Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with about 33% of the world’s population, followed by Islam (20%), Hinduism (13%), Chinese folk religion (6.3%), and Buddhism (5.9%). Christianity has undergone several schisms, and about half of its two billion followers are Roman Catholic. Christianity became the world’s largest religion in 380 AD when Emperor Theodosius I made it the official religion of the Roman Empire. Christianity has experienced declines in industrialized regions but gains in developing regions. The rise of communism and skepticism challenged religion in the 20th century, but many former atheists are now expressing their Christian faith.
The largest religion in the world is Christianity, which makes up about 33% of the world’s population according to a 2005 survey by Encyclopædia Britannica. That’s about two billion people. Other major religions include Islam (20%), Hinduism (13%), Chinese folk religion (6.3%) and Buddhism (5.9%). Indigenous religions make up 4% of the world’s population and atheism around 14%.
Of the two billion Christians, about half are represented by the Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope, while the rest are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church or various Protestant sects. The Christian Church has undergone several schisms throughout its history, most notably the Eastern Schism (1054) and the Protestant Reformation (16th century).
Christianity, which began as a Jewish sect, was the world’s largest religion for approximately 1600 years, ever since Emperor Theodosius I made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380, ending hundreds of years of Roman mythology as the state religion. Before that, the world’s largest religion was probably Hinduism, which is so ancient that its origins are poorly understood. Christianity received another major boost in the 1980s when Vladimir the Great was baptized and spread Christianity throughout Russia. If Christianity wasn’t the world’s largest religion before then, then it surely became the largest at that time.
Christianity received further gains in the 15th and 16th centuries, when missionaries, particularly Spanish and Portuguese, aggressively spread the religion across Africa and the Americas. Today, South America remains the most exclusively Christian continent on the planet, with over 15% of its residents claiming the Christian faith, almost entirely Roman Catholicism. In recent years, Christianity, while remaining the most widespread religion in the world, has experienced a consistent decline in industrialized regions such as the United States and Europe, while it has experienced gains in developing regions such as Africa and South America. The declines are particularly pronounced in countries such as Denmark and Sweden, where only 16% of the population attends church regularly.
Although Christianity was followed by about a third of the world’s population throughout the 20th century, religion also faced its greatest challenges during this period, with the rise of communism (making atheism the state religion) and skepticism. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former atheists are beginning to express their Christian faith again, and there is a close relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government in Russia.
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