Religion in Russia
Encyclopedia
There are number of religions with adherents in Russia. The preamble to the 1997 law regulating religious organizations names Christianity
, Islam
, Buddhism
, and Judaism
as important in Russian history. Orthodox
Christianity
(Russian
: Православие Pravoslavije) is Russia's traditional and largest religion, deemed a part of Russia
's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997.
Russian Orthodoxy
is the dominant religion in Russia. 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church
while there are a number of smaller Orthodox Churches. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis.
The ancestors of many of today’s Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. According to the U.S. Department of State, approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although only 5 percent of Russians call themselves observant. However the Church claims a membership of 80 million. According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center
, 63% of respondents considered themselves Russian Orthodox, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslim
and less than 1% considered themselves either Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. Another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers.
Official census counter around 14.5 million. Russia also has an estimated 3 million to 4 million Muslim migrants, both legal and illegal, from the ex-Soviet states. Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus
, Moscow, St. Petersburg and western Siberia
. Buddhism
is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva
and Kalmykia
. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, Yakutia, Chukotka
, etc., practice pantheistic and pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Slavs
are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian. Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim, although several Turkic groups in Russia are not.
Based on self-identification data, the population of Russia includes 70.2% of Russian Orthodox Christians, 4-6% are Muslims, a little more than 1% of Protestants (including 0.3% of Lutherans), a little less than 1% of Roman Catholics and some 0.1% of Old Believers
. About 0.1% of the population are adherents of Buddhism
. A Russian census of 2002 found 230 thousand (0.16%) ethnic Jews
in the country, but only 8% of them, which is 0.01% of the total population) self-identify as followers of Judaism
. Small religions in Russia comprise 0.19%. 4% of the population identified themselves as non-believers.
The ethnic approach is sometimes misused to artificially "inflate" prevalence of certain religions. For example, according to the Russian census of 2002, at least 14 million people in Russia belong to traditional Islamic ethnic groups, including registered migrants(Tatars
, Bashkirs
, etc.) Consequently, it is often claimed that Islam
has 14 million (or even 20-25 million) adherents in Russia. However it should be noted that Russia does not have birth-right citizenship, and the children born to immigrants are not granted Russian passports. Also, among the traditional Islamic ethnic groups, there are large number of people who no longer practice Islam. For example, one-third of the Adzharians, 25% each of Tatars and Adyghe and more than 10% of Kazakhs living in Russia practice Christianity.
Depending on the exact criteria, it is believed that there are 3-15 million practising Orthodox Christians and 1.5-4 million practising Muslims in Russia. It is difficult to estimate observance of self-identified followers of other religions. The only faiths which are likely not to suffer from this phenomenon as strongly are those without ethnic basis in the country: most branches of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism generally, New religious movement
s, Krishnaism
, Bahá'í
.
Using these numbers, one attempt to estimate numbers of practising followers of different religions in Russia arrives at the following results: 3-15 million Russian Orthodox; 2.8 million Muslim
; over 1.5 million Protestant (including at least 900 thousand Pentecostals); no more than 500 thousand Buddhists; 300 thousand followers of New religious movement
s; 60-200 thousand Roman Catholic; 50-80 thousand Old Believers
.
One experiences similar problems when trying to determine the number of atheists
in Russia. As discussed above, the majority of Russians are non-observant, and more than 50% never attend church services of any kind. On the other hand, numbers of those self-identifying as "non-religious" are much lower, and, further, vary wildly from poll to poll (from 14% to 36%). Numbers of self-identified atheists are often as low as 4%.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
as important in Russian history. Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
(Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Православие Pravoslavije) is Russia's traditional and largest religion, deemed a part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997.
Russian Orthodoxy
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
is the dominant religion in Russia. 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
while there are a number of smaller Orthodox Churches. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis.
The ancestors of many of today’s Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. According to the U.S. Department of State, approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although only 5 percent of Russians call themselves observant. However the Church claims a membership of 80 million. According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center
VCIOM
All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, VTsIOM, [established in 1987; till 1992 – All-Union Center for the Study of Public Opinion] is the oldest polling institution in the post-Soviet space and is one of the leading sociological and market research companies in Russia.-General...
, 63% of respondents considered themselves Russian Orthodox, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and less than 1% considered themselves either Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. Another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers.
