page_title: Demographics of Western Norway
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Demographics of Western Norway / Religion
context_page_description: The Western Norway region of Norway showed the highest population growth rate in Norway in 2010, at 1.44%. The fertility rate in this region is higher than in other parts of Norway. The population as of 1 January 2010 was 1,263,464, with 37.7% of the population living in Hordaland, 33.8% in Rogaland, 19.8% in Møre og Romsdal, and 8.4% in Sogn og Fjordane. 60% of the population is under 40 years old, and 30% is under 20 years old. Many of the historical immigrants in Western Norway came from countries like Scotland, England, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Western Norway is the part of Norway which has the largest immigration from the western world.
  The following demographic statistics are from the Statistics Norway, unless otherwise indicated.
context_section_description: Christianity is the largest religion. 1,054,573 people are members of the Church of Norway. There is also 52,365 members in other Christian churches. Islam has 10,685 adherents in Western Norway, Buddhism has 2,082. 1,171 are of the Bahá'í Faith, Judaism, Sikhism and other religions.
  There are more than thousand Protestant churches (in all municipalities), six Catholic churches (in Bergen, Stavanger, Haugesund, Ålesund, Molde and Kristiansund), two mosques (in Bergen and Stavanger), two Orthodox churches (in Bergen and Stavanger), and one Hindu temple (in Bergen).
  The name "Bible Belt" has been applied historically to the Southern and Western parts of Norway. The region thus defined included most of Western Norway, especially Rogaland, Møre og Romsdal and some parts of Hordaland. Notably absent from this belt are bigger cities like Bergen and Stavanger where many people identify themselves as non-religious or with other religions. In these areas the conservative branch of the Church of Norway has a stronghold and the members usually associate themselves to Indremisjonen (Inner Mission). There are also numerous Pentecostals and members of the Free Churches, but these movements are also strongly represented in the rest of the country. The Bible Belt in Norway traditionally reflects the support for the Christian Democratic Party. However, especially since the first decade of the 21st century, conservative bible belt Christians unhappy with the more liberal development of the party have increasingly turned to the Progress Party.
caption: A liturgy in Stavanger Cathedral.
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