Religion Facts

Religion Facts

Poverty affects people in every corner of the world, regardless of their religion. These facts about religion reveal how religion plays a role in the fight against global poverty. Understanding these religion facts will help you to be more sensitive as you address the needs of those in extreme poverty.

Christians and Muslims make up the majority of religions among the world's population. Grasping this and other facts about religion is an important part of an effective fight against global poverty.

In order to make a true and lasting difference for those in poverty, you must be culturally and religiously sensitive as you interact with the poor around the world. These religion facts give you a glimpse into the wide variety of religions and cultural traditions.

While Compassion is a Christ-centered organization, we work with children from many different cultures and religions. Learning the facts about religion and the role it plays in poverty will help you be sensitive to the unique needs and worldview of your sponsored child.

Religion Facts
Religion Facts Get the facts about the various religions around the world.
  • Women make up 56 percent of the adult born-again population.
  • Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world.
  • Born-again Christians are more likely than the average adult to have volunteered their time to help their church in the past week (32 percent to 22 percent, respectively).
  • Nearly half of all Americans who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43 percent), and two out of three born-again Christians (64 percent) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday.
  • Approximately 69 percent of Americans believe that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect Creator who rules the world today.

Religion around the world is broken down like this:

  • 33 percent of the people in the world are Christians.
  • 21 percent of the people in the world are Muslims.
  • 13 percent of the people in the world are Hindus.
  • 6 percent of the people in the world are Buddhists.
  • 2.3 percent of the people of the world are atheists.
  • 0.4 percent of the people of the world are Sikhs.
  • 0.2 percent of the people of the world are Jewish.
  • 0.1 percent of the people of the world are Baha'is.
  • 12 percent of the people of the world are of other religions.
  • 12 percent of the people in the world are nonreligious.

Sources: The World Factbook, www.barna.org, www.nationmaster.com 

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