gandalf is right. Religions spread and mutate and take hold in different places. Contemporary Christianity, the way we think of it today, is really not the Middle Eastern religion of Paul, and certainly not the Jewish Apocalypse/Personality Cult of Jesus, but it's actually a Roman religion, instituted by Constantine and spread to every corner of the Roman Empire using rituals, iconography, and even theology borrowed from traditional Roman polytheism. Rome, and Italy, and pretty much all of what was once the Roman Empire- the bits that were not conquered by Arabs anyway- are still predominantly Christian.
The earliest Christian communities, prior to the Roman absorption of the religion, were in Israel (now predominantly Jewish, large Muslim minority, small Christian minority), Syria (now predominantly Muslim, small Christian and tiny Jewish minorities), Turkey (predominantly Muslim), and Lebanon (mixed Muslim and Christian).
The first officially Christian countries were Armenia (adopted in 301 AD), the Roman Empire (adopted in 313 AD), and Aksum/Abyssinia (adopted in 330 AD). The city-state of Edessa became officially Christian around 218 AD.
If we consider Italy or Vatican City to be the modern day equivalent of Rome, and Ethiopia to be the modern day equivalent of Aksum, then all of these places are still Christian today except Edessa, in Turkey, which has no modern day nation-state equivalent.
A bit over 10 percent of Nepal's population is Buddhist, but Buddhism has been culturally influential in Nepal in ways that aren't really reflected by the small numbers. Buddhist minorities like the Sherpas and Tamang traditionally live in high mountains near Tibet; the geography doesn't support large populations, but Buddhist stupas and monasteries in Kathmandu have drawn pilgrims for over a thousand years, drawing Tibetans as well as Sherpas etc. Plus the community native to Kathmandu, the Newars, is part Hindu and part Buddhist (based on family lineage) and has a lot of intermingling of Buddhist and Hindu practices in unique ways. Also, Nepal is 81% Hindu and Hindus view Buddha as a form of Vishnu; I think that sense is even more prominent in Nepal because of pride in being Buddha's birthplace. So even though most Nepalis don't tick the "Buddhist" box on the census, Buddha occupies a powerful place in national identity.
I'm actually surprised that Vietnam is only 16%. Usually where there are indigenous religions, Buddhism just sort of syncretically absorbs/adapts them.
Communists there tried to crack down on it a lot. Same happened in China in the past. Even the communists in Laos tried, but people there took Buddhism so seriously there that the government had to stop.
Agreed! Y'all should visit Vietnam when it's the first day of Lunar New Year, sooooooooooo many Viets visit Buddhist pagodas at the time! Definitely more than 16%.
Yeah, I have trouble believing the 16%. From Wikipedia: "Today, Buddhists are found throughout Vietnam, from North to South. Buddhism is the single largest organized religion in Vietnam, with somewhere between 45% and 55% of the population identifying themselves as Buddhist."
If I had to hazard a guess, I wonder if it's because Buddhism is not a theistic religion. According to another survey, ~80% of Vietnam's population is atheist--this isn't incompatible with Buddhist philosophy, but censuses often force people to choose just one religion as an option. Perhaps Vietnamese people choose to identify as atheist while still following principles of Buddhism.
To any comments wondering why East Asian countries have such low percentages, a lot of people there are irreligious (Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam).
Yes. Atheism is lacking belief in a god or gods, and irreligious means following no religion. Buddhists, for example, are mostly atheist but not irreligious. I know someone who believes in God but doesn't follow any religion. He would be irreligious but not atheist.
I don't think it's at all true that Buddhists are mostly atheist. Certainly in the West, but there are all kinds of deities in various strands of Buddhism around the world.
It'd be great if we managed to find reliable sources to set up a standard & make a Jetpunk chart for religious data. I'm sceptical of Pew and its lack of permanence (lots of dead links when I was searching), but I haven't been able to find much else.
The earliest Christian communities, prior to the Roman absorption of the religion, were in Israel (now predominantly Jewish, large Muslim minority, small Christian minority), Syria (now predominantly Muslim, small Christian and tiny Jewish minorities), Turkey (predominantly Muslim), and Lebanon (mixed Muslim and Christian).
If we consider Italy or Vatican City to be the modern day equivalent of Rome, and Ethiopia to be the modern day equivalent of Aksum, then all of these places are still Christian today except Edessa, in Turkey, which has no modern day nation-state equivalent.
If I had to hazard a guess, I wonder if it's because Buddhism is not a theistic religion. According to another survey, ~80% of Vietnam's population is atheist--this isn't incompatible with Buddhist philosophy, but censuses often force people to choose just one religion as an option. Perhaps Vietnamese people choose to identify as atheist while still following principles of Buddhism.
irresistible, irreplaceable.
The rest are people who occasionally go to a temple when they go on a vacation and then put some incense in the temple
Also existing: *sad nepal noises*
Because Taiwan isn't a country.
2010 data (which this quiz & Wikipedia currently uses) can be found here.
Pew also has religious composition estimates here, published in 2015.