query: what religion are people in russia?

title: Religion in Russia

text: Religion in Russia Religion in Russia is diverse with Christianity, especially Orthodoxy, being the most widely professed faith, but with significant minorities of Irreligious people, Muslims and Pagans. 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

title: Religion in Russia

text: [[Astrakhan Oblast]] (4%) and [[Chuvashia]] (4%). In 2012, 58,800,000 people or 41% of the total population of Russia declared to believe in the Russian Orthodox Church. It was the religion of 21% to 40% of the population in most of the [[federal subjects of Russia|federal subjects of the country]], with peaks of 41% to over 60% in [[European Russia|Western Russia]], including 41% to 60% in [[Yamalia]] and [[Perm Krai]] and over 60% in [[Kursk Oblast]] (69%), [[Voronezh Oblast]] (62%), [[Lipetsk Oblast]] (71%), [[Tambov Oblast]] (78%), [[Penza Oblast]] (63%), [[Ulyanovsk Oblast]] (61%), [[Mordovia]] (69%) and [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]] (69%). The contemporary

title: Religion in Russia

text: 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. The Russian Orthodox Church, though its influence is thin in Siberia and southern Russia, where there has been a "remarkable revival of pre-Christian religion", acts as the "de facto" if not "de jure" privileged religion of the state, claiming the right to decide which other religions or denominations are to be granted the right of registration. Some Protestant churches which were already in

title: Religion in Russia

text: and Neopaganism, even among self-defined "Christians"—a term which has become a loose descriptor for a variety of eclectic views and practices. Russia has been defined by the scholar Eliot Borenstein as the "Southern California of Europe" because of such a blossoming of new religious movements, and the latter are perceived by the Russian Orthodox Church as competitors in a "war for souls". Before the tenth century, Russians practised Slavic religion. As recalled by the "Primary Chronicle", Orthodox Christianity was made the state religion of Kievan Rus' in 987 by Vladimir the Great, who opted for it among other possible choices

title: Religion in Russia

text: total population of Russia were not affiliated with any [[Islamic schools and branches]]. This is mainly because it is not essential for Muslims to be affiliated with any specific sect or organisation. Those who are unaffiliated are mostly Sunni Muslims. These unaffiliated Muslims constitute significant percentages of over 10% in [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (49%), [[Bashkortostan]] (38%), [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] (34%), [[Tatarstan]] (31%), [[Yamalia]] (13%), [[Orenburg Oblast]] (11%), [[Adygea]] (11%) and [[Astrakhan Oblast]] (11%). Most of the regions of [[Siberia]] have an unaffiliated Muslim population of 1% to 2%. [[Sunni Islam]] was the religion of 2,400,000 of the Muslims, or 1.6% of the total population

title: Religion in Russia

text: have more Russian than Finnish believers. [[Adventism|Adventists]], [[Baptists]], [[Methodism|Methodists]] and Pentecostals are of relatively recent introduction, having at most 120 years of history in Russia. People who considered themselves Christians without affiliation to any church or denomination formed 4.1% (5,900,000) of the population, with numbers ranging between 1% to 8% in most of Russia's federal subjects, and over 8% only in [[Nenets Autonomous Okrug|Nenetia]] (14%), [[North Ossetia–Alania]] (10%), [[Tver Oblast]] (9%) and the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] (9%). [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] were estimated to have 255,000 believers in Russia in the mid-2000s. [[File:Московская соборная мечеть.jpg|thumb|[[Moscow Cathedral Mosque]].]] [[Islam]] is the second largest

title: Religion in Russia

text: of Russia. It had significant following of more than 10% of the population only in [[Dagestan]] (49%) and [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] (13%). Percentages higher than 2% are found in [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (5%), [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug|Yugra]] (Khantia-Mansia) (5%), [[Yamalia]] (4%), [[Astrakhan Oblast]] (3%), [[Chelyabinsk Oblast]] (3%) and [[Tyumen Oblast]] (2%). [[Yakutia]] had a population of Sunnis ranging between 1% and 2%. Many other federal subjects had a Muslim population of 0.1% to 0.9%. [[Shia Islam]], otherwise, was a branch of 300,000 people, or 0.2% of the total population of Russia. It was primarily represented in [[Dagestan]] (2%), [[Adygea]] (1%), [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] (1%), [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (1%), [[Novgorod

title: Demographics of Russia

text: Russian is the common official language throughout Russia understood by 99% of its current inhabitants and widespread in many adjacent areas of Asia and Eastern Europe. National subdivisions of Russia have additional official languages (see their respective articles). There are more than 100 languages spoken in Russia, many of which are in danger of extinction. Russia officially recognizes Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as traditional religions. Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers; many people identify only nominally with a religion. There is no official census on religion in Russia. The Pew Research Center found that 71%

title: Religion in Russia

text: secular authorities. In August 2012 the first large-scale survey and mapping of religions in Russia based on [[self-identification]] was published in the "Arena Atlas", an extension of the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 Census]], with data on seventy-nine out of eighty-three of the [[federal subjects of Russia]]. On a rounded total population of 142,800,000 the survey found that 66,840,000 people, or 47.1% of the total population, were [[Christianity|Christians]]. Among them, 58,800,000 or 41% of the population were believers in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], 5,900,000 or 4.1% were Christians without any denomination, 2,100,000 or 1.5% were believers in [[Orthodox Christianity]] without belonging to

title: Religion in Russia

text: forefathers" were the third-largest religious group after Christianity and Islam, with 1,700,000 believers or 1.2% of the total population of Russia in 2012. These religions are protected under the 1997 law, whose commentary specifies that "other religions and creeds which constitute an inseparable part of the historical heritage of Russia's peoples" also applies to "ancient Pagan cults, which have been preserved or are being revived". Tengrism is a term which encompasses the traditional ethnic and [[shamanism|shamanic]] religions of the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and [[Mongol]]ic peoples, and modern movements reviving them in Russia. Paganism in Russia is primarily represented by the revival

title: Religion in Russia

text: the Russian Orthodox Church could engage in missionary activity to convert non-Orthodox people, and apostasy was treated as an offense punishable by law. Catholicism, Islam and other religions were tolerated only among outsider ("inoroditsy") peoples but forbidden from spreading among Russians. Throughout the history of early and imperial Russia there were, however, religious movements which posed a challenge to the monopoly of the Russian Orthodox Church and put forward stances of freedom of conscience, namely the Old Believers—who separated from the Russian Orthodox Church after Patriarch Nikon's reform in 1653 (the "Raskol")—, and Spiritual Christianity (or Molokanism). It is worth

title: Religion in Turkey

text: the name of Islam." Especially when the AKP Islamists are in power to enforce Islam upon society, this is making citizens turn their back on it. Religion in Turkey Islam is the largest religion in Turkey according to the state, with 99.8% of the population being automatically registered by the state as Muslim, for anyone whose parents are not of any other officially recognised religion. Due to the nature of this method, the official number of Muslims include people with no religion; converted Christians/Jews; people who are of a different religion than Islam, Christianity or Judaism; and anyone who is

title: Religion in Turkey

text: Religion in Turkey Islam is the largest religion in Turkey according to the state, with 99.8% of the population being automatically registered by the state as Muslim, for anyone whose parents are not of any other officially recognised religion. Due to the nature of this method, the official number of Muslims include people with no religion; converted Christians/Jews; people who are of a different religion than Islam, Christianity or Judaism; and anyone who is of a different religion than their parents, but has not applied for a change of their individual records. The state currently does not allow the individual

title: Freedom of religion in Russia

text: a radical trend of Islam" that claimed superiority over mainstream Islam, and for making "remarks to Muslim girls about their immodest dress", among other things. The 2006 amendments allow some charges of extremism where people are alleged to have defended or expressed sympathy with other individuals already charged with extremism. Laws against extremism have been tightened over time. The 2016 Yarovaya Law, named after politician Irina Yarovaya, extends the legal restrictions against extremism to include evangelism by minority faiths. On May 5, 2015, customs authorities in Russia seized a shipment of religious literature containing Ossetian-language Bibles published by Jehovah's Witnesses.