Official census counter around 14.5 million. Russia also has an estimated 3 million to 4 million Muslim migrants, both legal and illegal, from the ex-Soviet states. Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
, Moscow, St. Petersburg and western Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
and Kalmykia
Kalmykia
The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: It is the only Buddhist region in Europe. It has also become well-known as an international chess mecca because its former President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is the head of the International Chess Federation .-Geography:*Area:...
. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, Yakutia, Chukotka
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...
, etc., practice pantheistic and pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Slavs
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian. Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim, although several Turkic groups in Russia are not.
Adherents
Detailed analysis of popularity of religions in Russia is complicated by the fact that different approaches to quantifying adherents of different religious groups often give contradictory results.- The most natural approach is based on self-identification data. The majority of Russian citizens, and as many as 90% of ethnic Russians, self-identify as Russian OrthodoxRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
. This makes Russian Orthodox Church by far the most widespread religion, with as many as 70-75 million adult adherents.
Based on self-identification data, the population of Russia includes 70.2% of Russian Orthodox Christians, 4-6% are Muslims, a little more than 1% of Protestants (including 0.3% of Lutherans), a little less than 1% of Roman Catholics and some 0.1% of Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
. About 0.1% of the population are adherents of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. A Russian census of 2002 found 230 thousand (0.16%) ethnic Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in the country, but only 8% of them, which is 0.01% of the total population) self-identify as followers of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. Small religions in Russia comprise 0.19%. 4% of the population identified themselves as non-believers.
- The so-called "ethnic approach" is primarily useful when applied towards ethnic religious communities that are small and/or compact enough to be "left out" of normal public opinion polls. It based on an assumption that 100% of population of every ethnic minority are adherents of their group's traditional religion. A good example of such a religious community is Assyrian Church of the EastAssyrian Church of the EastThe Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
, represented in Russia by ethnic AssyriansAssyrian peopleThe Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
. With the body of followers of less than 15,000, it wouldn't show up or would fall within the margin of error on any reasonable religious self-identification poll, and its size can only be reasonably inferred from census data using the ethnic approach.
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
, Bashkirs
Bashkirs
The Bashkirs are a Turkic people indigenous to Bashkortostan extending on both parts of the Ural mountains, on the place where Europe meets Asia. Groups of Bashkirs also live in the republic of Tatarstan, Perm Krai, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Samara and Saratov Oblasts of...
, etc.) Consequently, it is often claimed that Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
has 14 million (or even 20-25 million) adherents in Russia. However it should be noted that Russia does not have birth-right citizenship, and the children born to immigrants are not granted Russian passports. Also, among the traditional Islamic ethnic groups, there are large number of people who no longer practice Islam. For example, one-third of the Adzharians, 25% each of Tatars and Adyghe and more than 10% of Kazakhs living in Russia practice Christianity.
- One can get radically different results by estimating the number of observant followers of every religion, the reason being that members of many ethnic groups often choose to self-identify as adherents to a certain religion for cultural reasons, although they would not fit any traditional religiousness criteria (church attendance, familiarity with basic dogmas of their faith). For example, even though 80% of ethnic Russians self-identify as Russian Orthodox, less than 10% of them attend church services more than once a month and only 2-4% are considered to be integrated into church life (воцерковленные).
Depending on the exact criteria, it is believed that there are 3-15 million practising Orthodox Christians and 1.5-4 million practising Muslims in Russia. It is difficult to estimate observance of self-identified followers of other religions. The only faiths which are likely not to suffer from this phenomenon as strongly are those without ethnic basis in the country: most branches of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism generally, New religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
s, Krishnaism
Krishnaism
Krishnaism is a group of Hindu denominations within Vaishnavism, centered on devotion to Radha Krishna or other forms of Krishna, identified with Vishnu.The central text of Krishnaism is the Bhagavad Gita....
, Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
.
- Yet another way of comparing relative popularity of various religions in Russia is to look at the numbers of registered local congregations (Christian parishes, Muslim mosques, and so on). According to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), there were 21,664 registered religious organizations in Russia as of January 1, 2004, including 20,403 local congregations. 10,767 were Russian Orthodox; 3,397 were Muslim; almost 5,000 were various Protestant organizations and groups; 267 were Old Believers; 256 were Judaic; 235 were Roman Catholic; 180 were Buddhist. However, religions can vary significantly in numbers of followers per congregation, and some religions may be somewhat "under-registered" for various reasons.
