Top 10 Largest Religions In The World

Religions are simply the identification element for humans to give more importance. Universal there are hundred of religions in the world. Among all, there are few religions with standard records.

Being religious does not mean you only have to believe in what is being told, but being religious means is the proof of life, nature and the existence of humans in the right way. So, here is the List of the world’s top 10 largest religions as of 2018

10. Shintoism

Largest Religions

Followers: Approximately 4 million
Of Total Population: 0.01%

Shintoism was founded in 300 BC. With no specific founder, people who follow this religion are called Shinto. It is a form of Toaic religion. The religion has two sacred known scriptures: Nihon Shoki and The Kojiki, written and completed in 712 AD.

9. Jainism

Largest Religions 2019

Followers: 4.5 million
Of Total population: 0.06%

Jainism was founded in 600 BC by “The Great Hero” Mahavira. The people who follow Jainism are called Jains. The written scripture of Jainism is called Jain Agamas and there are more than forty Jain Agamas. These scriptures are available in Prakrit language. The religions have two categories of followers, The Shvetambaras and The Digambaras. It is a Dharmic religion with the basic preaching of non-violence, life after death etc.

8. Confucianism

Largest Religions

Followers: 7 Million Followers
Of Total Population: 0.1 %

Confucianism was founded by Kong Qiu (K’ung Ch’iu) in 600 BC. Just like Shintoism, Confucianism is a Taoist religion and consist of the most of the population from South East Asia. The followers are known as Confucius and Confucians. There are four major books of this religion and five classic books which are Holy books of Confucianism. With over 7 million followers all across the world, Confucianism is the eighth biggest religion in the world.

7. Bahaism

Largest Religions

Follower: 8 Million Approximately
Of Total Population: 0.15 Percent

Bahaism was founded by Mirza Husayn Ali (Bahaullah) in 1900 AD. It was initially started in Iran in the 19th century where Bahaullah preached the religion but was later victimised many times during his life and died in Palestine after getting captured in a prison. The followers of this religion are known as Bahai and Babis. The holy book of Bahai people is Kitab al-Aqdas. The religion follows the Abrahamic teaching and currently spread across the middle eastern countries and many parts of Asia.

6. Judaism

Largest Religions 2019

Followers: 20 Million
Of Total population: 0.3 %

Judiasm was founded by Abraham, Jacob and Issac in 1300 BC. Like Bahaism, it is also an Abrahamic religion and one of the oldest religion in the world. With more than 20 million followers all across the globe, it is the sixth largest religion as well. The followers of Judaism are called Jews and they split into thrombin assemblies Conservative, Orthodox and Liberals. Israel consists of core Jewish population followed by United Stated where the maximum percentage of the community is concentrated

5. Sikhism

Largest Religions

Followers: 30 Million Followers
Of total population: 0.4 Percent

Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak during 1469-1539 AD. The religion was founded in the state of Punjab in India. Sikhism is the third largest Dharmic religion and the people who follow this religion are called Sikh. The holy book of this religion is “Guru Granth Sahib” which was written in Gurmukhi script originally. Sikh folks can be recognised by the turbans especially on the head of men.

4. Buddhism

Largest Religions

Followers: 400 Million
Of total population: 7 Percent

Buddhism was founded in 600 BC by Siddhartha Gautama who is also known as “The Buddha” Buddhism is a Dharmic religion and just like Hinduism the teachings are based on life after death, karma and reincarnation. The people who follow Buddhism are called Buddhists. The holy book of Buddhism is called “The Tripitaka meaning Three Baskets. The actual version of the book was written in Pali language. The religion has different sects such as Mahayana, Vajrayana and Hinayana. Many regions in Asia also follow Tibetan Buddhism which is a part of Vajrayana.

3. Hinduism

Largest Religions

Followers: 1 Billion Followers
Of Total population: 15 %

Hinduism is currently the third biggest religion in the world and also one of the oldest religion on this earth. Almost 99.99% of the total Hindu population lives in South Asia ad India along consist of 90% of Hindu followers. The interesting fact about Hinduism is that there is no founder of this religion and the existence of this religion can be tracked back to 1500 BC. The Upanishads and Vedas are the sacred books of Hinduism.

2. Islam

Largest Religions

Followers: 1.6 Billion Followers
Of total population: 23 Percent

Islam was founded in 610 AD by Prophet Muhammad. The people who follow Islamic religion are known as Muslims and they strictly believe in Muhammad, Allah, Sunnah and Quran. It is the oldest and second biggest religion in the world and also known as the fastest growing religion in the world. The holy book of Quran is read by all the Muslims. Muslim community consists of two groups: Shia and Sunni. Almost 90% of Islamic followers are Sunnis and only 10% of people are Shias. Just like Judaism and Bahaism, Islam is also an Abrahamic Religion.

