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Religionportal |
Religion has been a major influence on the societies, cultures, traditions, philosophies, artistic expressions and laws within present-day Europe. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity. [1] However, irreligion and practical secularisation are also prominent in some countries. [2] [3] In Southeastern Europe, three countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania) have Muslim majorities, with Christianity being the second-largest religion in those countries. Ancient European religions included veneration for deities such as Zeus. Modern revival movements of these religions include Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, Druidry, Wicca, and others. Smaller religions include Indian religions, Judaism, and some East Asian religions, which are found in their largest groups in Britain, France, and Kalmykia.
Little is known about the prehistoric religion of Neolithic Europe. Bronze and Iron Age religion in Europe as elsewhere was predominantly polytheistic (Ancient Greek religion, Ancient Roman religion, Basque mythology, Finnish paganism, Celtic polytheism, Germanic paganism, etc.).
The Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity in AD 380. During the Early Middle Ages, most of Europe underwent Christianization, a process essentially complete with the Christianization of Scandinavia in the High Middle Ages. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christendom", and many even consider Christianity as the unifying belief that created a European identity, [4] especially since Christianity in the Middle East was marginalized by the rise of Islam from the 8th century. This confrontation led to the Crusades, which ultimately failed militarily, but were an important step in the emergence of a European identity based on religion. Despite this, traditions of folk religion continued at all times, largely independent from institutional religion or dogmatic theology.
The Great Schism of the 11th century and Reformation of the 16th century tore apart Christendom into hostile factions, and following the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, atheism and agnosticism have spread across Europe. Nineteenth-century Orientalism contributed to a certain popularity of Hinduism and Buddhism, and the 20th century brought increasing syncretism, New Age, and various new religious movements divorcing spirituality from inherited traditions for many Europeans. Recent times have seen increased secularisation and religious pluralism. [5]
Some European countries have experienced a decline in church membership and church attendance. [6] [7] A relevant example of this trend is Sweden where the Church of Sweden, previously the state-church until 2000, claimed to have 82.9% of the Swedish population as its flock in 2000. Surveys showed this had dropped to 72.9% by 2008 [8] and to 56.4% by 2019. [9] Moreover, in the 2005 Eurobarometer survey 23% [10] of the Swedish population said that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force and in the 2010 Eurobarometer survey 34% [2] said the same.
This section needs to be updated.(June 2022) |
During 2008–2009, a Gallup survey asked in several countries the question "Is religion important in your daily life?" The table and map below shows percentage of people who answered "Yes" to the question. [11] [12]
0%–9% | |
10%–19% (Estonia, Sweden, Denmark) | |
20%–29% (Norway, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Finland) | |
30%–39% (France, Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Albania, Latvia) | |
40%–49% (Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain) | |
50%–59% (Azerbaijan, Serbia, Ireland, Austria) | |
60%–69% | |
70%–79% (Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, North Macedonia) | |
80%–89% (Turkey, Romania, Malta, Armenia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina) | |
90%–100% (Kosovo, Georgia) | |
No data |
During 2007–2008, a Gallup poll asked in several countries the question "Does religion occupy an important place in your life?" The table on right shows percentage of people who answered "No". [13]
The 2010 Eurobarometer survey [2] found that, on average, 51% of the citizens of the EU member states state that they "believe there is a God", 26% "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" while 20% "don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". 3% declined to answer. According to a recent study (Dogan, Mattei, Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline), 47% of French people declared themselves as agnostics in 2003. This situation is often called "Post-Christian Europe". A decrease in religiousness and church attendance in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden has been noted, despite a concurrent increase in some countries like Greece (2% in 1 year). The Eurobarometer survey must be taken with caution, however, as there are discrepancies between it and national census results. For example, in the United Kingdom, the 2001 census revealed over 70% of the population regarded themselves as "Christian" with only 15% professing to have "no religion", though the wording of the question has been criticized as "leading" by the British Humanist Association. [15] Romania, one of the most religious countries in Europe, witnessed a threefold increase in the number of atheists between 2002 and 2011, as revealed by the most recent national census. [16]
The following is a list of European countries ranked by religiosity, based on the rate of belief, according to the Eurobarometer survey 2010. [2] The 2010 Eurobarometer survey asked whether the person "believes there is a God", "believes there is some sort of spirit or life force", or "doesn't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".
