[spineeupsenry]

Gallup does researches about a lot of things. One of them, is religion.

It's interesting to see that the importance people give to religion, varies from one region to another.. In general, White people tend to give less value to religion. On the opposite, Black people tend to give more importance to it. Of course there are many exceptions to this.

This is a list of countries, ordered by region, by percentage of people who attend religious services.

WESTERN EUROPE
Average: 28%

ITALY: 47%
PORTUGAL: 36%
SPAIN: 34%
GERMANY: 33%
NETHERLANDS: 24%
FRANCE: 21%
UNITED KINGDOM: 18%
SWEDEN: 12%


EASTERN EUROPE
Average: 30%

POLAND: 67%
ROMANIA: 36%
UKRAINE: 28%
HUNGARY: 20%
CZECH REP.: 15%
RUSSIA: 12%


ANGLO AMERICA
Average: 36%

UNITED STATES: 47%
CANADA: 25%


LATIN AMERICA
Average: 47%

COLOMBIA: 68%
MEXICO: 55%
BRAZIL: 50%
CHILE: 34%
ARGENTINA: 29%


ASIA-PACIFIC
Average: 52%

INDONESIA: 79%
INDIA: 75%
THAILAND: 74%
PHILIPPINES: 72%
SOUTH KOREA: 38%
JAPAN: 32%
NEW ZEALAND: 23%
AUSTRALIA: 21%


MIDDLE EAST
Average: 54%

U.A.E.: 71%
SAUDI ARABIA: 68%
SYRIA: 65%
YEMEN: 54%
IRAN: 45%
TURKEY: 42%
ISRAEL: 30%


AFRICA
Average: 71%

NIGERIA: 93%
ETHIOPIA: 78%
TANZANIA: 77%
EGYPT: 61%
MOROCCO: 61%
SOUTH AFRICA: 56%


What do you think about it?

[Jimambol]

I remember when I was forced to go to church as a child. I hated it. The boredom was agonizing, and the churchgoers were beyond fake. I would make the effort to sleep, so that I could survive through the unending sermons.

---------- Post added 2012-04-08 at 21:53 ----------

In general, White people tend to give less value to religion. On the opposite, Black people tend to give more importance to it. Of course there are many exceptions to this.

In Brazil and Peru, Asians are the ones with the largest percentage of irreligious people.

I remember reading somewhere that blacks in Brazil tend to be less religious than their white-identified counterparts, and pardos as the the most religious of them all.

However, you need to keep in mind that in the countries where blacks are more religious, it's usually a byproduct of poverty. People from a lower socio-economic background tend to use religion as a psychological outlet for stress and unhappiness. The more disadvantaged you are, the higher the chances are that you're religious. It's no secret that most blacks in the New World come from a lower socio-economic background, so it doesn't take rocket science to figure out why they are more religious on average.

[jurhoonee]

Turkish men attend religious services on a friday usually as a community thing.

[Shiplyopidomi]

I wonder if the percentages for Western Europe also include the Muslim immigrant populations.

[replicaypu]

Doubt it, the Turk muzzies outside of Turkey are usually really religious, the percentages would be much higher.

[OnerePeepsy]

I'm not religious at all. :-) I'm glad.

[emexiagog]

It depends. How often, why, when, where etc.
Obvously the most strange division is to black and white.
Anyway, 95% of Nigerians have access to churches? i am quite surprised.

---------- Post added 2012-04-09 at 04:05 ----------

ps according to those stats USA is more religious country than Iran LOL

[interbaoui]

Here it seems to depend mostly on generation, gender and political background. First, the sixties changed everything in Western Europe, so there is a clear generational cleavage, with enormous differences in values and beliefs depending on if someone was born before or after 1950. Second, women are traditionally more religious than men here. As for political background, Flemish society used to be divided into three parallel sub-societies: Christian democrat, socialist and liberal. Each faction had its own separate union, party, bank, papers, youth movements, organizations,...This system collapsed in the 1970's, but there are people who grew up in it, and you were obviously more likely to be religious if your family belonged to the Christian democrat faction; socialists and liberals were generally anti-clerical.

So the people who go to church here belong to a tiny cross-section of the population: old women with a Catholic background, usually from small towns. After this generation disappears, church attendance among the native population will be approximately 0%. No one wants to waste their Sunday mornings listening to some old guy spouting random bullshit, even if they do vaguely believe in God. Belief in the supernatural is unfortunately never going to go away, but organized religion would be practically dead here, if not for immigrants.

---------- Post added 2012-04-09 at 08:31 ----------

ps according to those stats USA is more religious country than Iran LOL

Iran is more modern than you'd think. The ayatollahs don't represent the entire population, just like Santorum is reviled by many, many Americans.

[Uninkipsyncp]

My paternal grandmother used to drag me to her Protestant church, when I was young and either visiting or living with her. I started rebelling against it, and was basically refusing to go by the time I was 8 or 9 years old. My parents and maternal grandmother were all irreligious, the former having been born in the early 1950's, the latter having been raised under the state-sponsored Shinto religion in Imperial Japan.

In the southern USA, the "bible belt", a fair majority of people do practice religion, at least nominally, and attend church, at least socially. So being irreligious basically makes me a religious minority here.

Ironically, I find these local Christians easier to tolerate than ex. local hipsters experimenting with Eastern religions or militant atheists. They act as a political bloc to stalemate some opposing agendas.

[BenWired306]

Iran is more modern than you'd think. The ayatollahs don't represent the entire population, just like Santorum is reviled by many, many Americans.

Yeah I am aware that Iran has its modern side, but still, the candidate of 'irreligious minority' in the last election was a moderate ajatollah. It means people may not be that religious at homes, but state/social pressure to be at least 'officialy' religious might be quite large.
Anywa, the very fact seems to be amusing.

---------- Post added 2012-04-09 at 11:34 ----------

Ironically, I find these local Christians easier to tolerate than ex. local hipsters experimenting with Eastern religions or militant atheists. They act as a political bloc to stalemate some opposing agendas.

I think though that 'new-born Christian thing is more popular than fancy easter religions, isnt it? I dont know much wider trends, but I observe 'new-born christians' among rock musicians, and it seems to be quite common among American ones. The bass player from Megadeth even wants to become a pastor, I read recently lol.
I agree though, I find annoying eople who experiment with 'oriental' religions for the sake of it and being cool and unique, once ago some catholic priest said to me that it largely comes from lack of understanding of christianity, cause they look for something 'mystical' and in early Christianity these trends are prominent, especially in medieval period, so they are quite primitive in this 'searching' when they dont search own place at all and direct their eyes to buddhism.

[majestictwelve]

Where are Balkans?