Buddhism by country

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Percentage of Buddhists by country, according to the Pew Research Center.

Buddhism in the world is practiced by an estimated 488 million,[1] 495 million,[2] or 535 million[3] people as of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population.

China is the country with the largest population of Buddhists, approximately 244 million or 18.2% of its total population.[1] They are mostly followers of Chinese schools of Mahayana, making this the largest body of Buddhist traditions. Mahayana, also practiced in broader East Asia, is followed by over half of world Buddhists.[1]

The second largest body of Buddhist schools is Theravada, mostly followed in Southeast Asia.[1] The third and smallest body of schools, Vajrayana, is followed mostly in Tibet, the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts of Russia,[1] but has been disseminated throughout the world.

According to a demographic analysis reported by Peter Harvey (2013):[3]

  • Eastern Buddhism (Mahayana) has 360 million adherents;
  • Southern Buddhism (Theravada) has 150 million adherents; and
  • Northern Buddhism (Vajrayana) has 18.2 million adherents.
  • Seven million additional Buddhists are found outside Asia.

List of countries with largest Buddhist majority

There are 10 countries with the highest Buddhist percentage:

Buddhism by percentange as of 2010[1]
Country[4] Estimated Buddhist population  % of total Buddhist in country
 Cambodia 13,701,660 96.90 %
 Thailand 64,419,840 93.20 %
 Myanmar 38,415,960 80.10 %
 Bhutan 563,000 74.70 %
 Sri Lanka 14,455,980 69.30 %
 Laos 4,092,000 66.00 %
 Mongolia 1,520,760 55.10 %
 Japan 84,653,000 or 45,807,480 67% or 36.2%[5]
 Singapore 1,725,510 33.90 %
 Taiwan 8,000,000 or 4,945,600 35% or 21.1%[6]

By country

Buddhism by country
Country/Territory Population (2013)[7]  % Buddhist: 1. Pew, 2. ARDA. Number of Buddhists
Afghanistan Afghanistan 24,108,077
Algeria Algeria 38,087,812
 American Samoa 26,719
Angola Angola 18,565,269
Argentina Argentina 42,610,981
 Aruba 109,153
Australia Australia 22,262,501
Austria Austria 221,646
 Bahamas 319,031
Bahrain Bahrain 1,281,332
Bangladesh Bangladesh 159,654,860
 Barbados 288,725
 Belarus 9,625,888
Belgium Belgium 10,444,268
Belize Belize 297
 Bermuda 69,467
Bhutan Bhutan 725,296
 Bolivia 10,461,053
Botswana Botswana 2,127,825
Brazil Brazil 201,009,622
Brunei Brunei 415,717
Bulgaria Bulgaria 6,981,642
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso 17,812,961
Myanmar Burma (Myanmar) 55,167,330
Cambodia Cambodia 15,205,539
Cameroon Cameroon 20,549,221
Canada Canada 34,568,211
Chad Chad 11,193,452
 Chile 17,216,945
China China 1,349,585,838
 Christmas Island 1,513
 Colombia 45,745,783
Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 75,507,308
Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo 4,492,689
Costa Rica Costa Rica 4,695,942
Ivory Coast Côte d'Ivoire 22,400,835
Croatia Croatia 4,475,611
 Cuba 11,394,043
 Curaçao 146,836
 Cyprus 1,155,403
Czech Republic Czech Republic 10,162,921
Denmark Denmark 5,556,452
 Dominica 73,286
 Dominican Republic 10,219,630
 East Timor 1,172,390
 Ecuador 15,439,429
Egypt Egypt 85,294,388
El Salvador El Salvador 6,108,590
 Estonia 1,266,375
Ethiopia Ethiopia 93,877,025
Falkland Islands Falkland Islands 3,140
 Federated States of Micronesia 106,104
 Fiji 896,758
Finland Finland 5,266,114
France France 65,951,611
 French Guiana 239,450
 French Polynesia 277,293
Germany Germany 81,147,265
Ghana Ghana 22,931,299
Greece Greece 10,772,967
 Guam 160,378
Guatemala Guatemala 14,373,472
Guinea Guinea 11,176,026
 Guyana 739,903
 Haiti 9,893,934
Honduras Honduras 8,448,465
Hong Kong Hong Kong 7,182,724
 Hungary 9,939,470
Iceland Iceland 315,281
India India 1,220,800,359
Indonesia Indonesia 251,160,124
Iran Iran 79,853,900
Iraq Iraq 31,858,481
 Ireland 4,775,982
Israel Israel 7,707,042
Italy Italy 61,482,297
 Jamaica 2,909,714
Japan Japan 127,253,075
Jordan Jordan 6,482,081
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 17,736,896
Kenya Kenya 44,037,656
North Korea North Korea 24,720,407
South Korea South Korea 48,955,203
Kuwait Kuwait 2,695,316
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 5,548,042
Laos Laos 6,695,166
 Latvia 2,178,443
Lebanon Lebanon 4,131,583
Lesotho Lesotho 1,936,181
Liberia Liberia 3,989,703
Libya Libya 6,002,347
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 37,009
 Lithuania 3,515,858
 Luxembourg 514,862
Macau Macau 583,003
 Macedonia 2,087,171
Madagascar Madagascar 22,599,098
Malawi Malawi 16,777,547
Malaysia Malaysia 29,628,392
Maldives Maldives 393,988
Mali Mali 15,968,882
 Malta 411,277
 Martinique 403,795
Mauritius Mauritius 1,322,238
Mexico Mexico 116,220,947
Mongolia Mongolia 3,226,516
 Montenegro 653,474
Morocco Morocco 32,649,130
Mozambique Mozambique 24,096,669
Namibia Namibia 2,182,852
 Nauru 9,434
Nepal Nepal 30,430,267
Netherlands Netherlands 16,805,037
 New Caledonia 264,022
 New Zealand 4,365,113
Nicaragua Nicaragua 5,788,531
Nigeria Nigeria 174,507,539
 Northern Mariana Islands 51,170
Norway Norway 4,722,701
Oman Oman 3,154,134
Pakistan Pakistan 193,238,868
 Palau 21,108
State of Palestine Palestine 4,293,313
Panama Panama 3,559,408
 Papua New Guinea 6,431,902
 Paraguay 6,623,252
 Peru 29,849,303
Philippines Philippines 98,215,000 1,964,300[8]
Poland Poland 38,383,809
 Portugal 10,799,270
 Puerto Rico 3,674,209
Qatar Qatar 2,042,444
Réunion Réunion 839,500
 Romania 21,790,479
Russia Russia 142,500,482
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 26,939,583
Senegal Senegal 12,521,851
 Serbia 10,150,265
Seychelles Seychelles 90,846
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 5,612,685
Singapore Singapore 5,460,302
Slovakia Slovakia 5,488,339
Slovenia Slovenia 1,992,690
 Solomon Islands 597,248
South Africa South Africa 48,601,098
 Spain 47,370,542
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 21,675,648
Sudan Sudan 34,847,910
 Suriname 566,846
Swaziland Swaziland 1,403,362
Sweden Sweden 9,119,423
Switzerland Switzerland 7,996,026
Taiwan Taiwan 23,299,716
Tajikistan Tajikistan 7,910,041
Tanzania Tanzania 48,261,942
Thailand Thailand 67,448,120
Togo Togo 7,154,237
 Tonga 106,322
Tunisia Tunisia 10,835,873
 Trinidad and Tobago 1,225,225
Turkey Turkey 80,694,485
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 5,113,040
 Tuvalu 10,698
Uganda Uganda 34,758,809
Ukraine Ukraine 44,573,205
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 5,473,972
United Kingdom United Kingdom 63,395,574
United States United States 316,668,567
 Uruguay 3,324,460
United States Virgin Islands US Virgin Islands 104,737
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 28,661,637
 Vanuatu 261,565
Venezuela Venezuela 28,459,085
Vietnam Vietnam 92,477,857
Yemen Yemen 25,408,288
Zambia Zambia 14,222,233
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 13,182,908
TOTAL 7,095,217,980 Pew: 7.1% Pew: 487,540,000