Country | "I believe there is a God" | "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" | "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force" |
---|---|---|---|
Malta | 94% | 4% | 2% |
Romania | 93% | 6% | 1% |
Cyprus | 88% | 8% | 3% |
Poland | 79% | 14% | 5% |
Greece | 79% | 16% | 4% |
Italy | 74% | 20% | 6% |
Ireland | 70% | 20% | 7% |
Portugal | 70% | 15% | 12% |
Slovakia | 63% | 23% | 13% |
Spain | 59% | 20% | 19% |
Lithuania | 47% | 37% | 12% |
Luxembourg | 46% | 22% | 24% |
Hungary | 45% | 34% | 20% |
Austria | 44% | 38% | 12% |
Germany | 44% | 25% | 27% |
Latvia | 38% | 48% | 11% |
United Kingdom | 37% | 33% | 25% |
Belgium | 37% | 31% | 27% |
Bulgaria | 36% | 43% | 15% |
Finland | 33% | 42% | 22% |
Slovenia | 32% | 36% | 26% |
Denmark | 28% | 47% | 24% |
Netherlands | 28% | 39% | 30% |
France | 27% | 27% | 40% |
Estonia | 18% | 50% | 29% |
Sweden | 18% | 45% | 34% |
Czech Republic | 16% | 44% | 37% |
EU27 | 51% | 26% | 20% |
Turkey (EUCU, not EU) | 94% | 1% | 1% |
Croatia (joined EU in 2013) | 69% | 22% | 7% |
Switzerland (EFTA, not EU) | 44% | 39% | 11% |
Iceland (EFTA, not EU) | 31% | 49% | 18% |
Norway (EFTA, not EU) | 22% | 44% | 29% |
The decrease in theism is illustrated in the 1981 and 1999 according to the World Values Survey, [17] both for traditionally strongly theist countries (Spain: 86.8%:81.1%; Ireland 94.8%:93.7%) and for traditionally secular countries (Sweden: 51.9%:46.6%; France 61.8%:56.1%; Netherlands 65.3%:58.0%). Some countries nevertheless show increase of theism over the period, Italy 84.1%:87.8%, Denmark 57.8%:62.1%. For a comprehensive study on Europe, see Mattei Dogan's "Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline" in Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion.
According to the 2019 Eurobarometer survey about Religiosity in the European Union Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union accounting 64% of the EU population, [18] down from 72% in 2012. [20] Catholics are the largest Christian group in EU, accounting for 41% of EU population, while Eastern Orthodox make up 10%, and Protestants make up 9%, and other Christians account for 4% of the EU population. Non believer/Agnostic account 17%, Atheist 10%, and Muslim 2% of the EU population. 3% refuse to answer or didn't know. [18]
Country | "Atheist" | "Non believer/Agnostic" | "Atheist + Non believer/Agnostic" |
---|---|---|---|
Romania | 2% | 2% | 4% |
Malta | 2% | 2% | 4% |
Cyprus | 3% | 4% | 7% |
Poland | 5% | 4% | 9% |
Lithuania | 3% | 6% | 9% |
Greece | 7% | 4% | 11% |
Slovakia | 6% | 5% | 11% |
Croatia | 6% | 5% | 11% |
Portugal | 4% | 8% | 12% |
Ireland | 7% | 7% | 14% |
Italy | 5% | 9% | 14% |
Bulgaria | 8% | 7% | 15% |
Austria | 4% | 12% | 16% |
Slovenia | 14% | 4% | 18% |
Latvia | 6% | 13% | 19% |
Hungary | 3% | 17% | 20% |
Denmark | 9% | 13% | 22% |
Finland | 10% | 14% | 24% |
Luxembourg | 10% | 16% | 26% |
Germany | 9% | 21% | 30% |
Belgium | 10% | 21% | 31% |
Spain | 12% | 20% | 32% |
United Kingdom | 19% | 20% | 39% |
France | 21% | 19% | 40% |
Estonia | 21% | 27% | 48% |
Sweden | 16% | 34% | 50% |
Netherlands | 11% | 41% | 52% |
Czech Republic | 22% | 34% | 56% |
EU28 | 10% | 17% | 27% |