title: Religion in Asia

text: Only six countries are predominantly Christian: Asian Russia which is predominantly the Russian Orthodox Church ;Cyprus, which is predominantly Orthodox; the Philippines, which is the third-largest Roman Catholic nation in the world; Timor Leste, which is the most overwhelming Christian (99.6%) and Roman Catholic nation in Asia (97.6%) ; Armenia, which was the first state to adopt a Christian denomination as its state religion; and Georgia. Christianity also accounts for 29.2% of South Korea's population (54.5% of its religious population) and is now the predominant religion in South Korea, Christianity is also a large minority religion in Lebanon accounting for

title: Religion in Russia

text: as it was the religion of the Byzantine Empire. Since then, religion, mysticism and statehood remained intertwined elments in Russia's identity. The Russian Orthodox Church, perceived as the glue consolidating the nation, accompanied the expansion of the Russian Empire in the eighteenth century. Czar Nicholas I's ideology, under which the empire reached its widest extent, proclaimed "Orthodoxy, autocracy and nation" ("Pravoslavie", "samoderzhavie", "narodnost"') as its foundations. The dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church was sealed by law, and, as the empire incorporated peoples of alternative creeds, religions were tied to ethnicities to skirt any issue of integration. Until 1905, only

title: Christianity in Russia

text: Christianity in Russia Christianity in Russia is by some estimates the largest religion in the country, with nearly 50% of the population identifying as Christian. The largest tradition is the Russian Orthodox Church. According to official sources, there are 68 eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are from 500,000 to one million Old Believers, who represent an older form of Russian Orthodox Christianity, and who separated from the Orthodox Church in the 17th century as a protest against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms. The Catholic Church estimates that there are from 600,000 to 1.5 million Catholics in the country, exceeding

title: Russia

text: population celebrate Easter by making traditional Easter cakes, coloured eggs and paskha. Islam is the second largest religion in Russia after Russian Orthodoxy. It is the traditional or predominant religion amongst some Caucasian ethnicities (notably the Chechens, the Ingush and the Circassians), and amongst some Turkic peoples (notably the Tatars and the Bashkirs). Buddhism is traditional in three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia. According to various reports, the proportion of not religious people in Russia is between 16% and 48% of the population. According to recent studies, the proportion of atheists has significantly decreased over the

title: Christianity in Russia

text: World Translation of the Holy Scriptures" in Russian was released in 2007. Christianity in Russia Christianity in Russia is by some estimates the largest religion in the country, with nearly 50% of the population identifying as Christian. The largest tradition is the Russian Orthodox Church. According to official sources, there are 68 eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are from 500,000 to one million Old Believers, who represent an older form of Russian Orthodox Christianity, and who separated from the Orthodox Church in the 17th century as a protest against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms. The Catholic Church estimates that

title: Religion in Kurdistan

text: and that all major religions of the world are taught on an equal basis. As of 2012, KRG and Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), are the only administrations in the entire region that do not openly endorse a single religion in public schools. Religion in Kurdistan Religious diversity has been a feature of Kurdistan for many centuries. Main religions that currently exist in Kurdistan are as follows: Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Alevism, and Judaism. Today, Sunni Islam is the most adhered religion in Kurdistan. The majority of Kurdish people are Muslim by religion. Islam has gained strong popular support and historically

title: Religion in Russia

text: gained a following among Russians since the end of the Soviet period, primarily through the missionary work of itinerant [[guru]]s and [[swami]]s, and organisations like the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]] and the [[Brahma Kumaris]]. The Tantra Sangha originated in Russia itself. The excavation of an ancient idol representing [[Vishnu]] in the [[Volga]] region in 2007 fueled the interest for Hinduism in Russia. However, Russian Hindus face the hostility of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2011, prosecutors in [[Tomsk]] unsuccessfully tried to outlaw the "[[Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is]]", the central text of the Krishnaite movement, on charge of extremism. Russian

title: Religion in Russia

text: Russian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate; "Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov<nowiki>'</nowiki>"), despite legally dating back only to 1949, claims to be the direct successor of the pre-revolutionary Orthodox Russian Church ("Pravoslavnaia Rossiskaia Tserkov<nowiki>'</nowiki>"). They have a slightly different name reflecting the distinction between "Russkiy", ethnic [[Russians]], and "Rossiyane", [[citizens of Russia]] whether ethnic Russians or belonging to other ethnic groups. There are also a variety of small Orthodox Christian churches which claim as well to be the direct successors of the pre-revolutionary religious body, including the Russian Orthodox Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. There have often been disputes between

title: Religion in Barcelona

text: Religion in Barcelona The most widely practiced religion in Barcelona is Catholicism but secularization is strong, in line with the Spanish and Western European trends. After Christianity, Islam is the second largest religion. The city also has the largest Jewish community in Spain, with an estimated 3,500 Jewish residents. In 2011, data from a survey of religious practices showed that 49.5% of Barcelona's residents identified themselves as Catholic. This number dropped to 45% within the demographic of young people between the ages of 14 - 25. There are an estimated 3,500 Jewish residents in Barcelona. In 2014, 322,698 people in

title: Religion in Russia

text: in Russia, the "ethnic principle" is based on the assumption that the entire number of people belonging to a given ethnic group are adherents of that group's traditional religion. This principle is often used to estimate the magnitude of very small groups, for instance Finnish Lutheranism at 63,000, assuming that all the 34,000 Finns and 28,000 Estonians of Russia are believers in their historical religion; or German Lutheranism at 400,000, assuming that all Germans in Russia believe in their historical religion. However, whether for small or larger groups, this approach may lead to gross mistakes. The ethnic principle is sometimes

title: Religion in Russia

text: are historically Islamic is larger, 10% to 40% depending on the group, and yet smaller than any assumption based on the ethnic principle. However, many Muslims in Russia attend [[Friday prayers], [[Eid prayers]] and observe [[Ramadan]]. The most accurate criterion to count religious populations in Russia is that of "self-identification", which allows to count also those people who identify themselves with a given religion but do not actually practise it. This principle provides a picture of how much given ideas and outlooks are widespread among the people. Nevertheless, it has been noted that different people often give different meanings to

title: Religion in Russia

text: misused to deliberately inflate the prevalence of certain religions, especially the larger ones, for political aims. For instance, Islamic and Orthodox leaders routinely claim that their religions have respectively 20 million and 120 million adherents in Russia, by counting all the individuals belonging to the ethnic groups which historically belonged to these religions. By applying the ethnic principle, people who are indifferent to religion or are outspokenly atheists, those who have converted to a different faith to that assigned by nationality, and people who participate in religions which historically have not been associated to specific ethnic groups in Russia—namely Old