By region

Buddhism by region in 2010[1]
Region Estimated total population Estimated Buddhist population  %
Asia-Pacific 4,054,990,000 481,290,000 11.9%
North America 344,530,000 3,860,000 1.1%
Europe 742,550,000 1,330,000 0.2%
Middle East-North Africa 341,020,000 500,000 0.1%
Latin America-Caribbean 590,080,000 410,000 <0.1%
Total 6,895,890,000 487,540,000 7.1%

Ten countries with the largest Buddhist populations

Countries with the largest Buddhist populations as of 2010[1]
Country Estimated Buddhist population  % of the total population of the country  % of world Buddhist population
China 244,130,000 18.2% 46.4%
Thailand 64,420,000 93.2% 12.2%
Japan[9] 45,820,000[1] 36.2%[1] 9.4%
Myanmar 38,410,000 80.1% 7.3%
Sri Lanka 14,450,000 69.3% 2.8%
Vietnam 14,380,000 16.4% 2.7%
Cambodia 13,690,000 96.9% 2.9%
South Korea 11,050,000 22.9% 2.1%
India 9,250,000 0.8% 1.8%
Malaysia 5,010,000 17.7% 1%
Subtotal for the ten countries 499,465,520 18.1% 94.9%
Subtotal for the rest of the world 26,920,000 0.7% 5.1%
World total 526,373,000 7.3% 100%

note : Exact number of followers when calculating Buddhists varies because Buddhism is often mixed with the native East Asian religions in their respective countries for example in Japan the number of Buddhists when calculating including the Shintoists would ramp the percentage of Buddhists in Japan from 67% to >98%.

See also

Other religions:

General:

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Pew Research Center, Global Religious Landscape: Buddhists.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. [1]
  6. [2]
  7. CIA's The World Factbook: Populations as of July 2013
  8. http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/philippines/religious_demography#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010
  9. [3]

Script error: The function "top" does not exist.

Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist.