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Geography of Religion
• Belief systems
– Common beliefs,
understandings,
expectations, and
objects held in the high
regard
– Unite different culture
groups and set them off
from other, different
groups of people
Human Geography 12e
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Classification of Religion
• Classification of Religion
– Monotheism and Polytheism
• Classification based on religion’s distribution
and patterns and processes of diffusion:
– Universalizing Religions
– Ethnic Religions
– Tribal or Traditional Religions
Human Geography 12e
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Figure 5.19
World Religions
Table 5.2
The World Pattern
•
•
•
•
More than half of the world’s population adheres to one of the major
universalizing religions: Christianity and Islam are most widespread; Buddhism is
largely an Asian religion
Hinduism is essentially confined to the Indian subcontinent, showing the spatial
restriction characteristic of most ethnic and traditional religions
Judaism is an ethnic religion because of its identification with a particular people
Extensive areas of the world are peopled by those who practice tribal or traditional
religions
Human Geography 12e
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The Principal Religions
• Judaism
• Christianity
– Regions and landscapes of Christianity
•
•
•
•
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
East Asian Ethnic Religions
Human Geography 12e
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Figure 5.20
Diffusion of Religions
•
•
•
•
Judaism
Ethnic religion
Middle East origins
Diaspora
Two separate branches of
Judaism developed in Europe
during the Middle Ages:
– Sephardim (Iberian Peninsula)
– Ashkenazim (Eastern Europe)
• Orthodox
-Adhere to a stricter set of
beliefs and practices
• Zionism
-The belief in the need to create
an autonomous Jewish state in
Palestine
• The Holocaust
-Resulted in the murder of
perhaps one-third of the
world's Jewish population
-Fell most heavily upon the
Ashkenazim
Human Geography 12e
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Figure 5.21
Christianity
• Universalizing
• Middle East origins
• Diffusion
– Expansion
– Hierarchical
• From provincial
capitals to smaller
settlements
– Contagious
– Relocation
Figure 5.23
Human Geography 12e
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Figure 5.22
Christianity
• European Imperialism
• 2 Schisms
– Divided Medieval
Christendom into
– Eastern (Greek) –
Orthodox
– Emergence of
Byzantine
Empire
– Western (Roman)
branches – Catholic
– Protestant Reformation
• Landscapes of Christianity
Human Geography 12e
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Christianity
• The largest world religion (about 2 billion
adherents)
– Many adherents in Europe, the Americas
• Three major branches
– Roman Catholicism (51 percent)
– Protestant Christianity (24 percent)
– Eastern Orthodox (11 percent)
• Other, smaller branches of Christianity comprise 14 percent
of all Christians
–
–
–
–
–
Coptic & Ethiopian Churches
Armenian Church
Maronite Church
Assyrian & Chaldean Churches (Nestorians)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
Branches of Christianity in Europe
Christianity in
North America
Figure 5.24
Patterns and Flows
• Diffusion
Insert figure 5.20
Human Geography 12e
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Islam
•
•
•
•
•
Universalizing
• Two of the five pillars of Islam are
explicitly geographical:
Middle East origin
• prayers are done facing Mecca
Holy book: Koran
• and the pilgrimage to the sacred city of
Sunni & Shi’ite Sects
Mecca is among the world's greatest
Followers are expected to observe
gatherings
the five pillars:
(1) repeated saying of the basic creed;
(2) prayers five times daily at
appointed times;
(3) a month of daytime fasting during
Ramadan;
(4) almsgiving; and,
(5) if possible, a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Human Geography 12e
(Figure 5.26)
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Islam
• The second-largest world religion (about 1.3
billion adherents)