title: Religion in Russia

text: [[Yakutia]], 8% in [[Tuva]], 3% in [[Kalmykia]], between 2% and 3% in [[Khakassia]], [[Buryatia]] and [[Kamchatka Krai|Kamchatka]]. The "Arena Atlas" did not count the population of [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]], where much of the [[Chukchi people|Chukchi]] practise their indigenous religion. [[File:Dharmačakra.png|thumb|Russian "[[dharmachakra]]" illustrated in the essay entitled "Apology of Russian Buddhism" published by B. S. Grechin, the leader of an ethnic Russian Buddhist monastery in [[Yaroslavl]], in 2016.]] In 2012, Buddhism was practised by 700,000 people in Russia, or 0.5% of the total population. It is the traditional religion of some Turkic and Mongolic ethnic groups in Russia (the [[Kalmyk people|Kalmyks]],

title: Religion in Russia

text: religion in Russia after Orthodox Christianity. It is the historicaly dominant religion among some [[peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian ethnic groups]] (notably the [[Chechens]], the [[Ingush people|Ingush]] and the [[Adyghe people|Adyghe]]), and some [[Turkic peoples]] (notably the [[Tatars]] and the [[Bashkirs]]). In 2012, Muslims in Russia were 9,400,000 or 6.5% of the total population. However, the "Arena Atlas" did not survey the populations of two federal subjects with Islamic majorities which together had a population of nearly 2 million, namely [[Chechnya]] and [[Ingushetia]], thus the total number of Muslims may be slightly larger. Among these Muslims, 6,700,000 or 4.6% of the

title: Religion in Russia

text: Foundation determined that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are consistent with Pew's 2011 survey (73.6%), VTSIOM's 2010 survey (77%), and Ipsos MORI's 2011 survey (69%). A 2015 study estimated about 10,000 Christians from a Muslim background. [[Orthodox Christianity]] is the dominant religion of the country, and, besides it, [[Old Believers]] and [[Lutheranism]] also have had a considerable role in the multiethnic history of Russia. [[Evangelicalism]] and [[Catholicism]] (among Russians) are relatively recent additions to Christianity in Russia. Orthodox Christian believers constituted 42.6% of the total population of Russia in 2012. Most of them were members of the Russian

title: Religion in Russia

text: the population of Russia, while today their number has shrunk to far less than 1% and there are few descendants of Old Believers' families who feel a cultural link with the faith of their ancestors. Catholicism was the religion of 140,000 Russian citizens, about 0.1% of the total population, in 2012. They are concentrated in Western Russia with numbers ranging between 0.1% and 0.7% in most of the federal subjects of that region. The number of "ethnic Catholics" in Russia, that is to say Poles and Germans, and smaller minorities, is continually declining due to emigration and secularisation. At the

title: Religion in Russia

text: Moscow, and followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness throughout Russia, appealed to the government of [[India]] asking an intervention to resolve the issue. The move triggered strong protests by members of the [[Parliament of India]] who wanted the government to take a strong position. The final court hearing in Tomsk was then scheduled on 28 December, after the court agreed to seek the opinion of the Tomsk ombudsman on human rights and of [[Indology|Indologists]] from Moscow and Saint Petersburg. [[Category:Religion in Russia| ]] Religion in Russia Religion in Russia is diverse with Christianity, especially Orthodoxy, being the most

title: Religion in Russia

text: and Taoist priest, founder of the Center of Traditional Taoist Studies, which has been active in Moscow since 2002. Another branch present in Russia is [[Wuliupai|Wuliu Taoism]], headquartered in Saint Petersburg since 2007. In modern Russia, "all kinds of occult, Pagan and pseudo-Christian faiths are widespread". Some of them are "disciplined organisations with a well-defined membership". The scholars of religion Sergei Filatov and Roman Lunkin, estimated in the mid-2000s that well-organised new religious movements had about 300,000 members. Nevertheless, well-organised movements constitute only "a drop in the 'new religious' ocean". Most of them are indeed "amorphous, eclectic and fluid", difficult

title: Religion in Russia

text: Oblast]] (1%), [[Penza Oblast]] (1%), [[Tatarstan]] (1%) and [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug|Yugra]] (1%). The federal subjects of Russia with an Islamic absolute majority—more than 50%—were Chechnya, Ingushetia, [[Dagestan]] (82.6%), [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (55.4%) and [[Tatarstan]] (55%). Significant percentages (over 5%) were found in [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] (48.0%), [[Bashkortostan]] (38.6%), [[Yamalia]] (17.4%), [[Astrakhan Oblast]] (14.6%), [[Adygea]] (12.6%), [[Orenburg Oblast]] (13.9%) and [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug|Yugra]] (10.9%). [[File:Синагога на Большой Бронной 2.jpg|thumb|Bolshaya Bronnaya Synagogue in Moscow.]] In 2012 there were 140,000 religious Jews in Russia, while the number of ethnic [[Jews]] was significantly larger. Indeed, most ethnic Jews in Russia are not Jewish by religion, [[Judaism]] being the

title: Religion in Russia

text: existence before the Russian Revolution have been unable to re-register, and the Catholic Church has been forbidden to develop its own territorial jurisdictions. According to some Western observers, respect for freedom of religion by Russian authorities has declined since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses are currently banned in Russia. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 there has been a revival and spread of Siberian shamanism, and the emergence of Hindu and new religious movements throughout Russia. There has been an "exponential increase in new religious groups and alternative spiritualities", Eastern religions

title: Religion in Russia

text: the Soviet period". Thus, for the first time, the USCIRF classified Russia as one of the world's worst violators of freedom of religion, a "country of particular concern" under the [[International Religious Freedom Act of 1998|International Religious Freedom Act]]. The report also affirmed that Russia "is the sole state to have not only continually intensified its repression of religious freedom ..., but also to have expanded its repressive policies. ...Those policies, ranging from administrative harassment to arbitrary imprisonment to extrajudicial killing, are implemented in a fashion that is systematic, ongoing, and egregious". [[File:Александр Шахов на суде (12 августа 2011).jpg|thumb|Alexander Shakov,

title: Religion in Russia

text: to measure, concerned with health, healing, and lifestyle, made up of fragments borrowed from Eastern religions like Buddhism, Hinduism and [[yoga]]. According to Filatov and Lunkin, these movements, albeit mostly unorganised, represent a "self-contained system" rather than a "transitional stage on the way to some other religion". Native new religious movements of Russia are [[Fourth Way]], [[Rerikhism]], [[Ivanovism]], [[Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism]], and others. [[Rerikhism]], which was started before the "[[perestroika]]", is a paradigmatic example of a movement which adapts Eastern religious beliefs to the conditions of contemporary Russia. It is not a centrally structured movement, but takes the form of

