The number of believers in some of the world’s largest religions is staggering. Islam, for instance, claims 1.6 billion followers, while Hinduism has one billion followers. These numbers represent only a portion of the population, however. There are millions of others who have no religious affiliation at all. Some do, however, have strong spiritual beliefs and feel drawn to organised religions. The question is: what are the biggest religions in the world?
In terms of number of followers, the majority of the world population is religious. According to Pew Research Centre estimates, 5.2 billion people worldwide follow one of these six religions. Those six religions are Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. According to Pew Research Centre, there are 2.2 billion Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, one billion Hindus, 376 million Buddhists, and 23 million Sikhs.
Almost half of the world’s practising Jewish people live in Israel, with large populations also in North America and Canada. If you’re about to celebrate a Jewish event, head to https://cazenovejudaica.com/uk/cards/bar-mitzvah for Bar Mitzvah Cards and other gifts.
Islam is the second largest religion with approximately 1.8 billion followers. It originated in the seventh century CE in the Middle East, but is not exclusive to that region. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation. Following this religion, followers believe in one God and believe in one holy book, the Quran. Most Muslims belong to one of the two major branches of Islam: Sunni and Shi’ah. The remaining people belong to smaller denominations.
Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, dating back to 7,000 BCE. Christianity has many sub-denominations, including Roman Catholic and Protestant.