Using these numbers, one attempt to estimate numbers of practising followers of different religions in Russia arrives at the following results: 3-15 million Russian Orthodox; 2.8 million Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
; over 1.5 million Protestant (including at least 900 thousand Pentecostals); no more than 500 thousand Buddhists; 300 thousand followers of New religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
s; 60-200 thousand Roman Catholic; 50-80 thousand Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
.
One experiences similar problems when trying to determine the number of atheists
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
in Russia. As discussed above, the majority of Russians are non-observant, and more than 50% never attend church services of any kind. On the other hand, numbers of those self-identifying as "non-religious" are much lower, and, further, vary wildly from poll to poll (from 14% to 36%). Numbers of self-identified atheists are often as low as 4%.
Dynamics
Several mechanisms are responsible for gradual changes in the religious structure of Russia.- Most religions present in Russia are ethnic-based. Expectedly, their prevalence changes as their respective ethnic groups grow or shrink. The most prominent example of this is JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
-- the number of ethnic Jews in Russia shrunk by more than a factor of 10 since mid-20th century. Number of LutheransLutheranismLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
and Mennonites has declined somewhat since Soviet era due to emigration of Volga GermanVolga GermanThe Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain German culture, language, traditions and churches: Lutherans, Reformed,...
s. Conversely, the population of Islamic ethnic groups continues to grow (from 8% of total population of the country in 1989 to at least 10% in 2002), and so does prevalence of Islam. - Missionary work of various Western Protestant and "new religious" groups in Russia since 1990 contributed to growth of a number of non-ethnic religions and faiths.
- There are indications that some traditional religions are on the decline as well. Old believersOld BelieversIn the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
are down to less than 1% compared to 10% in Czarist Russia. Buddhism is on the decline among its traditional followers in Northern Asia, supplanted by Shamanism. - On the other hand, the New AgeNew AgeThe New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
movement has led to emergence of some "non-traditional" religions in large cities. Polls indicate that around 1% of population of Moscow and St.Petersburg self-identify as Buddhists. Many of these are Slavic and have no ethnic connection to Buddhism.
Registered religious organizations
The following is a detailed breakdown of numbers of registered religious organizations in Russia as of December 2006.Orthodox
29,784 organizations, including:- Russian Orthodox ChurchRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
: 29,268 - Old believersOld BelieversIn the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
(a breakaway faction of the Russian Orthodox Church): 285 (divided among 4 groups) - Armenian Apostolic: 68
- Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church: 43
- Russian Orthodox Church Abroad: 30
- MolokanMolokanMolokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...
: 27 - Russian True Orthodox ChurchRussian True Orthodox ChurchThe Russian True Orthodox Church is a denomination that separated from the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of Communist rule in the Soviet Union. While the True Orthodox Church in Russia was never a single organization, many of its followers were labeled Josephites, after...
: 42 - Russian Orthodox Free Church: 10
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev PatriarchateUkrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev PatriarchateUkrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate is one of the three major Orthodox churches in Ukraine, alongside the Ukrainian Orthodox Church , and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church...
: 11
Protestant
4453 organizations.- Pentecostals: 1,486
- Baptists: 965
- Evangelicals: 740
- Seventh-day AdventistSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
: 652 - Lutheran: 228 (divided among 4 groups)
- Presbyterian: 187
- Methodist: 115
- New ApostolicNew Apostolic ChurchThe New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
: 80
- Various evangelical groups (Word of Faith, ApostolicApostolic ChurchThe Apostolic Church is a Pentecostal Christian denomination which can trace its origins back to the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. Despite the relatively recent origin of the denomination, the church seeks to stand for first century Christianity in its faith, practices, and government.The purpose of the...
, "teetotallers"): 70 - Salvation ArmySalvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
: 32 - Churches of Christ: 26
- MennoniteMennoniteThe Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
: 9 - Reformist: 5
- Anglican: 1
- Dukhobor: 0
Islamic
- IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
: 8,000+, including: - Mufti Councils: 70
- Islamic UniversityIslamic UniversityIslamic University is a public university in Bangladesh financially aided by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It was formed in 1985 in Kushtia under the Islamic University Act of 1980 to promote the Islamic system of education in the country. Islamic University started its academic...