title: Religion in Russia

text: in [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]. In cities like Moscow, Saint Petersburg and [[Samara]], often up to 1% of the population identify as Buddhists. Buddhism in Russia is almost exclusively of the [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan]] [[Vajrayana]] schools, especially [[Gelug]] but increasingly also [[Nyingma]] and [[Kagyu]] ([[Diamond Way Buddhism]]). There are many Russian converts, and the newer schools have been often criticised by representatives of the Gelug as the result of a Russianised ("Rossiysky") Buddhism and of Western Buddhist missionaries. [[File:A Russian Hindu girl.jpg|thumb|A Russian Hindu girl.]] Hinduism, especially in the forms of Krishnaism, [[historical Vedic religion|Vedism]] and [[Tantra|Tantrism]], but also in other forms, has

title: Freedom of religion in Russia

text: and sects" and implied that these included Pentecostals and other proselytizing religions. Freedom of religion in Russia In Russia, the prominence and authority of various religious groups is closely tied to the country's political situation. In the 10th century, Prince Vladimir I, who was converted by missionaries from Byzantium, embraced Christianity as the official Russian religion. For approximately 1,000 years thereafter, Russian Orthodoxy became the country’s primary denomination. Although the constitution of the former Soviet Union nominally guaranteed religious freedom, religious activities were greatly constrained and membership in religious organizations was considered incompatible with membership in the Communist Party. Thus,

title: Freedom of religion in Russia

text: Freedom of religion in Russia In Russia, the prominence and authority of various religious groups is closely tied to the country's political situation. In the 10th century, Prince Vladimir I, who was converted by missionaries from Byzantium, embraced Christianity as the official Russian religion. For approximately 1,000 years thereafter, Russian Orthodoxy became the country’s primary denomination. Although the constitution of the former Soviet Union nominally guaranteed religious freedom, religious activities were greatly constrained and membership in religious organizations was considered incompatible with membership in the Communist Party. Thus, overt claims of religious beliefs was a hindrance to individual advancement. While

title: Vietnamese people in Russia

text: Vietnamese students were studying in Russian universities; the Russian government provides scholarships to 160 of them. Notable Vietnamese students who have studied in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union include Quynh Nguyen, a pianist from Hanoi who received a scholarshop to Moscow's Gnessin State Musical College. Vietnamese people in Russia Vietnamese people in Russia form the 72nd-largest ethnic minority community in Russia according to the 2002 census. With a population of 26,205, they are one of the smaller groups of overseas Vietnamese. However, unofficial estimates put their population as high as 100,000 to 150,000. Almost two-thirds reside in

title: Religion in Russia

text: alone represented 44% of the followers of the "traditional religions of the forefathers", thus approximately 750,000 people. Rodnover organisations include the Union of Slavic Rodnover (Native Faith) Communities headquartered in [[Kaluga]]. The Moscow Community was the first to be registered by the state in 1994. Russian Rodnovers believe in [[Rod (Slavic religion)|Rod]], the supreme God, and in lesser deities who include [[Perun]] and [[Dazhbog]]. Russian centers of Rodnovery are situated also in [[Dolgoprudny]], [[Pskov]] and other cities, and [[Moscow]] has several shrines. Uralic Neopaganism is practised by Finno-Ugric ethnic minorities (primarily the [[Mari people|Mari]], the [[Mordvins]], the [[Udmurt people|Udmurts]] and

title: Religion in Russia

text: Believers, new Russian converts to Protestantism, Catholicism and Eastern religions, and others—are automatically excluded from the calculations. Another criterion to count religious populations in Russia is that of "religious observance". Based on this principle, very few Russians would be religious. It has been found that between 0.5% and 2% of people in big cities attend Easter services, and overall just between 2% and 10% of the total population (3 to 15 million people) are actively practising Orthodox Christians. However, most Russians do attend Christmas services and avoid drinking alcohol during Easter. The proportion of practising Muslims among ethnic groups which

title: Vietnamese people in Russia

text: Vietnamese people in Russia Vietnamese people in Russia form the 72nd-largest ethnic minority community in Russia according to the 2002 census. With a population of 26,205, they are one of the smaller groups of overseas Vietnamese. However, unofficial estimates put their population as high as 100,000 to 150,000. Almost two-thirds reside in Moscow, concentrated in the southern part of the city, near the Akademicheskaya Metro station, where authorities have erected a statue of Ho Chi Minh. Other large communities can be found in Vladivostok and Saint Petersburg, though the community in Moscow is the most well-established and has the highest

title: Religion in Russia

text: the Buryats and the [[Tuvans]]). In 2012 it was the religion of 62% of the total population of [[Tuva]], 38% of [[Kalmykia]] and 20% of [[Buryatia]]. Buddhism also has believers accounting for 6% in [[Zabaykalsky Krai]], primarily consisting in ethnic Buryats, and of 0.5% to 0.9% in [[Tomsk Oblast]] and [[Yakutia]]. Buddhist communities may be found in other federal subjects of Russia, between 0.1% and 0.5% in [[Sakhalin Oblast]], [[Khabarovsk Krai]], [[Amur Oblast]], [[Irkutsk Oblast]], [[Altay Republic|Altay]], [[Khakassia]], [[Novosibirsk Oblast]], [[Tomsk Oblast]], [[Tyumen Oblast]], [[Orenburg Oblast]], [[Arkhangelsk Oblast]], [[Murmansk Oblast]], [[Moscow]] and [[Moscow Oblast]], [[Saint Petersburg]] and [[Leningrad Oblast]], and

title: Religion in Russia

text: superior "Aquarian race". According to some Western commentators, respect for [[freedom of religion]] by secular authorities has declined in Russia since the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2006, a Mari Pagan priest, Vitaly Tanakov, was successfully convicted of extremism and sentenced to 120 hours of compulsory labour for having published a politico-religious tract, "A Priest Speaks" ("Onajeng Ojla"), which in 2009 was added to the federal list of material deemed "extremist". In 2011 there was an unsuccessful attempt to ban the "[[Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is]]" on the same charge. In August 2016, the premises of a Vedic monastery founded

title: Religion in Russia

text: small [[Russian Greek Catholic Church]] as a [[Byzantine Rite]] church "sui juris" ("of its own jurisdiction") in [[full communion]] with the Catholic Church. Various denominations of Protestantism, both historical and [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]], as well as [[Pentecostalism]], were the religion of 0.2% (300,000) of the population of Russia in 2012. Their number was slightly more than 1% only in [[Tuva]] (1.8%), [[Udmurtia]] (1.4%) and the [[Altai Republic]] (1%). [[Lutheranism]] has been on a continuous decline among Finnish and German ethnic minorities, while it has seen some Russian converts, so that some traditionally Finnish churches, like the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria]], today

title: Religion in Russia

text: of the [[ethnic religion]]s of the [[Russians]] (Slavic), the [[Ossetians]] (Scythian), but also by those of [[peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] and [[Finno-Ugric peoples|Finno-Ugric]] ethnic minorities. In 2012, Rodnovery, Caucasian Neopaganism, and Ossetian Uatsdin were represented by significant numbers of believers in [[North Ossetia–Alania]] (29%), [[Karachay-Cherkessia]] (12%), [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (3%), [[Orenburg Oblast]] (over 3%), [[Kemerovo Oblast]] (over 3%), 2% to 3% in [[Dagestan]], [[Astrakhan Oblast]], [[Kaluga Oblast]], [[Tyumen Oblast]], [[Irkutsk Oblast]] and [[Magadan Oblast]]. The Slavic Native Faith was also present in many of the federal subjects of Western Russia in percentages ranging between 1% and 2%. The Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery)