According to the 2012 Global Religious Landscape survey by the Pew Research Center, 75.2% of the Europe residents are Christians, 18.2% are irreligious, atheist or agnostic, 5.9% are Muslims and 0.2% are Jews, 0.2% are Hindus, 0.2% are Buddhist, and 0.1% adhere to other religions. [21] According to the 2015 Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe survey by the Pew Research Center, 57.9% of the Central and Eastern Europeans identified as Orthodox Christians, [22] and according to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, 71.0% of Western Europeans identified as Christians, 24.0% identified as religiously unaffiliated and 5% identified as adhere to other religions. [23] According to the same study a large majority (83%) of those who were raised as Christians in Western Europe still identify as such, and the remainder mostly self-identify as religiously unaffiliated. [23]
Country | Affiliated Orthodox, Catholic or Muslim (poll 1) | Unaffiliated (poll 1) | Other/DK/ref (poll 1)* | "Believe in God, absolutely certain" (poll 2)** | "Believe in God, fairly certain" (poll 2)** | "Believe in God, not too/at all certain" (poll 2)** | "Do not believe in God" (Poll 2)** | Atheist (poll 3)*** | Agnostic (poll 3)*** | Nothing in particular (poll 3)*** |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armenia | 97 | 2 | 1 | 94 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
Georgia | 99 | <1 | 1 | 93 | 2 | 2 | 1 | <1 | ||
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 96 | 3 | 1 | 90 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
Moldova | 95 | 2 | 3 | 89 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
Romania | 91 | 1 | 8 | 64 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ||
Serbia | 94 | 4 | 1 | 73 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Croatia | 90 | 7 | 3 | 72 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Greece | 92 | 4 | 4 | 69 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | |
Poland | 88 | 7 | 5 | 45 | 35 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Lithuania | 78 | 6 | 17 | 34 | 34 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 4 | |
Ukraine | 88 | 7 | 5 | 32 | 45 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 4 | |
Bulgaria | 91 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 40 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Latvia | 54 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 34 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 18 | |
Belarus | 86 | 3 | 11 | 26 | 47 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | |
Hungary | 57 | 21 | 22 | 26 | 26 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 16 | |
Russia | 81 | 15 | 4 | 25 | 38 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
Czech Republic | 22 | 72 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 66 | 25 | 1 | 46 |
Estonia | 26 | 45 | 29 | 13 | 24 | 7 | 45 | 9 | 1 | 35 |
(*) 13% of respondents in Hungary identify as Presbyterian. In Estonia and Latvia, 20% and 19%, respectively, identify as Lutherans. And in Lithuania, 14% say they are "just a Christian" and do not specify a particular denomination. They are included in the "other" category.
(**) Identified as "don't know/refused" from the "other/idk/ref" column are excluded from this statistic.
(***) Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding.
Country | A holy book (e.g. Bible) is written by men, not the word of God | A holy book is the word of God |
---|---|---|
Georgia | 9% | 88% |
Armenia | 9% | 87% |
Moldova | 10% | 87% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 14% | 81% |
Romania | 18% | 76% |
Ukraine | 21% | 63% |
Poland | 24% | 61% |
Serbia | 28% | 59% |
Greece | 28% | 58% |
Croatia | 29% | 58% |
Russia | 30% | 58% |
Belarus | 27% | 57% |
Bulgaria | 41% | 43% |
Lithuania | 43% | 42% |
Hungary | 41% | 41% |
Latvia | 38% | 40% |
Estonia | 58% | 26% |
Czech Republic | 65% | 21% |
(**) Identified with answers "don't know/refused" are not shown.
