Download Religion Theme: Population Background Information Knowledge of

Religion
Theme: Population
Background Information
Knowledge of the religious composition of a population is important as different faith groups can
have distinct characteristics, lifestyles and experiences.
In England, Christianity is the main religion. According to the 2001 Census, there were over 35
million Christians, accounting for almost three-quarters of the total population. People with no
religion formed the second largest group, comprising 15 per cent of the population. 6% of the
population belonged to a non-Christian religious denomination with Muslims being the largest
religious group after Christians, accounting for 3% of the total population and over half of the
non-Christian religious population.
Data
The data is taken from the voluntary question in 2001 Census (ONS) of ‘What is your religion?’.
As the only voluntary question in the Census, a proportion of people chose not to state their
religion.
Cumbria
In Cumbria, 82% of the total population (400,578 people) in 2001 stated their religion as
Christian: a proportion greater than the 72% for England. The next largest group was that of
people with no religion (50,557 people; 10%) followed by those who chose not to state their
religion (33,702; 7%).
0.6% of the population belonged to a non-Christian religious denomination (compared to 6.0%
for England) with Buddhists being the largest religious group after Christians, accounting for
0.17% of the total population and nearly 30% of the non-Christian religious population.
Districts within Cumbria
Within Cumbria, the proportion of the population stating their religion as Christian ranged from
79.1% in South Lakeland to 86.3% in Copeland. All district councils had percentages above the
national proportion of 72% whilst only Allerdale and Copeland were above the 82% average for
Cumbria. Those who stated they had no religion ranged from 7.0% in Copeland to 13.3% in
South Lakeland.
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Of the non-Christian denominations, Islam was the religion with the greatest percentage in
Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle and Copeland whilst Buddhism was highest in South
Lakeland and Eden (Figure 1) – although it should be noted that all non-Christian denominations
accounted for less than 1% in total in all localities.
Figure 1: 2001 Stated Religion by Non-Christian Religious Denomination
2001 Stated Religion by Non-Christian Religious Denomination
(Source: ONS)
0.90
0.80
0.70
Percent
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
Allerdale
Barrow-in-Furness
Carlisle
Buddhist
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Hindu
Copeland
Jewish
Muslim
Eden
Sikh
South Lakeland
Cumbria
Other religions
2