title: Religion in Japan

text: Chinese religions. It includes sects and reformed movements such as Ijun or Ijunism (Ryukyuan: いじゅん "Ijun"; Japanese: 違順教 "Ijunkyō"), founded in the 1970s. The Ainu religion is the indigenous belief system of the Ainu people of Hokkaido and parts of Far Eastern Russia. It is an animistic religion centered around the belief that "Kamuy" (spirits or gods) live in everything. Most Chinese people in Japan practice the Chinese folk religion (), also known as Shenism (), that is very similar to Japanese Shinto. The Chinese folk religion consists in the worship of the ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors, "shen" (神

title: Religion in Russia

text: (including [[Krishnaism|Krishnaites]]), and 140,000 were [[Judaism|religious Jews]]. Among the [[irreligion|not religious]] population, 36,000,000 people or 25% declared to [[spiritual but not religious|"believe in God (or in a higher power)" but to "not profess any particular religion"]], 18,600,000 or 13% were [[atheism|atheists]], and 7,900,000 or 5.5% did not state any religious, spiritual or atheist belief. [[File:Кафедральный собор Благовещения Пресвятой Богородицы.jpg|thumb|Russian Orthodox [[Annunciation Cathedral, Voronezh|Annunciation Cathedral]] in [[Voronezh]].]] Christianity was the religious self-identification of 47.1% of the Russian population in 2012. However, later that year the Levada Center determined that 76% of Russians are Christians, and in June 2013 the Public Opinion

title: Japanese people in Russia

text: school in Moscow. There is a part-time Japanese school in Saint Petersburg, the St.Petersburg Japanese Language School, which holds classes at the Anglo-American School Saint Petersburg branch. Japanese people in Russia Japanese people in Russia form a small part of the worldwide community of "Nikkeijin", consisting mainly of Japanese expatriates and their descendants born in Russia. They count various notable political figures among their number. The first Japanese person to settle in Russia is believed to have been Dembei, a fisherman stranded on the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1701 or 1702. Unable to return to his native Ōsaka due to the

title: Japanese people in Russia

text: Japanese people in Russia Japanese people in Russia form a small part of the worldwide community of "Nikkeijin", consisting mainly of Japanese expatriates and their descendants born in Russia. They count various notable political figures among their number. The first Japanese person to settle in Russia is believed to have been Dembei, a fisherman stranded on the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1701 or 1702. Unable to return to his native Ōsaka due to the Tokugawa Shogunate's "sakoku" policy, he was instead taken to Moscow and ordered by Peter the Great to begin teaching the language as soon as possible; he thus

title: Religion in Russia

text: having been declared illegal in 2015. Hinduism in Russia was practised by 140,000 people, or 0.1% of the total population, in 2012. It constituted 2% of the population in the [[Altai Republic]], 0.5% in [[Samara Oblast]], 0.4% in [[Khakassia]], [[Kalmykia]], [[Bryansk Oblast]], [[Kamchatka Krai|Kamchatka]], [[Kurgan Oblast]], [[Tyumen Oblast]], [[Chelyabinsk Oblast]], 0.3% in [[Sverdlovsk Oblast]], 0.2% to 0.3% in [[Yamalia]], [[Krasnodar Krai]], [[Stavropol Krai]], [[Rostov Oblast]], [[Sakhalin Oblast]], and 0.1% to 0.2% in other federal subjects. [[Taoism]] started to be disseminated in Russia after the end of the Soviet Union, particularly through the work of Master [[Alex Anatole]], a Russian himself

title: Iranians in Russia

text: Iranians in Russia Iranian Russians or Persian Russians (; ) are Iranians in the Russian Federation, and are Russian citizens or permanent residents of (partial) Iranian national background. Iranians have a long history within what is modern-day Russia, stretching back millennia. With their historical core in southern Dagestan and the pivotal Iranian town of Derbent, the territory remained, intermittently, in Iranian hands encompassed for many centuries until 1813, resulting in a steady flow and settling of people from mainland Iran. There are two historically Iranian communities in Russia; the Tats, who are amongst the native inhabitants of the North Caucasus,

title: Religion in York

text: UK Islamic Mission Islamic centre. In 2007 after armed police were put on patrol in York as a response to terrorist threats Professor Mohamed El-Gomati, of York Mosque, commented that "People are trying to change our way of life – everybody's way of life, not just a white person's or a brown person's . . . We are all in this together. I am happy to say to extremists, of which thankfully we don't have any in York, that what they are doing is wrong, is non-Islamic." Various Buddhist traditions are represented in and around York. Religion in York Religion

title: Religion in Russia

text: Orthodox Church, while small minorities were Old Believers and Orthodox Christian believers who either did not belong to any church or belonged to non-Russian Orthodox churches (including the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] and the [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]). Unaffiliated Orthodox Christians or non-Russian Orthodox Christians were 1.5% (2,100,000) of the total population. Minor Orthodox Christian churches are represented among ethnic minorities of [[Ukrainians in Russia|Ukrainians]], [[Georgians in Russia|Georgians]] and [[Armenians in Russia|Armenians]]. Unaffiliated Orthodox Christians and minorities of non-Russian Orthodox Christians comprised over 4% of the population in [[Tyumen Oblast]] (9%), [[Irkutsk Oblast]] (6%), the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] (6%), [[Chelyabinsk Oblast]] (5%),

title: Iranians in Russia

text: from Iran, who migrated to the North Caucasus and parts of Transcaucasia. In Russia, they inhabit Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Krasnodar Krai. Iranians in Russia Iranian Russians or Persian Russians (; ) are Iranians in the Russian Federation, and are Russian citizens or permanent residents of (partial) Iranian national background. Iranians have a long history within what is modern-day Russia, stretching back millennia. With their historical core in southern Dagestan and the pivotal Iranian town of Derbent, the territory remained, intermittently, in Iranian hands encompassed for many centuries until 1813, resulting in a steady flow and settling of people from mainland

title: Crime in Russia

text: system in Russia was "the highest stage of robber capitalism”. He believes that "Russia is not corrupt. Corruption is what happens in all countries when businessmen offer officials large bribes for favors. Today’s Russia is unique. The businessmen, the politicians, and the bureaucrats are the same people. They have privatized the country’s wealth and taken control of its financial flows." Such views are also shared by former CIA director James Woolsey who said in a 1999 Congressional Statement: "I have been particularly concerned for some years, beginning during my tenure, with the interpenetration of Russian organized crime, Russian intelligence and

title: Religion in China

text: is very similar to Han Chinese religion. Bimoism (毕摩教 "Bìmójiào") is the indigenous religion of the Yi people(s), the largest ethnic group in Yunnan after the Han Chinese. This faith is represented by three types of religious specialists: the "bimo" (毕摩, "ritual masters", "priests"), the "sunyi" (male shamans) and the "monyi" (female shamans). What distinguishes the "bimo" and the shamans is the way through which they acquire their authority. While both are regarded as the "mediators between humanity and the divine", the shamans are initiated through a "spiritual inspiration" (which involves illness or vision) whereas the "bimo"—who are always males

title: Religion in the Netherlands

text: Dutch liberal culture against what he saw as a "backwards religion", stricter immigration laws were enacted. Religious tensions increased after the murder of Pim Fortuyn in 2002 and Theo van Gogh was killed in 2004 by Mohammed Bouyeri, a conservative Muslim. In December 2014 for the first time there are more atheists (25%) than theists (17%) in the Netherlands. The majority of the population being agnostic (31%) or spiritual but not religious (27%). in 2015, 63% of Dutch people think that religion does more harm than good. This is according to a study on religion and spirituality conducted by research

title: Religion

text: relationship to it and to any posited entities. In terms of Christian theology and ultimate truths, people rely on reason, experience, scripture, and tradition to test and gauge what they experience and what they should believe. Furthermore, religious models, understanding, and metaphors are also revisable, as are scientific models. Regarding religion and science, Albert Einstein states (1940): "For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action; it cannot justifiably speak of

title: Religion in Russia

text: the same identity markers; for instance, large percentages of people who self-identify as "Orthodox" have been found to believe that God is a "life force", to believe in [[reincarnation]], astral connections, and other [[New Age]] ideas. Another method that has sometimes been used to determine the magnitude of religions in Russia is to count the number of their officially registered organisations. Such criterion, however, leads to inaccurate assumptions for various reasons. There is not the same arithmetic relationship between religions' number of local organisations and the number of their believers, as different religions have different organisational structures. Furthermore, different religions

title: Human rights in Russia

text: were opened. According to nationwide opinion poll carried by VCIOM in 2006, 44% of respondents consider Russia "a common house of many nations" where all must have equal rights, 36% think that "Russians should have more rights since they constitute the majority of the population", 15% think "Russia must be the state of Russian people". However the question is also what exactly does the term "Russian" denote. For 39% of respondents Russians are all who grew and were brought up in Russia's traditions; for 23% Russians are those who works for the good of Russia; 15% respondents think that only

title: Religion in Russia

text: religion of just a minority of ethnic Jews; most of them are atheists and not religious, many are Christians, and a significant proportion of them are Buddhists. In 2012, only 13% of ethnic Jews believed in Judaism, 13% were Orthodox Christians, 4% simply Christians, 27% atheists, 25% spiritual but not religious, 4% Buddhists and 3% Pagans. Religious Jews were mostly concentrated in [[Kamchatka Krai]] (0.4%), [[Saint Petersburg]] (0.4%), [[Kursk Oblast]] (0.4%), [[Khabarovsk Krai]] (0.3%), [[Stavropol Krai]] (0.3%), [[Buryatia]] (0.2%), the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] (0.2%), [[Kalmykia]] (0.2%) and [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] (0.2%). [[Modern Paganism|Paganism]] and Tengrism, counted together as "traditional religions of the

title: Irreligion in Russia

text: many people. " The number of Russian atheists of that time included a large part of Masons, later disillusioned at godlessness and converted to Orthodoxy. At least as of 1899, it was not allowed to have any religion. The "Penal Code on Penalties and Corrections" of August 15, 1845 for the withdrawal from Orthodoxy provided for liability in the form of hard labor for a period of eight to ten years. In Soviet Union, state atheism was an essential part of the state ideology. In Constitution of Russia (and subsequently in USSR Constitution, along with freedom of religion was also

title: Vietnamese people in Russia

text: proportion of long-term residents (those who have been living there for more than 5 years). Assessments of their proficiency in the Russian language vary as well; the Census recorded that roughly 80% could speak Russian, while one article in Vietnamese state-run media claimed that "many Vietnamese find it unnecessary to learn Russian. In fact, many hardly speak the language at all." The Census also recorded that virtually all can speak Vietnamese. Most Vietnamese people in Russia are petty entrepreneurs in the retail industry; with Russia's 2007 reform of rules for retail markets, which put restrictions on the proportion of immigrant-owned

title: Japanese people in Russia

text: Krai between May 1951 and June 1953. Some continue to return home as late as 2006. Following the normalisation of Japanese-Soviet relations, a few Japanese went to Russia for commercial, educational, or diplomatic purposes; however, as Vladivostok was closed to foreign settlement until the 1970s, they instead concentrated in Moscow. There is one Japanese-medium school, the Japanese School in Moscow, founded in 1965. The 2002 Russian census showed 835 people claiming Japanese ethnicity (nationality). 2008 figures from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs state that 1,607 Japanese nationals reside in Russia. The Japanese School in Moscow is a Japanese international day

title: Buddhism in Russia

text: regions. In 1992, the Dalai Lama made his first visit to Tuva in Russia. There are several Tibetan Buddhist university-monasteries throughout Russia, concentrated in Siberia, known as Datsans. Fyodor Shcherbatskoy, a renowned Russian Indologist who traveled to India and Mongolia during the time of the Russian Empire, is widely considered by many to be responsible for laying the foundations for the study of Buddhism in the Western world. There are now between 700,000 and 1.5 million Buddhists in Russia, mainly in the republics of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. In 2012 it was the religion of 62% of the total population

title: What Are The Theosophists?

text: "magic, spiritualism, mesmerism, occultism" is the basis for bringing together people who are sympathetic to Theosophy. Thesis author wrote that, in Blavatsky's opinion, even some supporters of the theoretical materialism can be accepted as members of the Society if they are sufficiently objective to recognize that "spiritual principles" can actually abolish the "limited conceptions of orthodox science." Nevertheless, in the Society there can be no place for atheists or fanatical sectarians of any religion. An Ukrainian philosopher Julia Shabanova wrote that, in Blavatsky's opinion, the genuine Theosophists should have faith in the intangible, omnipotent, omnipresent, and invisible Cause, which "is

title: Transgender people and religion

text: Transgender people and religion The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably. Abrahamic religions have creation stories in which God creates people, "male and female". This is sometimes interpreted as a divine mandate against gender variance. The Torah contains specific prohibitions on cross-dressing and damaged genitals. The term "saris", generally translated to English as "eunuch" or "chamberlain", appears 45 times in the Tanakh. It frequently refers to a trusted but gender variant person who

title: Scientology in Russia

text: June 5 2017 after a raid on a Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg. Matsitsky's case was adopted along with that of another religious worker imprisoned in Russia, Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen. On their imprisonment, Vice Chair of the USCIRF Kristina Arriaga stated "These two cases are examples of the Russian government ‘securitizing’ religion—targeting religious communities it considers illegitimate on the pretext that they pose a national security threat” Scientology in Russia Scientology has been subjected to considerable persecution in Russia. In April 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Russia for repeatedly refusing to consider the Moscow

title: Ainu in Russia

text: Ainu in Russia The Ainu in Russia are an indigenous people of Russia located in Sakhalin Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai and Kamchatka Krai. The Russian Ainu people (), also called Kurile (Курилы), Kamchatka's Kurile (Камчатские Курилы / Камчадальские айны) or Ein (эйны), can be subdivided into six groups. Although only around 100 people currently identify themselves as Ainu in Russia (according to the census of 2010), it is believed that at least 1,000 Russian people are of significant Ainu ancestry. The low numbers identifying as Ainu are a result of the refusal by the federal government to recognise the Ainu as

