Religion
-Christina Garcia-
Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?
Universaling religions attempt to be global and to appeal to all people rather than just a group of people. But an ethnic religion appeals primarily to one group of people living in one place. Ethnic religions don't try to seek out more adherents. The origins of universaling religions are precise places, usually based on events in the life of the founder. The origins of ethnic religions are unknown or unclear and aren't tied to a single historical individual.
The diffusion of universaling religions is spread widely around their hearths. Their diffuision usually comes at the expense of ethnic religions. This because ethnic religions have a very limited diffusion. Ethnic religions lack missionaries because they don't diffuse as much as universaling religions.
Diffusion Of Religions
Why Do Religions Organize Space In Distinctive Patterns?
There are some places that are sacred for universaling religions. These places are usually associated with the founder's life. Most sacred places in Buddhism are locations of important events that happened in Buddha's life. The sacred city of Islam is Mecca. The sacred places in Christianity are Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Israel.
In ethnic religions, holy places come from the physical geography where the religion's adherents are clustered. The holy places of an ethnic religion are based on the physical environment of the hearth region.
Mecca
Where Are Religions Distributed?
The distribution of the major religions are all in different places. Christianity is the most widely distributed with over 2 billion adherents. It predomintes in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Islam is the prime religion in the Middle East and has about 1.3 billion adherents. Buddhism is mostly distributed in East Asia. It has about 400 million adherents. Hinduism is located mostly in India and has 860 million adherents.
The distribution of the the major branches of Christianity are mostly in the Americas and Europe. Protestants are in northern Europe and North America. 40% of Christians in North America are Protestants. Roman Catholics are in Southwest Europe, Latin America, and North America. 25% of Christians in North America are Roman Catholics. Eastern Orthodox is a popular religion in Eastern Europe and Russia. More than 40% of all Eastern Orthodox Christians are in Russia.
There are lots of branches in the major religions of the world. The major branches of Islam are Sunni and Shiite. 83% of Muslims are Sunni and 16% are Shiite. The major branches of Buddhism are Mahayana, Theravadists, Tantrayana. 56% of Buddhists are Mahayana, 38% are Theravadists, and 6% are Tantrayana.
The largest ethnic religions are Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Hinduism, as stated above, is located in India. Judaism is found in Israel, North America, and Western Europe. Confucianism is mainly in China, while Shinto is the ethnic religion of Japan.
Major Religions
Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise Among Religious Groups?
There is religious conflict in the Middle East. It goes back thousands of years when Jews, Muslims, and Christians fought for control over Israel and Palestine. Christians launched crusades killing many Muslims to recapture their holy land. There has also been many wars between the Jews and Muslims in Palestine. The main conflict is over Jerusalem which many religious groups claimed as theirs.
Jerusalem is Important to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. For Muslims, it is where Muhammad and his followers first faced to pray. It's also important to Jews because King Solomon made Jerusalem the capital of Judaism. Christians believe Jerusalem is theirs because it's where Jesus died and rose again.
Jerusalem