The first newspaper reference to the religious movement began with coverage of the Báb, whom Bahá'ís consider the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith, which occurred in The Times on 1 November 1845, only a little over a year after the Báb first started his mission. [25] British, Russian, and other diplomats, businessmen, scholars, and world travelers also took note of the precursor Bábí religion [26] most notably in 1865 by Frenchman Arthur de Gobineau who wrote the first and most influential account. In April 1890 Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University met Bahá'u'lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and left the only detailed description by a Westerner. [27]
Starting in the 1890s Europeans began to convert to the religion. In 1910 Bahá'u'lláh's son and appointed successor, 'Abdu'l-Bahá embarked on a three-year journey to including Europe and North America [28] and then wrote a series of letters that were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan which included mention of the need to spread the religion in Europe following the war. [29]
A 1925 list of "leading local Bahá'í Centres" of Europe listed organized communities of many countries – the largest being in Germany. [30] However the religion was soon banned in a couple of countries: in 1937 Heinrich Himmler disbanded the Bahá'í Faith's institutions in Germany because of its 'international and pacifist tendencies' [31] and in Russia in 1938 "monstrous accusations" against Bahá'ís and a Soviet government policy of oppression of religion resulted in Bahá'í communities in 38 cities across Soviet territories ceasing to exist. [32] However the religion recovered in both countries. The religion has generally spread such that in recent years the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated the Bahá'ís in European countries to number in hundreds to tens of thousands. [33]
The majority of Europeans describe themselves as Christians, divided into a large number of denominations. [1] Christian denominations are usually classed in three categories: Catholicism (consider only two groups, the Roman-Latin Catholic and the Eastern Greek and Armenian Catholics), Orthodoxy (consider only two groups, the Eastern Byzantine Orthodox and the Armenian Apostolic which is within the Oriental Orthodox Church) and Protestantism (a diverse group including Lutheranism, Calvinism and Anglicanism as well as numerous minor denominations, including Baptists, Methodism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, etc.).
Christianity, more specifically the Catholic Church, which played an important part in the shaping of Western civilization since at least the 4th century. [35] [36] Historically, Europe has been the center and "cradle of Christian civilization". [37] [38] [39] [40]
European culture, throughout most of its recent history, has been heavily influenced by Christian belief and has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture. [41] The Christian culture was one of the more dominant forces to influence Western civilization, concerning the course of philosophy, art, music, science, social structure and architecture. [41] [42] The civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare, [43] founding hospitals, [44] economics (as the Protestant work ethic), [45] [46] politics, [47] architecture, [48] literature [49] and family life. [50]
Christianity is still the largest religion in Europe. [51] According to a survey about Religiosity in the European Union in 2019 by Eurobarometer, Christianity was the largest religion in the European Union accounting 64% of EU population, [18] down from 72% in 2012. [20] Catholics were the largest Christian group in EU, and accounted for 41% of the EU population, while Eastern Orthodox made up 10%, Protestants made up 9%, and other Christians 4%. [18] According to a 2010 study by the Pew Research Center, 76.2% of the European population identified themselves as Christians, [52] constitute in absolute terms the world's largest Christian population. [53]
According to Scholars, in 2017, Europe's population was 77.8% Christian (up from 74.9% 1970), [54] [55] these changes were largely result of the collapse of Communism and switching to Christianity in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries. [54]
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(August 2017) |
This article's factual accuracy is disputed .(December 2017) |
There are numerous minor Protestant movements, including various Evangelical congregations.
Islam came to parts of European islands and coasts on the Mediterranean Sea during the 8th-century Muslim conquests. In the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France, various Muslim states existed before the Reconquista; Islam spread in southern Italy briefly through the Emirate of Sicily and Emirate of Bari. During the Ottoman expansion, Islam was spread from into the Balkans and even part of Central Europe. Muslims have also been historically present in Ukraine (Crimea and vicinity, with the Crimean Tatars), as well as modern-day Russia, beginning with Volga Bulgaria in the 10th century and the conversion of the Golden Horde to Islam. In recent years,[ when? ] Muslims have migrated to Europe as residents and temporary workers.