title: Religion in Australia

text: "The Christian Science Monitor". In the 2016 census, the ABS categorised 7,040,700 Australians (30.1%) as having no religion, up from 4,796,800 (22.3%) in 2011. This category includes agnosticism, atheism, humanism, rationalism, and people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion. While people with no religion are more than 30% of the Australian population, the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not provide information in the annual "1301.0 – Year Book Australia" on religious affiliation as to how many people fall into each sub-category. Data on religious affiliation is only collected by the ABS at the five yearly population census. Atheist interests

title: Irreligion in Russia

text: Irreligion in Russia Irreligion was official state policy during the Soviet Union and was rigorously enforced. This led to the persecution of Christians in the country. Since the collapse of Communism, Russia has seen an upsurge of religion. Adding together those who are undecided, those who are spiritual but not religious, and those who are atheistic, as of a 2012 survey, 43.5% of Russians claim no particular religious affiliation. Many Russian secularists feel that the new religious establishments are now abusing the system for their own advantage despite the separation of church and state in the Russian Constitution. Most Russians

title: Irreligion in Russia

text: Age of majority in religious associations, as well as the education of juvenile religions contrary to their will and without the consent of Kinship or their substitutes. Irreligion in Russia Irreligion was official state policy during the Soviet Union and was rigorously enforced. This led to the persecution of Christians in the country. Since the collapse of Communism, Russia has seen an upsurge of religion. Adding together those who are undecided, those who are spiritual but not religious, and those who are atheistic, as of a 2012 survey, 43.5% of Russians claim no particular religious affiliation. Many Russian secularists feel

title: Dance in mythology and religion

text: practitioners believe they are representing what the Lord is doing through their movements. This is often accompanied with banners, ribbons and, instruments. Bethel Church in Redding, California has a school where people who wished to be trained in prophetic dance can go. Dance in mythology and religion Dance is present in mythology and religion globally. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 5,000-year-old Bhimbetka rock shelters paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting

title: Religion in Asia

text: "gut", or services, in order to gain good fortune for clients, cure illnesses by exorcising negative or 'bad' spirits that cling to people, or propitiate local or village gods. Such services are also held to guide the spirit of a deceased person to higher realms. Today this religion is a minority, but has in recent years seen a resurgence. Vietnamese folk religion or Vietnamese indigenous religion (, ) is the largest religion in Vietnam with about 45.3% of the Vietnamese population[1] that are associated with this religion. Zoroastrianism was once the state religion of the Persian Empire, but is now

title: Bahá'í Faith in Russia

text: her way to Russia. She was encouraged to seek out the Baha'is in Moscow and in Russia officially joined the religion. Luda’s trip to Russia lasted much longer than anticipated, as she decided to introduce her new business of scrapbooking to Russia. This has proven very successful. She returned to New Hampshire in July 2010, and informed the local Baha'is that she had joined the religion and was eager return. Firuz Kazemzadeh is a noted scholar on Russian history, born in Moscow, and an active Bahá'í in the United States. He has published several works on Russian history. The Association

title: Intersex people and religion

text: remained as a distinct identity from popular hijra community. In Tirumantiram Tirumular recorded the relationship between Intersex people and Shiva Warne and Raza argue that an association between intersex and hijra people is mostly unfounded, but popular misunderstandings "cause tremendous fear in the parents" of intersex infants and children. Intersex people and religion Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Intersex people were historically termed hermaphrodites, "congenital eunuchs", or even

title: Religion in Kenya

text: estimated to be around 0.14% of the population. They are mainly located in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, and other urban areas such as Mombasa, Eldoret, Thika and Kisumu. In the 2009 Census, 922,128 people reported themselves as having "no religion". This is 2.4% of the total, making this group larger than the groups reporting themselves as traditionalists, Hindu or other religion. 61,233, 0.2%, reported that they did not know their religion. There is a stigma against people who are atheists in Kenya. A Gallup poll conducted in 2012 found that 88% of Kenyans considered themselves "a religious person", 9%

title: Christianity in Russia

text: government estimates of about 140,000. There is one Catholic Archdiocese, Mother of God at Moscow, with three suffragan dioceses (Saint Clement at Saratov, Saint Joseph at Irkutsk, Transfiguration at Novosibirsk) and the Apostolic Prefecture of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. According to the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, Protestants make up the second or third largest group of Christians in Russia, with approximately 3,500 organizations and more than 1 million followers. A large number of missionaries operating in the country are from Protestant denominations. There is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. According to

title: Religion in Pakistan

text: Jewish custom) but, because his father is a Muslim, Pakistani authorities refuse to recognize him as Jewish. There are people who do not profess any faith (such as atheists and agnostics) in Pakistan, but their numbers are not known. They are particularly in the affluent areas of the larger cities. Some were born in secular families while others in religious ones. According to the 1998 census, people who did not state their religion accounted for 0.5% of the population, but social pressure against claiming no religion was strong. A 2012 study by Gallup Pakistan found that people not adhering to

title: Transgender people and religion

text: a vagina. Ths is represented in ritual by having their part played by men in women's clothes. Third gender, or gender variant, spiritual intermediaries are found in many pacific island cultures, including the bajasa of the eastern Toradja people of Sulawesi, the bantut of the Tausūg people of the south Philippines, and the bayoguin of the pre-Christian Philippines. These shamans are typically biologically male but display feminine behaviours and appearance, and are often homoerotically inclined. The pre-Christian Philippines had a polytheistic religion, which included the hermaphroditic gods Bathala and Malyari, whose names means "Man and Woman in One" and "Powerful

title: Religion in Canada

text: Religion in Canada Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. Christianity is the largest religion in Canada, with Roman Catholics having the most adherents. Christians, representing 67.3% of the population in 2011, are followed by people having no religion with 23.9% of the total population. Other faiths include Muslims (3.2%), Hindus (1.5%), Sikhs (1.4%), Buddhists (1.1%), and Jews (1.0%). Rates of religious adherence are steadily decreasing. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms refers to God. The monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith". However, Canada has no official religion, and

title: Intersex people and religion

text: Intersex people and religion Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Intersex people were historically termed hermaphrodites, "congenital eunuchs", or even congenitally "frigid". Such terms have fallen out of favor, now considered to be misleading and stigmatizing. Intersex people have been treated in different ways by different religions and cultures, and numerous historical accounts exist. The Talmud contains extensive discussion concerning the status of two intersex types in Jewish law;

title: Scythian religion

text: Scythian religion Scythian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Scythians, an ancient Iranian people who dominated Central Asia and the Pontic-Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe throughout Classical Antiquity. What little is known of the religion is drawn from the work of the 5th century Greek historian and ethnographer Herodotus. Scythian religion is assumed to have been related to the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, and to have influenced later Slavic, Hungarian and Turkic mythologies, as well as some contemporary Eastern Iranian and Ossetian traditions. The primary archaeological context of horse sacrifice are burials, notably chariot burials, but

title: Religion in Japan

text: Religion in Japan Religion in Japan is dominated by Shinto (the ethnic religion of the Japanese people) and by Buddhism. According to surveys carried out in 2006 and 2008, less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organized religion: around 35% are Buddhists, 3% to 4% are members of Shinto sects and derived religions, and from fewer than 1% to 2.3% are Christians. Most of the Japanese (50% to 80% considering degrees of syncretism with Buddhism, "shinbutsu-shūgō") pray and worship ancestors and gods (神 "kami", "shin" or, archaically, "jin") at Shinto shrines or at private altars, while

title: Russia for Russians

text: Russia (1845-1894). Gringmut authored one of the first publications to use the slogan. He proclaimed "Russia for Russian" as a slogan of the Russian Monarchist Party, which, he wrote, "clearly sees that if Russia is left to the people of alien stock and religion, and to foreigners, – not only will not be the Autocracy, but Russia herself." Another version attributes the notion to Alexander III, who declared that "Russia should belong to Russians, and all others dwelling on this land must respect and appreciate this people". According to General Aleksey Kuropatkin, Alexander chose "Russia for Russians" as his watchword.

