, people, languages, and cultures, it is also true that “religion” encompasses a dizzying array of rituals, practices, doctrines, sacred spaces, and personalities. Viewing the world's religions on a global scale reveals a striking demographic reality. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and even agnostics live side-by-side in many countries, often showing diversity within a province or state. This chapter presents statistical summary of religious adherents (ordered largest to smallest in 2010), including agnostics and atheists as separate categories. The statistical summary of religious adherents includes Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Chinese Folk-Religionists, Buddhists, and ethnoreligionists. The chapter also talks about new religionists such as Sikhs, Jews, Spiritists, Daoists, Baha'is, Confucianists, Jains, Shintoists, and Zoroastrians.