Predominant religions in Europe ██ Roman Catholicism ██ Orthodox Christianity ██ Protestantism ██ Sunni Islam ██ Shia Islam

Religion in Europe spans the approximately 50,000 years of human settlement in the continent of Europe, from the earliest prehistoric spirituality to later pagan religions, such as the Ancient Greek, Roman and Nordic faiths, to the spread of the Abrahamic religions. Europe has a rich and diverse religious history, and its various faiths have been a major influence on European art, culture, philosophy and law. The majority of Europeans are Christian, of which nearly half are Catholic; the second-largest religion in Europe is Islam, followed by Judaism. Europe also has the largest number and proportion of irreligious, agnostic and atheistic people in the Western world, with a particularly high number of self-described non-religious people in Scandinavia. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1475x1200, 648 KB) English Description: religions in Europe, map en Source: own map, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2 Author: San Jose, 26 March 2006 Other versions: map in German, map in French, map without text Deutsch Beschreibung: Religionen... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1475x1200, 648 KB) English Description: religions in Europe, map en Source: own map, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2 Author: San Jose, 26 March 2006 Other versions: map in German, map in French, map without text Deutsch Beschreibung: Religionen... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that views itself: as the historical continuation of the original Christian community established by Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Prehistoric man. ... Heathen redirects here. ... Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Greece in form of cult practices, thus the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ... Religion in ancient Rome combined several different cult practices and embraced more than a single set of beliefs. ... Norse paganism or Nordic religion is a termed used to abbreviate the religion preferably amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries under pre-Christian period that are supported by archaeology findings and early written materials. ... Map showing the prevalence of Abrahamic (purple), Dharmic (dark yellow), and Taoic (light yellow) religions in each country. ... The History of religions refers to the Religiongeschichteschule, a Nineteenth century German school of thought which was the first to systematically study religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon. ... // Medieval art Main article: Medieval art Most surviving art from the Medieval period was religious in focus, often funded by the Church, powerful ecclesiastical individuals such as bishops, communal groups such as abbeys, or wealthy secular patrons. ... The Culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures of Europe. ... Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ... The European Union is unique among international organisations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... This section does not cite its references or sources. ... Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning without and gnosis, knowledge, translating to unknowable) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities—is unknown or (possibly) inherently unknowable. ... The 18th-century French author Baron dHolbach was one of the first self-described atheists. ... The term Western Religion refers to those religions that originated in the Western Roman Empire, such as as seen in Roman religion, Nordic religion, etc. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. ...

Modern religions

Christianity

Further information: Christianity by country

Today, Europe is in a period of relative agnosticism. European countries have experienced a decline in Church attendance, as well as a decline in the number of people professing a belief in God, particularly in Protestant Europe. This period is often called "Post-Christian Europe". A decrease in religiousness and church attendance in western Europe (especially France) has been noted, but in contrary to it, there is an increase in Eastern Europe, especially in Greece and Romania (2% in 1 year). This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The following is a list of Christian European countries ranked by religiosity, based on belief in God, according to the World Values Survey. In parentheses is the form of Christianity the country is, historically and presently, most grounded in. Very few trends can be seen in these data.

• Malta (Catholic) 99.1%
• Poland (Catholic) 96.2%
• Portugal (Catholic) 93.9%
• Ireland (Catholic) 93.7%
• Moldova (Orthodox) 91.8%
• Romania (Orthodox) 91.6%
• Croatia (Catholic) 91.4%
• Italy (Catholic) 87.8%
• Greece (Orthodox) 83.7%
• Austria (Catholic) 82.7%
• Spain (Catholic) 78.4%
• Iceland (Protestant) 76.9%
• Switzerland (Catholic/Protestant)76.4%
• Slovakia (Catholic) 75.9%
• Finland (Protestant) 73.8%
• Serbia and Montenegro (Orthodox) 72.9%
• Belarus (Orthodox) 72.2%
• Latvia (Balanced) 70.1%
• Lithuania (Catholic) 69.9%
• Ukraine (Orthodox) 69.1%
• Luxembourg (Catholic) 68%
• Belgium (Catholic) 65.9%
• Norway (Protestant) 65.1%
• Hungary (Mostly Catholic) 64.9%
• Slovenia (Catholic) 62.1%
• Denmark (Protestant) 62.1%
• Great Britain (Mostly Protestant) 60.6%
• Russia (Orthodox) 59.3%
• Netherlands (Catholic/Protestant) 58%
• France (Catholic) 56.1%
• Germany (Catholic/Protestant) 49.5%
• Sweden (Protestant) 46.6%
• Estonia (Protestant/Orthodox) 41.0%
• Czech Republic (Catholic) 33.1%

Judaism

Further information: History of the Jews in Europe, Jews by country

History of the Jews in Europe. ... Jews by country Who is a Jew? Jewish ethnic divisions Ashkenazi Jews Sephardi Jews Black Jews Black Hebrew Israelites Y-chromosomal Aaron Jewish population Historical Jewish population comparisons List of religious populations Lists of Jews Crypto-Judaism Etymology of the word Jew Categories: | ...

Islam

Further information: Islam in Europe, Islam by country

The recorded history of Islam in Europe begins with the al-Andalus territories in what is now Spain and Portugal, established in 711 and enduring until 1492; the last Muslims were expelled from Spain by 1614. ... Distribution of Islam per country. ...

Largely historical religions

Greco-Roman

Further information: Ancient Greek religion, Roman religion

Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Greece in form of cult practices, thus the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ... Religion in ancient Rome combined several different cult practices and embraced more than a single set of beliefs. ...

Germanic

Further information: Germanic paganism

Germanic paganism refers to the religion and mythology of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization, including Norse, Anglo-Saxon mythology, information obtained from archaeological finds and remnants of pre-Christian beliefs in the folklore of medieval and modern Germanic peoples. ...

See also

• Major world religions
• African religions
• Religion in Asia
• Religion in North America
• Religion in Oceania
• Religion in South America