title: Freedom of religion in France

text: Pew Research Center in 2017, France has a high level of government restrictions on religion. Among the world's 25 most populous nations, France is among the 12 countries with a high level of religious restrictions, according to 2015 data. In Europe, France has the second highest level of religious restrictions, behind only Russia. French language terminology related to religion and freedom of religion differs somewhat from English. In particular, there are several misleading faux amis between French and English regarding religion: The relationship between government and religious organizations in France is defined by the 1905 "Law concerning the separation of

title: Religion in Asia

text: largest and the oldest religion in Asia with more than 1 billion followers. Demographically, it is the largest religion in India (80%), Nepal (81%), and the island of Bali (83.5%), with strong minorities in the Asian nations of Bhutan, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Mayanmar, the Philippines, and Afghanistan. Hinduism is subdivided into a number of major currents, the primary ones being Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Smartism and Shaktism. The vast majority of present-day Hindus can be categorized under one of these four groups, although there are many

title: History of the Jews in Russia

text: more strict. The general attitude towards Jewish people was to look down on the religion and the people. It was as both a religion and a race, something that one could not escape if they tried. Slowly, the Jewish people were allowed to move further east towards a less crowded population. This was a small change, and did not come to all Jewish people, and not even a small minority of them. In this more spread out area, the Jewish people lived in communities, known as Schtetls. These communities were very similar to what would be known as ghettos in

title: Religion in Iran

text: In particular after Ismail I captured Tabriz in 1501 and established Safavids dynasty, he proclaimed Twelver Shiʿism as the state religion, ordering conversion of the Sunnis. The population of what is nowadays Azerbaijan was converted to Shiism the same time as the people of what is nowadays Iran. Although conversion was not as rapid as Ismail’s forcible policies might suggest, the vast majority of those who lived in the territory of what is now Iran and Azerbaijan did identify with Shiism by the end of the Safavid era in 1722. As most of Ismail's subjects were Sunni he enforced official

title: Religion in Greece

text: community after the 1920s, when 70,000 to 80,000 survivors of the Armenian Genocide fled to Greece. Today, emigration to North America has diminished the Armenian population of Greece. The number now counts for roughly 20,000-35,000 Greco-Armenians. Some thousands people are members of the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes, the foremost organisation of Hellenic ethnic religion. Over 100,000 people are "sympathisers". On 9 April 2017 the Hellenic ethnic religion was officially recognized by the Greek state. The Jewish community in Greece currently amounts to roughly 7,500 people, concentrated mainly in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, Chalkis, Ioannina, Trikala and Corfu, while very

title: Ainu in Russia

text: speaker of Kurile Ainu and translated several documents from the language to Russian for the NKVD, he didn't pass on the language to his son. (Take Asai, the last speaker of Sakhalin Ainu, died in Japan in 1994.) Ainu in Russia The Ainu in Russia are an indigenous people of Russia located in Sakhalin Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai and Kamchatka Krai. The Russian Ainu people (), also called Kurile (Курилы), Kamchatka's Kurile (Камчатские Курилы / Камчадальские айны) or Ein (эйны), can be subdivided into six groups. Although only around 100 people currently identify themselves as Ainu in Russia (according to the

title: Religion and LGBT people

text: Religion and LGBT people The relationship between religion and LGBT people (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) can vary greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and sects, and regarding different forms of homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender identity. Some of the authoritative bodies and doctrines of the world's largest religions may view these negatively. This can range from quiet discouragement, explicitly forbidding same-sex sexual practices or sex/gender reassignment among adherents, actively opposing social acceptance of LGBT identities, to execution of people engaging in homosexual acts while tolerating sex/gender reassignment in specific cases. Liberal and progressive voices within these

title: Bahá'í Faith in Russia

text: Bahá'í Faith in Russia The history of the Bahá'í Faith (Вера Бахаи) in Russia began soon after the founding in 1844 of the Bábí religion, viewed by Bahá'ís as the direct predecessor of the Bahá'í Faith, with Russian diplomats to Qajar Persia observing, reacting to, and sending updates about the Bábís. The woman later known as Táhirih, who played a central role in the religion of the Báb, was from an influential clerical family from Azerbaijan, which was then ruled by Russia. Russian diplomats later protected Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, before and after his exile from Persia.

title: History of the Jews in Russia

text: the 1880s, waves of anti-Jewish pogroms swept across different regions of the empire for several decades. More than two million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920, mostly to the United States and what is today the State of Israel. The Pale of Settlement took away many of the rights that the Jewish people of the late 17th century Russia were experiencing. At this time, the Jewish people were restricted to an area of what is current day Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Where Western Europe was experiencing emancipation at this time, the laws for the Jewish people were getting

title: Religion in Fiji

text: and religion developed under the Westminster system. Freedom of religion and conscience has been constitutionally protected in Fiji since the country gained independence in 1970. In 1997, a new constitution was drawn up. It stated Although religion and the State are separate, the people of the Fiji Islands acknowledge that worship and reverence of God are the source of good government and leadership. but also guaranteed every person (2) Every person has the right, either individually or in community with others, and both in public and in private, to manifest his or her religion or belief in worship, observance, practice

title: Religion in Canada

text: has a median age of 37.3. Religion in Canada Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. Christianity is the largest religion in Canada, with Roman Catholics having the most adherents. Christians, representing 67.3% of the population in 2011, are followed by people having no religion with 23.9% of the total population. Other faiths include Muslims (3.2%), Hindus (1.5%), Sikhs (1.4%), Buddhists (1.1%), and Jews (1.0%). Rates of religious adherence are steadily decreasing. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms refers to God. The monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith". However,

title: Religion in Bangladesh

text: 0.4% of the total population and they are mostly urban community. Roman Catholicism is predominant among the Bengali Christians, while the remaining are mostly Baptist and others. Few followers of Christianity are also present among certain indigenous tribal communities such as Garo, Santal, Orao, Chakma, khasi, Lushei, Bawm etc. There are approximately 100,000 people adhering to the religion of Sikhism. The presence of this religion goes back to the visiting of Guru Nanak at 1506–07 with some of his followers to spread Sikhism in the region of the present day Bangladesh. When some Bengali people accepted this faith then a

title: Religion in Egypt

text: 2011 Pew Research poll of 1,798 Muslims in Egypt, 63% of those surveyed supported "the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion." However, no such punishment actually exists in the country. In January 2018 the head of the parliament's religious committee, Amr Hamroush, suggested a bill to make atheism illegal, stating that "it [atheism] must be criminalised and categorised as contempt of religion because atheists have no doctrine and try to insult the Abrahamic religions". Atheists or irreligious people cannot change their official religious status, thus statistically they are counted as followers of the religion they were born