According to the Pew Forum, the total number of Muslims in Europe in 2010 was about 44 million (6%). [58] While the total number of Muslims in the European Union in 2007 was about 16 million (3.2%). [59] Data from the 2000s for the rates of growth of Islam in Europe showed that the growing number of Muslims was due primarily to immigration and higher birth rates. [60]
Muslims make up 99% of the population in Turkey, [61] Northern Cyprus, [62] [63] 96% in Kosovo, [64] 56% in Albania, [65] [66] 51% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, [67] 32.17% in North Macedonia, [68] [69] 20% in Montenegro, [70] between 10 and 15% in Russia, [71] 7–9% in France, [72] [73] [74] 8% in Bulgaria, [75] 6% in the Netherlands, 5% in Denmark, United Kingdom and Germany, [76] [77] [78] just over 4% in Switzerland and Austria, and between 3 and 4% in Greece.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2016 found that Muslims make up 4.9% of all of Europe's population. [79] According to a same study conversion does not add significantly to the growth of the Muslim population in Europe, with roughly 160,000 more people leaving Islam than converting into Islam between 2010 and 2016. [79]
The Jews were dispersed within the Roman Empire from the 2nd century. [80] At one time Judaism was practiced widely throughout the European continent; throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were accused of ritual murder and faced pogroms and legal discrimination. The Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany decimated the Jewish population, and today, France is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe with 1% of the total population (between 483,000 and 500,000 Jews). [81] [82] Other European countries with notable Jewish populations include the United Kingdom (291,000 Jews), [82] Germany (119,000), and Russia (194,000) which is home to Eastern Europe's largest Jewish community. [82] The Jewish population of Europe in 2010 was estimated to be approximately 1.4 million (0.2% of European population) or 10% of the world's Jewish population. [83]
During the Enlightenment, Deism became influential especially in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Biblical concepts were challenged by concepts such as a heliocentric universe and other scientific challenges to the Bible. [84] Notable early deists include Voltaire, Kant, and Mendeleev. [85]
The trend towards secularism during the 20th and 21st centuries has a number of reasons, depending on the individual country:
The trend towards secularism has been less pronounced in the traditionally Catholic countries of Mediterranean Europe. Greece as the only traditionally Eastern Orthodox country in Europe which has not been part of the communist Eastern Bloc also retains a very high religiosity, with in excess of 95% of Greeks adhering to the Greek Orthodox Church.
According to a Pew Research Center Survey in 2012 the religiously unaffiliated (atheists and agnostics) make up about 18.2% of the European population in 2010. [93] According to the same survey the religiously unaffiliated make up the majority of the population in only two European countries: Czech Republic (76%) and Estonia (60%). [3] A newer study (released in 2015) found that in the Netherlands there is also an irreligious majority of 68%. [94]
During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, atheism and agnosticism have increased, with falling church attendance and membership in various European countries. [95] The 2010 Eurobarometer survey found that on total average, of the EU28 population, 51% "believe there is a God", 26% "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force", and 20% "don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". [2] Across the EU, belief was higher among women, increased with age, those with a strict upbringing, those with the lowest level of formal education and those leaning towards right-wing politics. [90] : 10–11 Results were varied widely between different countries. [2]
According to a survey measuring religious identification in the European Union in 2019 by Eurobarometer, 10% of EU citizens identify themselves as atheists. [18] As of May 2019 [update] , the top seven European countries with the most people who viewed themselves as atheists were Czech Republic (22%), France (21%), Sweden (16%), Estonia (15%), Slovenia (14%), Spain (12%) and Netherlands (11%). [18] 17% of EU citizens called themselves non-believers or agnostics and this percentage was the highest in Netherlands (41%), Czech Republic (34%), Sweden (34%), United Kingdom (28%), Estonia (23%), Germany (21%) and Spain (20%). [18]
Heathenism or Esetroth (Icelandic: Ásatrú), and the organised form Odinism, are names for the modern folk religion of the Germanic nations.
In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 300 people registered as Heathen in England and Wales. [96] However, many Heathens followed the advice of the Pagan Federation (PF) and simply described themselves as "Pagan", while other Heathens did not specify their religious beliefs. [96] In the 2011 census, 1,958 people self-identified as Heathen in England and Wales. A further 251 described themselves as Reconstructionist and may include some people reconstructing Germanic paganism. [97]
Ásatrúarfélagið (Esetroth Fellowship) was recognized as an official religion by the Icelandic government in 1973. For its first 20 years it was led by farmer and poet Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson. By 2003, it had 777 members, [98] and by 2014, it had 2,382 members, corresponding to 0.8% of Iceland's population. [99] In Iceland, Germanic religion has an impact larger than the number of its adherents. [100]
In Sweden, the Swedish Forn Sed Assembly (Forn Sed, or the archaic Forn Siðr, means "Old Custom") was formed in 1994 and is since 2007 recognized as a religious organization by the Swedish government. In Denmark Forn Siðr was formed in 1999, and was officially recognized in 2003 [101] The Norwegian Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost (Esetroth Fellowship Bifrost) was formed in 1996; as of 2011, the fellowship has some 300 members. Foreningen Forn Sed was formed in 1999, and has been recognized by the Norwegian government as a religious organization. In Spain there is the Odinist Community of Spain – Ásatrú.