1. Christianity

Largest Religions

Followers: 2.3 Billion
Of Total Population: 32 Percent

Christianity is the oldest, most popular and largest religion in the world as of 2018. It was founded by Jesus Christ in somewhere around 27 AD. Christianity is also the oldest Abrahamic Religion. The people who follow this religion are called Christians. They believe that Jesus was the son of God. They have a high faith in death and returning of Jesus. Their holy book is called Bible and it is read by most of the Christians. It comprises of two sections added into one: The Old Testament & The New Testament. There are three types of Christian communities: Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Each of the section comes with different beliefs, preaching and traditions.

These are the largest religion in the world, Many of the spiritual leaders and gurus have come from these religions. Religion can be explained in many ways and the faith is the major factor that has lead to the growth and sustainability of all the religions in the world.

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  1. Islam is NOT FOUNDED by Muhammad (pbuh). Muhammad is a messenger and prophet of Allah (god) and the Quran was sent to Muhammad through angel Jibreel to be revealed to all humans and sealed as the last holy religion. It is also not possible that Muhammad is the founder of Islam, for he was illiterate, and the Quran is perfectly written, to the point where Quraysh, the people of Mecca way back, were known for their rich arabic language and grammar, yet they couldn’t find a SINGLE mistake in the Quran, because the Quran is a miracle from God.
    Sunnah is the prophet’s life and how he acted, and all muslims strive to be like him, so we try our best to act/ be like him.
    The Quran is our holy book and it’s our guide in life. If we ever have a question or want the answer for something, we read the Quran and read the prophet’s seerah (sunnah).
    Also, Islam is not made up of two groups, Sunni and Shia. Shia came to be after the prophet died and people with ill intentions tried to change Islam into something else and break up between muslims, and that is how Shia came to be.
    Islam means you believe in Jesus and Moses and Abraham and all the other prophets, as PROPHETS, not children of god or founders of religions, that Muhammad is the final messenger of god, that Allah is the only creator, and the 6 pillars of iman.
    Please forgive me if I forget or make any mistakes.
    NO OFFENCE IS MEANT FROM THESE PARAGRAPHS.
    P.s. Islam is the last holy religion and so it isn’t the oldest one. First Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam.

    • My Dear friend,

      You are just parroting what the self-proclaimed teachers of Islam keep narrating which is just half truth and not he whole truth. I bet you have not studied Q’uran as you are factually wrong. I don’t find language of Q’uran flawless but even if want to believe that, please know that Q’uran was written by his follower(s) and not by Mohammad himself. So, even though Mohammad may not know how to write and read the fellow who wrote Q’uran certainly knew and wrote it well.
      Prophets are there only in Abrahimic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam but there are many richer and older religions on this earth which came into being without any specific prophet. Moreover, why is there to send one prophet after the other with conflicting message ? That would show that God is a confused being who kept learning from his mistakes and therefore sent different messages in different times. If we accept this, God loses its quality of being infallible.
      You are not aware how Shias and Sunnis came into being. After death of Prophet Mohammad, it became a matter of dispute who would be heir of the prophet and be the Caliph. There was one group of Abu Bakra who claimed that he is the real heir and there was another group which belonged to the sons of prophets daughter. Abu Bakra’s group was called the Sunnis and the group claiming ancestral lineage with Prophet Mohammad was called the Shias.

    • In hadith Thaqalyn the prophet is believed to have said in the sermon of Ghadeer that
      “…. I leave behind you two weighty things- The Quran and my progeny- the ahlul bayt. If you hold on to those two things, you will never go astray”. In another narration it says… “Those two weighty things will never separate until it reach me on the day of recompense.”
      So your knowledge is minimal to comment on such issue saying Shias are not Muslims.
      Bare in mind that the prophet himself is part of his family and therefore an Ahlul Bayt

  2. Christianity is nowhere near being the oldest religious… among the religion present on the list Hinduism is the oldest. And about the best religion there is NON.

  3. Christianity is a biggest branch of jewish tree. due to 4 top reasons – why Christianity called oldest religion
    1. ‘ Christian ‘ word Available on written record. since first century. 2. Holy Bible is the most reading, Printing & destributing book in the world. ect. 3. Christians believes on serv to people, serv the nation & most important thing is serve the God through teaching of Jesus & our good behaviour with other people. 4. they don’t believe on any type of terrorism.

