Introduction This essay will define the meaning of development, its measurement parameters, and other development indicators. It then will identify some aspects of religion and cultural practices that interact with development; those interactions will then be quantified before finally assessing their individual impacts on the overall human and economic development. The questions that the essay is intended to answer are: What is development? How is development measured? How will people’s culture change upon development? What other factors apart from religion and culture affect development? Development Development in a national context is defined as the improvement in a countries economic and social status. This is to say that the entire population in a given country has reached a certain standard of living where they are all comfortable in terms of management of their natural resources and in the creation of wealth. There are basically two types of development: Economic and Human developments. The former means the measure of how wealthy a country is and how that wealth is created, while the latter refers to the degree by which people get access to wealth (nutrition, health care, jobs, and political freedom, among other things). Development indicators include Health-For a country to say that it is developed health-wise; it means that all its citizens are accessible to quality health care. The next indicator is Industry-Which tends to define the type of industries in a country (whether agricultural or manufacturing). Lastly is Education-The available institutions in a country as compared to the population. Also is the degree of literacy in a country. How Religion and Culture impact Development The role played by religion in development is due to religious structure, organizations, and regulations. Economists have in the past neglected this role that religion play in shaping development. “Unless development economists acquaint themselves with the relevant socio-political literature, they will be working in the dark.” (Epstein, 1973, 6). It is common knowledge to all that a good education is a major ingredient required for any positive growth. This essay highlights those areas in education that are affected by religion. All the religions, be it Islamic, Hinduism, Christianity, or Buddhism, have doctrines that hinder education; such hindrances eventually impact development. Religious doctrines can either make or break human development, as illustrated below, by taking Christianity and Islam as examples. Development is unlimited, and in a broad sense, means accessing whatever information is important for your advancement. Religious leaders have perceptions of the contents of the school syllabus. They oppose the idea that such things as sex education and all those subjects that are based on scientific theories should be scraped from the school syllabus. They also claim that girls have no right to education. In the Christian setting, the children are taught that God is the Supreme Being and solutions to all problems lie with Him. They, therefore, have to believe only in their faith as the sole truth. One’s good life depends only on how well one follows the teachings. Such believers might get rooted so much in the beliefs and be tempted to make no effort to do anyt