The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography

Part I Overview 7

1 Global Religious Populations, 1910–2010 9

2 Regional Religious Populations, 1910–2010 81

3 Religious Diversity 93

4 Projecting Religious Populations, 2010–50 111

Part II Data and Methods 133

5 Defining Religion and Religious Identity 135

6 Religious Demography as an Emerging Discipline 143

7 Major Sources and Collections of Data 163

8 Analyzing Data on Religion 190

9 Dynamics of Change in Religious Populations 205

Part III Case Studies 227

10 Estimating Changes in the Global Muslim Population 229

11 Factors Driving Change in the Global Muslim Population 258

12 Estimating China’s Religious Populations 286

13 Assessing Religious Populations in the Sudans 313

14 Migration and Religious Diasporas 321

Conclusion 333

Appendix: World Religions by Country 337

Glossary 346

Index 360