How many religion

The four main denominations are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Unsurprisingly, India has the largest Hindu population but not the highest percentage of Hindus.

There are an estimated 1. Nepal has the second-highest Hindu population at Buddhism also originated in India and is based on the teachings of Buddha. Buddhists have unique traditions, values, and beliefs, such as reincarnation.

About million people practice Buddhism worldwide. China has the largest Buddhist population with Cambodia has the highest percentage of Buddhists at In some nations, traditional Chinese religions, including Confucianism and Taoism, are practiced. This is most frequently seen in the following nations:.

Ethic and indigenous religions are practiced in many countries. Other nations where ethnic and indigenous religions are practiced include:.

Finally, as mentioned, many people are non-religious or atheist. This is mostly seen in nations including Estonia , the Czech Republic , China, and Japan, where over three-quarters of the population declines to practice a religion.

Religion By Country How Many Religions Exist in the World Determining the exact number of religions worldwide is a daunting, if not impossible task, and for many reasons. The religion waxed and waned in competition with Jainism and Buddhism throughout Indian history, before seeing a huge resurgence after the medieval period. Thereafter it became the dominant religion on the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism isone of the most geographically concentrated of the major world religions?

The sheer number of practitioners, however, makes Hinduism the world's third largest religion. Buddhism is a religious tradition founded by Gautama Buddha in the early s BCE, drawing from or opposing many of the same Vedic traditions that inform Hinduism. Buddhists engagedHindus and Jains in religious dialogues for centuries, developing mutual competing traditions and beliefs. Buddhism flourished in India, receiving support from several powerful leaders,before declining during the medieval period.

Buddhism continued to grow and develop in East Asia, having a profound impact on the cultural landscape of the entire region. Buddhism is today the fourth largest religion in the world, being the majority religion of many countries in Southeast Asia, and with nearly million practitioners in China.

If you're interested in learning more about Buddhism on a personal level, you can also check out our list of the best books on Buddhism. Jainism is an ancient religious tradition from India; per its practitionersJainism is eternal, or at least older than Hinduism, but many historical estimates will place it contemporary with Buddhism as a Classical offshoot of old Vedic tradition. Like Buddhism, Jainism received varying degrees of support or opposition from powerful sponsors, and was in constant dialogue with India's other religious traditions.

Unlike Buddhism, Jainism didn't spread far outside of its home in India, and today the vast majority of the world's million Jains live in India. The Jain community enjoys a large profile, however, due to their high literacy rates and the esteem Mohandas Gandhi professed for Jain teachings and beliefs. Guru Nanak was raised as a Hindu in the Muslim-ruled Mughal Empire, but he rejected both dominant faiths and began preaching his ownreligion.

A community formed around him. Over the next two centuries, the Sikhs would be led by nine more gurus. The last living guru named the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, as his successor, and there has since been no single leader of the Sikh community. Despite being a religious minority, the Sikhs overthrew the Mughals and founded a major empire in Northern India in the s.

By different definitions Sikhism is either the fifth or eighth largest religion in the world, mostly concentrated in their home region of Punjab. Confucianism, it must be said, is not a religion in a strict sense. It is a philosophy that draws onthe folk religionof China. Confucianism as a school of thought was founded by the Chinese philosopherK?

It quickly became the preeminent of the "Hundred Schools of Thought"and became the foundation of the later imperial government of China. The Chinese folk religion that Confucianism draws on is still concentrated in China, but its teachings are widespread throughout East Asia.

Taoism is a philosophy and religion originating in China around the same time as Confucianism, and was the primary rival to Confucian thought out of the Hundred Schools. Taoism claims descent from the perhaps mythical figure L? Taoism has been immensely influential on Chinese and East Asian cultures, with Taoist thought influencing everything from literature to medicine to martial arts.

Due to the syncretic interactions of Taoism with Chan Buddhism and Confucianism, it is hard to find a hard number ofTaoists, but Chinese religions collectively are the fifth largest religion in the world. Hinduism is professed by the majority of population in India. The percentage of Muslims is sizeable in Assam Christianity has emerged as the major religion in three North-eastern states, namely, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.

Punjab is the stronghold of Sikhism. Chandigarh The largest concentration of Buddhism is in Maharashtra