The Roman polytheism also known as Religio Romana (Roman religion) in Latin or the Roman Way to the Gods (in Italian 'Via romana agli Déi') is alive in small communities and loosely related organizations, mainly in Italy.
The religious development of Druidry was largely influenced by Iolo Morganwg. [102] Modern practises aim to imitate the practises of the Celtic peoples of the Iron Age. [103]
A number of countries in Europe have official religions, including Greece (Orthodox), [104] Liechtenstein, [105] Malta, [106] Monaco, [107] the Vatican City (Catholic); [108] Armenia (Apostolic Orthodoxy); Denmark, [109] Iceland [110] [111] and the United Kingdom (England alone) (Anglican). [112] In Switzerland, some cantons are officially Catholic, others Reformed Protestant. Some Swiss villages even have their religion as well as the village name written on the signs at their entrances.
Georgia, while technically has no official church per se, has special constitutional agreement with Georgian Orthodox Church, which enjoys de facto privileged status. Much the same applies in Germany with the Evangelical Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and the Jewish community. In Finland, both the Finnish Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church are official. England, a part of the United Kingdom, has Anglicanism as its official religion. Scotland, another part of the UK, has Presbyterianism as its national church, but it is no longer "official". In Sweden, the national church used to be Lutheranism, but it is no longer "official" since 2000. Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Serbia, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey are officially secular.
Buddhism is thinly spread throughout Europe, and the fastest growing religion in recent years [113] [114] with about 3 million adherents. [115] [116] In Kalmykia, Tibetan Buddhism is prevalent. [117]
Hinduism is mainly practised among Indian immigrants. It has been growing rapidly in recent years, notably in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Italy. [118] In 2010, there were an estimated 1.4 million Hindu adherents in Europe. [119]
Jainism, small membership rolls, mainly among Indian immigrants in Belgium and the United Kingdom, as well as several converts from western and northern Europe. [120] [121]
Sikhism has nearly 700,000 adherents in Europe. Most of the community live in United Kingdom (450,000) and Italy (100,000). [122] [123] Around 10,000 Sikhs live in Belgium and France. [124] Netherlands and Germany have a Sikh population of 22,000. [125] [126] All other countries, such as Greece, have 5,000 or fewer Sikhs.
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Other religions represented in Europe include:
Religion in the United States is widespread, diverse, and vibrant, with the country being far more religious than other wealthy Western nations. An overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power, engage in spiritual practices, and consider themselves religious or spiritual. Christianity is the most widely professed religion, with most Americans being Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, or Catholics.
Christianity is the largest religion in Belgium, with the Catholic Church representing the largest community, though it has experienced a significant decline since the 1950s. Belgium's policy separates the state from the churches, and freedom of religion of the citizens is guaranteed by the country's constitution.
British society is one of the most secularised in the world and in many surveys determining religious beliefs of the population agnosticism, nontheism, atheism, secular humanism, and non-affiliation are views shared by a majority of Britons. Historically, it was dominated for over 1,400 years by various forms of Christianity, which replaced preceding Romano-British religions, including Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.
Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from the fifth century onwards. The area became fully Christianized by the time of Charlemagne in the eighth and ninth century. After the Reformation started by Martin Luther in the early 16th century, many people left the Catholic Church and became Protestant, mainly Lutheran and Calvinist. In the 17th and 18th centuries, German cities also became hubs of heretical and sometimes anti-religious freethinking, challenging the influence of religion and contributing to the spread of secular thinking about morality across Germany and Europe.
The majority of the religious population in France identifies as Christian. Catholicism is the most prominent denomination in France, but has long lost the state religion status it held prior to the 1789 French Revolution and during various non-republican regimes of the 19th century, including the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the Second French Empire.
