f.Class Notes #23
The countries with the most Muslims are Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
Islam is divided into two principal branches: Sunni and Shiite. The word Sunni comes from the Arabic for "people following the tradition of Muhammad". The word Shiite (sometimes called Shia) comes from the Arabic for "party" or "support group".
Shiite Islam is divided into three principal schools of thought, based in part on disputes over leadership after the Prophet Muhammad.
In Europe, Muslims account for 5% of the population. France has the largest Muslim population, about 4 million. Germany has about 3 million Muslims.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in North America vary widely, from 1 to 5 million, but in any event, the number has increased dramatically from only a few hundred thousand in 1990. Approximately 1/3 of the US' Muslims trace their ancestry back to Pakistan and other South Asian countries and 1/4 to Arab countries of Southeast Asia and North Africa.
Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
An accurate count of Buddhists is especially difficult because only a few people participate in Buddhist institutions. Someone can be both a Buddhist and a believer in other Eastern religions, whereas Christianity and Islam both require exclusive adherence.
97% of Hindus are concentrated in one country (India), 2% are in Nepal, and 1% in Bangladesh. Hindus comprise more than 80% of India's population.
Roughly 40% of the World's Jews live in the US and another 40% in Israel. Judaism is the first recorded religion to pursue monotheism--the belief that there is only one God. Judaism offered a sharp contrast to the polytheism practiced by neighboring people (reason why Judaism has been, throughout history, the religion for which people have been persecuted the most).
Islam is divided into two principal branches: Sunni and Shiite. The word Sunni comes from the Arabic for "people following the tradition of Muhammad". The word Shiite (sometimes called Shia) comes from the Arabic for "party" or "support group".
Shiite Islam is divided into three principal schools of thought, based in part on disputes over leadership after the Prophet Muhammad.
In Europe, Muslims account for 5% of the population. France has the largest Muslim population, about 4 million. Germany has about 3 million Muslims.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in North America vary widely, from 1 to 5 million, but in any event, the number has increased dramatically from only a few hundred thousand in 1990. Approximately 1/3 of the US' Muslims trace their ancestry back to Pakistan and other South Asian countries and 1/4 to Arab countries of Southeast Asia and North Africa.
Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
An accurate count of Buddhists is especially difficult because only a few people participate in Buddhist institutions. Someone can be both a Buddhist and a believer in other Eastern religions, whereas Christianity and Islam both require exclusive adherence.
97% of Hindus are concentrated in one country (India), 2% are in Nepal, and 1% in Bangladesh. Hindus comprise more than 80% of India's population.
Roughly 40% of the World's Jews live in the US and another 40% in Israel. Judaism is the first recorded religion to pursue monotheism--the belief that there is only one God. Judaism offered a sharp contrast to the polytheism practiced by neighboring people (reason why Judaism has been, throughout history, the religion for which people have been persecuted the most).
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