  4. how does christianity even exist, because god doesn’t have a son and that is merely the only thing people believe in that religion. Not meant to hurt feelings, just the brutal truth

    • Amazing how someone who you claim does not exist (Jesus Christ the Son of God), has been confirmed (outside of the Bible) by scholars and historians alike, as existing.
      So your brutal truth, is a shameful fallacy.
      From Flavius Josephus (AD 37/38–97) to The Toledot Yeshu (1000AD) confirmation of Jesus’ existence has been acknowledged by many ancient (non-believing historians), and reconfirmed by current historians and professors of history.
      Paul Maier, former Professor of Ancient History, pens that: “The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence.” and former atheist and forensic cold case detective Jim Wallace, was actually converted to Christianity, because of the irrefutable discoveries he made while investigating the Bible and life of Christ.
      So, with all due respect “You will never know” your statement holds as much truth as a bucket full of holes holds water.

    • I am sure u are an extreme brutal non civilized socially unattractive waist, who hate the world .
      you should go and learn how to become a human .

  5. Bhudda’s path for acheiving enlightenment is very simple and realistic. It also shows the realistic path for human happiness in the present day world. Though it is accepted as a religion of the world it is not a religion in the actual sense. It just shows the correct path for good way of life, brotherhood and world peace.

    It is going to surpass all the religions of this world in the near future.

  6. 1. To Anonymous of 9 days ago – “Muslam” not mentioned: See “Islam.”
    2. To Website: Christianity IS NOT THE WORLD’S OLDEST RELIGION!

  7. 1. To Anonymous of 9 days ago – “Muslam” not mentioned: See “Islam.”
    2. To Website: Christianity IS NOT THE WORLD’S OLDEST RELIGION!

  8. 1. To Anonymous of 9 days ago – “Muslam” not mentioned: See “Islam.”
    2. To Website: Christianity IS NOT THE WORLD’S OLDEST RELIGION!

  9. Buddhism is the religion that promotes peace and harmony. No animals are sacrificed.No hatred for other religions.No war in defending the religion.Buddhist believe that sufferings that we go through today is because of our past bad karma.The final aim is to achieve Nibbana.A state where you won’t be born again in any form.

  10. Buddhism is the religion that promotes peace and harmony. No animals are sacrificed.No hatred for other religions.No war in defending the religion.Buddhist believe that sufferings that we go through today is because of our past bad karma.The final aim is to achieve Nibbana.A state where you won’t be born again in any form.

  11. Buddhism has not the belief of Life after death , and it is not comparable to Hinduism (it is like to compare Christianity to Judaism) .

    • Siddhartha was Hindu, nourished with Hindu culture, at that time no other religions were existed in the world. So a stream was driven by Him from Indian religion. You can’t compare with other religion

  12. Hinduism religion is small religion in world.. .this religion people is very honest or good beavier…you are visit to India then you trust me. ..thank u.. .Ram ram

  13. Half of the religions on your list (Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Jainism, and Shinto) you say started LONG before the 27 AD date marking the beginning of Christianity… yet you state Christianity is the “oldest” religion. Contradicting yourself quickly makes you lose your credibility, so you may want to change your wording.

  14. CHRISTIANITY IS THE MOST POPULAR AND THE MOST PRACTICED RELIGION… Islam is not…how are they able to obtain proper data when you have for example terror extremist groups claiming they are Islamic…the data may be disrupted due to this false identification

  15. Jesus was a Jew yes…but he brought fourth the commandments and teachings of God, he gifted us the views of what we have now adapted into an umbrella term of Christianity.

  16. You guys said that two religions were the oldest, you said Christianity was the oldest Abrahamic religion after saying Judaism was… Do at least cursory internet searches before writing articles. Please.

  17. Islam is a beautiful religion wish more people could see that . May Islam spread peace. and love in this world of chaos and turmoil .

  18. In a debt buddha was follower of lord mahavir … Just search it…
    Jainism is not started by lord mahavir..
    Lord mahavir was born in jainism…
    It has no origin…

    • No it isn’t.. statistically Christianity is the most common and popular religion as it is the most practiced…under Christianity are things like Protestant, Roman Catholic etc..

  19. actually Islam wasn’t founded by muhammad (pbuh), technically its wasn’t founded at all, but given. The first human to be muslim was Adam (as) a.k.a the first human on earth…just saying

    • That is an excellent question, my friend. Jesus had been teaching, according to the Bible, in the temple for a long time until he was crucified. Jesus has also been a Jew, because he followed the scriptures daily and approved us that they’re fulfilled, by the time he arrived in person. We know that, not only is he the son of God, which was foretold in the last books of the Old Testament, but also that he came down to the world to save us, which has made him known as “The Messiah”. If my answer, technically, doesn’t answer for you, this link should probably help:
      https://www.gotquestions.org/was-Jesus-a-Jew.html
      God bless you, Random Special Guy.