Religion in Russia is diverse, with Orthodox Christianity being the most widely professed faith, but with significant minorities of non-religious people and adherents of other faiths. A 1997 law on religion recognises the right to freedom of conscience and creed to all the citizenry, the spiritual contribution of Orthodox Christianity to the history of Russia, and respect to "Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions and creeds which constitute an inseparable part of the historical heritage of Russia's peoples", including ethnic religions or paganism, either preserved, or revived. According to the law, any religious organisation may be recognised as "traditional", if it was already in existence before 1982, and each newly founded religious group has to provide its credentials and re-register yearly for fifteen years, and, in the meantime until eventual recognition, stay without rights.
Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.
Christianity is the largest religion in Denmark. As of 2022, 72.5% of the population of Denmark were registered members of the Church of Denmark, the officially established church, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation.
As of the year 2021, Christianity had approximately 2.38 billion adherents and is the largest religion by population respectively. According to a PEW estimation in 2020, Christians made up to 2.38 billion of the worldwide population of about 8 billion people. It represents nearly one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three largest groups of Christians being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion baptized members. The second largest Christian branch is either Protestantism, or the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Mexico, with Catholicism being its largest denomination representing around 78% of the total population as of 2020. In recent decades the share of Catholics has been declining, due to the growth of other Christian denominations – especially various Protestant churches, Jehovah's Witness and Mormonism – which now constitute larger shares of the population. Conversion to non-Catholic denominations has been considerably lower than in Central America, and central Mexico remains one of the most Catholic areas in the world.
Christianity is the largest religion in Luxembourg, with significant minorities of non-religious people and adherents of other faiths.
Religion in Italy has been historically characterised by the dominance of the Catholic Church since the East–West Schism, but, over the years, due to immigration, the influx of Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as proselytism, religious pluralism has increased. Italy also features a pre-Christian Jewish community and one of the largest shares of Jehovah's Witnesses in the world.
Growth of religion involves the spread of individual religions and the increase in the numbers of religious adherents around the world. In sociology, desecularization is the proliferation or growth of religion, most commonly after a period of previous secularization. Statistics commonly measure the absolute number of adherents, the percentage of the absolute growth per-year, and the growth of converts in the world.
Religion in Sweden has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century.
Religion in Greece is dominated by Christianity, in particular the Greek Orthodox Church, which is within the larger communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It represented 90% of the total population in 2015 and is constitutionally recognized as the "prevailing religion" of Greece. Religions with smaller numbers of followers include Islam, Roman Catholicism, Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Evangelicalism, Hellenic paganism, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Also a small number of Greek atheists exist, not self-identifying as religious. Religion is key part of identity for most Greeks, with 76% of Greeks in a 2015–2017 survey saying that their nationality is defined by Christianity. According to other sources, 81.4% of Greeks identify as Orthodox Christians and 14.7% are atheists.
Religion in the European Union is diverse. The largest religion in the EU is Christianity, which accounted for 72.8% of EU population as of 2018. Smaller groups include those of Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and some East Asian religions, most concentrated in Germany and France. Also present are revival movements of pre-Christianity European folk religions including Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, and Druidry.
The dominant religion in Slovenia is Christianity, primarily the Catholic Church, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country. Other Christian groups having significant followings in the country include Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism (Lutheranism). Islam, Judaism and Hinduism are small minorities in Slovenia. About 18% of the population are either agnostic or atheist.
The predominant religion in the Republic of Ireland is Christianity, with the largest denomination being the Catholic Church. The Constitution of Ireland says that the state may not endorse any particular religion and guarantees freedom of religion.
Estonia, historically a Lutheran Christian nation, is today one of the "least religious" countries in the world in terms of declared attitudes, with only 14 percent of the population declaring religion to be an important part of their daily life. This is thought to largely be a result of the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, prior to which Estonia had a large Christian majority.
The main religion traditionally practiced in Latvia is Christianity. As of 2019, it is the largest religion (68.84%), though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly.
Most Europeans adhere to one of three broad divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholicism in the west and southwest, Protestantism in the north, and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east and southeast
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