The Global Religious Landscape June 2012 | Page 18

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GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

Christians
Christians number . billion, or about one-in-three (
) people worldwide. About
half of all Christians are Catholic (
). An estimated
of Christians belong to the
Protestant tradition, broadly de ned to include Anglicans as well as independent and nondenominational churches. The Orthodox Communion, including the Greek and Russian
Orthodox, make up
of Christians. And people who belong to other traditions that view
themselves as Christian (including Christian Scientists, Mormons and Jehovah’s itnesses)
make up about
of the global Christian population.

Regional Distribution of Christians
Population by region as of 2010

Europe
558,260,000

North America
266,630,000

Middle East-North Africa
12,710,000

Asia-Pacific
286,950,000

Latin AmericaCaribbean
531,280,000

Sub-Saharan Africa
517,340,000

Percentage of world Christian population in each region as of 2010

12.3%

24.4

25.7

23.8

13.2

North America

Latin America-Caribbean

Europe

Sub-Saharan Africa

Asia-Pacific

0.6

Middle East-North Africa
Population estimates are rounded to the ten thousands. Percentages are calculated from unrounded numbers.
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

7 As previously noted, this study is based on self-identification. The intent is sociological rather than theological, and no set of beliefs (such as adherence to
a particular creed) or practices (such as regular church attendance) is used to define who is a Christian. For more information on Christian traditions, see the
Pew Forum’s December 2011 report “Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population.”

CHRISTIANS