: 4 - Madrassa: 8000
- MosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
: 7000 - HajjHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
Pilgrimage Associations: 5 - HalalHalalHalal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
Producers Associations: 9
Other religions
5800+ organizations.- JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
: 267 (divided among Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform groups). - Karaite: 1
- BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
: 192 - HinduismHinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
: 80 - KrishnaismKrishnaismKrishnaism is a group of Hindu denominations within Vaishnavism, centered on devotion to Radha Krishna or other forms of Krishna, identified with Vishnu.The central text of Krishnaism is the Bhagavad Gita....
: 78 - TantraTantraTantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
: 2 - Bahá'íBahá'í FaithThe Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
: 20 - ShamanismShamanismShamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
: 14 - Pagan: 11
- TaoismTaoismTaoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
: 6 - AssyrianAssyrian Church of the EastThe Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
: 2 - ScientologyScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
: 2 - SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
: 1 - ZoroastrianismZoroastrianismZoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
: 1 - Spiritual Unity (TolstoyanLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
): 1 - Living EthicsAgni YogaLiving Ethics has also another equivalent but less widespread meaning Agni Yoga — a philosophical and ethical teaching which embraces all sides of being — from cosmological problems, down to daily human life...
(RerikhianNicholas RoerichNicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh , was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings and about 30 literary works...
): 1 - Other Confessions: 216
Other
507 organizations.- Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
: 386 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons): 50
- Church of the "Sovereign" Icon of the Mother of God: 27
- Church of the Last TestamentVissarionSergey Anatolyevitch Torop , known by his followers as Vissarion , is a Russian mystic. He founded and heads a religious movement known as the Church of the Last Testament with its head church in the Siberian Taiga in the Minusinsk Depression east of Abakan, in the southern Siberia Kuraginsk...
: 11 - Unification ChurchUnification ChurchThe Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
: 9 - non-denominational Christian: 24
See also
- Religion in the Soviet UnionReligion in the Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion and its replacement with atheism. To that end, the communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools...
- Buddhism in RussiaBuddhism in RussiaHistorically, Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands in the early 17th century, when Kalmyk people traveled to and settled in Siberia and what is now the Russian Far East. Buddhism is considered as one of Russia’s traditional religions, legally a part of Russian historical heritage.The main...
- Hinduism in RussiaHinduism in RussiaHinduism has been spread in Russia primarily due to the work of missionaries from the Vaishnava Hindu organization International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Brahma Kumaris and by itinerant swamis from India...
- Islam in RussiaIslam in RussiaIslam is the second most widely professed religion in the Russian Federation. According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslims. According to Reuters, Muslim minorities make up a seventh of Russia's population...
- Judaism in RussiaHistory of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet UnionThe vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest populations of Jews in the diaspora. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of...
- List of tallest Orthodox churches
- Religion in present-day nations and states
- Roman Catholicism in RussiaRoman Catholicism in RussiaThe Roman Catholic Church in Russia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.-Origins:...
- Protestants in Russia
- Persecution of Christians in the Soviet UnionPersecution of Christians in the Soviet UnionThe history of Christianity in the Soviet Union was not limited to repression and secularization. Soviet policy toward religion was based on the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which made atheism the official doctrine of the Soviet Union...
- Scientology in RussiaScientology in Russia-Church of Scientology Moscow v. Russia:In April 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Russia for repeatedly refusing to consider the Moscow Church of Scientology's application for the status of a legally valid religious association...
- Slavic NeopaganismSlavic NeopaganismSlavic Neopaganism is a modern fakeloric, polytheistic, reconstructionistic, and Neopagan religion; its adherents call themselves Rodnovers , and consider themselves to be the legitimate continuation of pre-Christian Slavic religion.- Rebirth of Slavic spirituality :The pre-Christian religions...
External links
- International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Russia
- Statistics of Russian Religiousness (Russian)
- Confessional Structure of Russian Population (Russian)
- Registered Religious Organizations as of January 1, 2004; Ministry of Justice data (Russian)
- Secular State and Islamic Tradition in Russia
- Russia has a Muslim dilemma (article in San Francisco Chronicle)
- Muslims In Russia
- Islam to become Russia’s predominant religion by 2050?
- Religious minorities in Russia and Lithuania (Russian)
- The Relations Triangle: Islam, Russian Orthodox Church and the State in Post-communist Russia