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>> Christian Directory
>> Worldwide Adherents of All Religious
by 6 continents
Africa
Asia
Europe
L. America
N. America
Oceania
World
Christians
351,276,000
306,401,000
559,212,000
423,713,000
258,770,000
24,809,000
1,974,181,000
Affiliated Christians
326,569,000
300,917,000
536,420,000
468,312,000
210,455,000
21,118,000
1,863,791,000
Roman Catholics
117,277,000
108,437,000
285,668,000
454,105,000
70,652,000
8,097,000
1,044,236,000
Protestants
86,720,000
49,140,000
77,396,000
47,288,000
69,523,000
7,279,000
337,346,000
Orthodox
34,549,000
14,161,000
157,772,000
543,000
6,275,000
691,000
213,991,000
Anglicans
41,503,000
717,000
26,628,000
1,081,000
3,259,000
5,386,000
78,574,000
Other Christians
84,081,000
153,105,000
29,118,000
45,421,000
82,320,000
1,929,000
395,974,000
Unaffiliated Christians
24,707,000
5,484,000
22,792,000
5,401,000
48,315,000
3,691,000
110,390,000
Non-Christians
415,347,000
3,327,828,000
169,722,000
37,632,000
48,432,000
5,209,000
4,004,220,000
Atheists
411,000
121,467,000
23,140,000
2,717,000
1,628,000
360,000
149,723,000
Baha'is
1,649,000
3,382,000
128,000
850,000
770,000
108,000
6,932,000
Buddhists
132,000
351,043,000
1,533,000
635,000
2,637,000
290,000
356,270,000
Chinese folk religionists
32,000
380,250,000
253,000
190,000
844,000
63,000
381,632,000
Confucianists
0
6,219,000
11,000
0
0
23,000
6,253,000
Ethnic religionists
94,934,000
127,260,000
1,264,000
1,266,000
434,000
263,000
225,421,000
Hindus
2,312,000
792,897,000
1,401,000
761,000
1,308,000
349,000
799,028,000
Jains
65,000
4,079,000
0
0
7,000
0
4,151,000
Jews
212,000
4,323,000
2,534,000
1,133,000
6,015,000
96,000
14,313,000
Mandeans
0
2,715,000
0
7,000
56,000
0
38,000
Muslims
310,529,000
807,034,000
31,219,000
1,646,000
4,389,000
292,000
1,155,109,000
New-Religionists
28,000
99,734,000
156,000
613,000
813,000
62,000
101,406,000
Shintoists
0
2,715,000
0
7,000
56,000
0
2,778,000
Sikhs
52,000
22,015,000
238,000
0
514,000
18,000
22,837,000
Spiritists
3,000
0
131,000
11,894,000
149,000
7,000
12,184,000
Zoroastrians
1,000
2,407,000
1,000
0
76,000
1,000
2,486,000
Other religionists
65,000
23,000
235,000
96,000
591,000
9,000
1,019,000
Non religious
4,877,000
602,992,000
107,478,000
15,824,000
28,201,000
3,268,000
762,640,000
Total Population
766,623,000
3,634,279,000
728,934,000
511,345,000
307,202,000
30,018,000
5,978,401,000
Notes: Continents: These follow corrent
UN demographic terminology, which now divides the world
into the six major areas shown above. See United Nations,
World Population Prospects: The 1996 Revision (New
York: UN. 1998), with populations of all continents,
regions, and countries covering the period 1950-2025.
Note that "Asia" now includes the former Soveit
Central Asian states and "Europe" includes
all ofkussia and extends eastward to Vladivostok, the
Sea of Japan and the Bering Strait.
Countries: The last column enumerates
sovereign and nonsovereign countries in which each religion
or religious grouping has a numerically significant
and organized following.
Adherents: As defined and enumerated
for each of the world's countries in World Christian
Encyclopedia (1982), projected to mid-1999, adjusted
for recent data.
Christians: Followers of Jesus Christ
affiliated with churches (church members, including
Children: 1,863,791,000) plus persons professing in
censuses or polls to be Christians though not so affiliated.
Figures for the subgroups of Christians do not add up
to the totals in the first line because some Christians
adhere to more than mie denomination.
Other Christians: This term in the
above table denotes Catholics (non Roman) marginal protestans,
crypto Christians, and adherents of African, Asian,
Black and Latin-American indigenous churches.
Atheists: Persons professing atheism, skepticism,
disbelief, or irreligion, including antireligious (opposed
to all religion).
Buddhists: 56% Mahayana, 38% Theravada (Hinayana),
6% Tantrayana (La maism).
Chinese folk religionists: Followers of traditional
Chinese religion (local deities, ancestor veneration,
Confucian ethics, Taoism, universism, divination, some
Buddhist elements).
Confucianists: Non-Chinese followers of Confucius
and Confucianism, mostly Koreans in Korea.
Ethnic religionists: Followers of local, tribal,
animistic, or shamanistic religions.
Hindus: 70% Vaishnavites, 25% Shaivites, 2%
neo-Hindus and reform Hindus.
Jews: Adherents of Judaism. For detailed data
on "Core" Jewish population, see the annual
"World Jewish Populations" article in the
American Jewish Committee's American Jewish Year Book.
Muslims: 83% Sunnites, 16% Shutes, 1% other
schools. Until 1990 the ethnic Muslims in the former
U.S.S.R. who had embraced communism were not included
as Muslims in this table. After the collapse of communism
in 1990-91, these ethnic Muslims were once again enumerated
as Muslims ifthey had returned to Islamic profession
and practice.
New-Religionists: Followers of Asian 20th century
New Religions, New Religious movements, radical new
crisis religions, and non-Christian syncretistic mass
religions, all founded since 1800 and most since 1945.
Other religionists: Including 70 minor world
religions and more than 10,000 national or local religions
and a large number of spiritist religions. New Age religions,
quasi religions, pseitdoreligions, parareligions, religious
or mystic systems, religious and semireligious brotherhoods
of numerous varieties.
Nonreligious: Persons professing no religion,
nonbelievers, agnostics; freethinkers, dereligionized
secularists indifferent to all religion.
Total population: UN medium van-ant
figurs for mid-1999, as given in World Population
Prospects: The 1998 Revision.
Courtsey: Britannica Book of the Year
2000
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by 6 continents
