page_title: Demographics of the world
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Demographics of the world / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Weltreligionen.png and translated into English. Original source http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Weltreligionen.png is GFDL. Español: Religiones del mundo. es:Cristianismo: &#160;&#160; Católico &#160;&#160; Protestante &#160;&#160; Ortodoxo es:Islam: &#160;&#160; Sunismo &#160;&#160; Chiismo &#160;&#160; Otros es:Budismo: &#160;&#160; Theravada &#160;&#160; Mahāyāna &#160;&#160; Vajrayāna Étnicas: &#160;&#160; Judaísmo &#160;&#160; Hinduismo &#160;&#160; China
context_page_description: The Earth has a population of 7.8 billion, with an overall population density of 50 people per km², excluding Antarctica. Nearly two-thirds of the world's population lives in Asia, with more than 2.5 billion in the countries of China and India combined. The world's literacy rate has increased dramatically in the last 40 years, from 66.7% in 1979 to 86.3% today. Lower literacy levels are mostly attributable to poverty. Lower literacy rates are mostly found in South Asia, West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The world's largest ethnic group is Han Chinese, with Mandarin being the world's most spoken language in terms of native speakers.
  The world's population is predominantly urban and suburban, and there has been significant migration toward cities and urban centres. The urban population jumped from 29% in 1950 to 55.3% in 2018. Extrapolating from the United Nations prediction that the world will be 51.3 percent urban by 2010, Dr. Ron Wimberley, Dr. Libby Morris and Dr. Gregory Fulkerson estimated 23 May 2007 would have been the first time the urban population outnumbered the rural population in history.
context_section_description: The table below lists religions classified by philosophy; however, religious philosophy is not always the determining factor in local practice. Please note that this table includes heterodox movements as adherents to their larger philosophical category, although this may be disputed by others within that category. For example, Cao Đài is listed because it claims to be a separate category from Buddhism, while Hòa Hảo is not, even though they are similar new religious movements.
  The population numbers below are computed by a combination of census reports, random surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example United States or France), and self-reported attendance numbers, but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count. Some organizations may wildly inflate their numbers.
  Since the late 19th century, the demographics of religion have changed a great deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians: see demographics of atheism. Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life include declining recruitment for the priesthood and monastic life, as well as diminishing attendance at church. On the other hand, since the 19th century, large areas of sub-Saharan Africa have been converted to Christianity, and this area of the world has the highest population growth rate. In the realm of Western civilization, there has been an increase in the number of people who identify themselves as secular humanists. In many countries, such as the People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion, making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, religious life has been experiencing resurgence there, both in the form of traditional Eastern Christianity and in the forms of Neopaganism. While, Islam however has gained considerably in the Soviet Unions former republics in Central Asia.
  Following is some available data based on the work of the World Christian Encyclopedia:
  Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center have found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exceptions of the United States and Kuwait.
caption: Major denominations and religions of the world
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