CNS World Studies Hybrid 2014-15

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Religion
Kylie Dahlgren
Since the beginning of the human race, humans have had forms of worship believes
and practices. The first humans questioned why certain things happened and the
thoughts and answers to these questions are what lead to the development of
religion. Many people had different answers and different ideas as to how things
happen and came to be which is why we have so many different religious beliefs
today. Throughout history, religion has become a very big part of our world, many
people even died in the protection of and loyalty to their beliefs. As of 2010, there
were approximately 5.8 billion people who practice some form of religion across the
world, making up 84% of the global population.

As seen in the graph, no one religion dominates the

world. The largest distribution of religion is Christianity
which still only represents 31.5% of the world. I was
surprised to find that only 0.2% of the world were
Jewish. This is probably due to the constant
persecution of Jews throughout history and especially
the mass genocide by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis during
WWII.
The 31.5% of people practicing
Christianity are found in all parts of
the world. The largest amount is
found in Europe. In medieval times,
when kings and queens ruled the
countries of Europe, most of the
continent was Christian and the
center of the Catholic Church is still

Although Buddhism only

represents 7.1% of the
population, it is much more
concentrated than Christianity.
The majority of Buddhists live in
Asia which is probably due to
the origin of Buddhism in Asia.

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The distribution of a religion determines
whether followers live in the majority or
the minority. For example, almost all
Hindus live in India, Nepal and
Mauritius. It makes sense that people
with similar beliefs will want to live in
proximity with one another which
causes some religions to live in the
majority. Other religions do not have the
sheer volume to be in the majority with
The median age of a religion
can also help to explain the
geographic destination of
that religion. Religions in
developing countries with
high population growth tend
to have younger practicing
people due to the overall
younger population in the
country.
Overall, different religions are found all
over the world. All of these religions
stemmed from an idea long ago and
have prospered with the loyalty of its
believers. Everyone has their beliefs,
whether they are no beliefs or Jewish
beliefs, Muslim beliefs or Christian
beliefs. At some time in history, each
religion has had to defend itself in
order to stay alive. The ones we still
practice today are the ones that have
survived all this time and will continue
on for lifetimes, no matter where we
live in the world.