  20. Nobody but a few ignoramuses believes that Christianity is “the oldest religion in the world,” as your notes say. Why haven’t you corrected this statement?

    • Those statistics are several years ago after I looked them up. There is a news article, posted 2 days ago, saying that Christianity still remains the largest religion in the world (although some of Europe is declining it).

    • 1.6 billion Muslims
      2.3 billion Christians
      the common agreement between experts in population growth have stated, Islam will most likely be the largest religion by the turn of the century.

  21. The, prevailing history of Christianity, ongoing, according, to the basic and common definition, among slavery, crime, torture and extermination, of which is the use of force, directly, and/or indirectly , in the least denial, of the right, to life, it’s corollaries and consequences, whether by deed(s), and/or tantamount, to deed(s’) allowance(s), ostensible law (when, what, “Law”, can only be, is primacy of existence, metaphysical, meaning of reason, it’s corollaries and consequences, noncontradictorily, in behalf, of justice) or, mind control; and, in a rhythm, with and, with use of, the anti-life force of nature, including, entirely, with ostensible law, is nearly a third of population, of earth, 1 out of 3, toward 1out of 4, of all, living people: reports of Christians being persecuted is obscenely, outrageously, out of proportion, with reports (?) of quantity, of people, who are atheism of science, being persecuted, by all religions, globally and, who are those, advancing survival of our specie, historically; of course, one can predict future of Christianity, based on it’s, “pattern and practice”, history of, prevailing efficacy: it’s repeating it.

    • Reply, to, “Your comment awaiting moderation.”: with wise, patient, forsight and review, I’m certain that, it was written, with moderation, in context, of, prevailing history, of subject, ongoing. Respectfully, R.W. Green Jr.

  22. Christianity is NOT the oldest religion in the world. It is certainly not older than Judaism! Do you do any research at all?

  23. Richard Wolf asks what about Atheists; Simple 1) Learn to read English and you will see this is a study on Religions. Atheism is not a religion.
    2)Learn your sums do the arithmetic the percent (means 100) add up to 76.02% which leaves 23.98% which must be Atheists or Animalist or some pagan non-religion thing.
    Which means that you can boast that non-religious people are on a par or slightly ahead of Islam making your lot the second most popular group; see Richard what education does, knowledge changes behavior.
    For your information the Christian figure is grossly overstated as the Roman Catholic church is not Christian. Do not be thrown by the word ‘church’ it simply means ‘called out’ if you join a health club you are a member of a church, that is you have been called out the community to follow the teachings of the health club. Pop the mystique surrounding words and you come closer to the heart of the matter.

  24. There is a slight misunderstanding, Muhammed p.b.u.h is not the founder of Islam and Islam has not been formed in 610 a.d it is there since man step foot on earth that is Adam p.b.u.h.

  25. Unfortunately, the information given about the top 10 religions is false. Christianity, however much it wishes it was the oldest and largest religious group, is not anywhere close.

  26. How can you say in the description above that Christianity is the oldest religion on the planet when it was established by Jesus Christ in about 30 to 50 AD but Hinduism can be traced back to 1500 BC and others also to a time BC?

    • Atheism will grow, dont take tension.
      Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him has already informed us that Qayamath ( end of world ) will come when there would not remain a single man on this earth who will GOD’s name – mark his words He Peace Be upon Him said that no one would take GOD’s name, it means no religion , bcoz christians, hindus, and others also take GOD’s name , therefore the torment and disaster of the Last Day will occur on those wicked Atheists who do not believe in GOD. But before that He Peace Be upon Him also told that Muslims grow very large in number but most of those Muslims will be Muslims just for name sake , they wont follow Quran and Hadith properly, then WW3 will take place and millions of muslims will die in it and only a few will remain who would be the pious muslims and then they would win the WW3 and many many things He peace be upon Him has told……but after all that, the world will become atheist and the last muslims at the very very end will remain on the lands of Syria who die with a fragrance of wind and only atheist will remain and then Qayamah will take place on those evil wicked Atheists…..the growing atheist population is again itself a proof that Islam is the correct religion for you all, bcoz it mentioned it 1450 years ago !!

    • Hi only 10 percent of the population is atheist not many even thou a lot say atheist is on the rise, there’s not many and they will never become bigger then religion sorry

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