– Significant clusters in the Middle East, North Africa,
and South Asia
• Islam = submission to the will of God
• Core of Islamic belief = the Five Pillars
• Two significant branches
– Sunnis (83 percent)
– Shias or Shiites (16 percent)
• Other branches
–
–
–
–
Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)
Kharijites
Sufis
Druzes
Figure 5.27
Baha’i Faith
• Founded in Shiraz, Iran in 1844 by Siyyid Ali
Muhammed “the Bab”
• Husayn Ali Nuri “Baha’u’llah” as prophet and
messenger of God
• Unification of religion through abolition of
racial, class, and religious practices
Hinduism
•
•
•
•
•
•
World’s oldest major religion
Ethnic religion
South Asia origins
Caste structure of society
Reincarnation
Karma
Human Geography 12e
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Hinduism
• The third-largest religion in the world (900 million
adherents)
• 97 percent of Hindus are found in India
• Many paths to spirituality
• Many paths to worship God (Brahma)
– Vishnu (Krishna)
– Siva
– Shakti
• Numerous reform movements have derived from
Hinduism over the centuries, some of which have
endured to the present day as major religions on
a regional or world scale
Hinduism
• Reform Movements:
– Jainism, begun in the 6th century B.C. as a revolt against
the authority of the early Hindu doctrines, rejects caste
distinctions and modifies concepts of karma and
transmigration of souls
– Combining elements of Hinduism and Islam, Sikhism
developed in the Punjab area of northwestern India in the
late 15th century A.D. Sikhism is an ethnic religion with
an estimated 23 million adherents. The great majority of
Sikhs live in India, mostly in the Punjab
Human Geography 12e
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Sikhism
• Sikhism “Sikh” = disciple
– Founded by Guru Nanak in 15th century
– God as One Supreme Being, or Creator
– 23 million adherents
– All but 3 million are concentrated in the Punjab
state of India
Buddhism
• Universalizing
• South Asia Origins
• Siddhartha Gautama, the
Buddha
• Sects
• Diffusion
• Sacred places for
Buddhists
– largely associated with
key events in the life
of the Buddha--many
of which are in areas
that are no longer
predominantly
Buddhist
– Theravada
– Mahayana
– Vajrayana
Human Geography 12e
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Buddhism
• About 400 million adherents (more difficult to
quantify than Christianity or Islam)
– Significant clusters in China, Southeast Asia
• Founded by Prince Sidhartha Gautama
“Buddha”
• The Four Noble Truths
• Three branches
– Mahayana (China, Japan, Korea)
– Theravada (Southeast Asia)
– Vajrayana (Tibet, Mongolia)
Figure 5.31
Holy Sites in Buddhism
Bodh Gaya, India
Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and
are clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.
Origin of religions
• Universalizing: precise origins, tied to a specific
founder
– Christianity
• Founder: Jesus (8 B.C. – 30 A.D.)
– Islam
• Prophet of Islam: Muhammad (570-632 A.D.)
– Buddhism
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (born 563 B.C.)
– Sikhism
• Guru Nanak (1469-1538 A.D.)
– Baha’i Faith
• Siyyid Ali Muhammed “the Bab” (1844 A.D.)
Origin of religions
• Ethnic: unclear or unknown origins, not tied
to a specific founder
– Hinduism
• No clear founder
• Earliest use of “Hinduism” = sixth century B.C.
• Archaeological evidence dating from 2500 B.C.
– Judaism
• Moses
• Abraham – “Father/patriarch of Judaism
– arrived Canaan 4,000 years ago
• Judah – one of Jacob’s sons
– Jacob = “Israel”
Holy places
• In universalizing religions
– Buddhist shrines
• Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kusinagara
– Holy places in Islam = associated with the life of
Muhammad
• Makkah, Madinah, Jerusalem
– Holy places in Christianity
• Jerusalem
– Holy places in Sikhism
• Amritsar
• In ethnic religions
– Holy places in Hinduism = closely tied to the physical
geography of India
• Varanasi
– Judaism – Jerusalem
East Asian Ethnic Religions
• Confucianism (China)
• Daoism (China)
• Shinto (Japan)
Secularism
Belief in God in
Europe
Belief among Europeans
Belief in Evolution