While there are many religions practiced worldwide, these 12 religions listed below represent the largest denominations...
Baha'i - is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. The Bahá'í teachings include theological statements about God, his messengers, and humans, as well as social teachings including the equality of all humans, regardless of gender, race and class, the harmony of science of religion, compulsory education, and the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty, among others. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Baha'i Faith
Baha'i - is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. The Bahá'í teachings include theological statements about God, his messengers, and humans, as well as social teachings including the equality of all humans, regardless of gender, race and class, the harmony of science of religion, compulsory education, and the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty, among others. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Baha'i Faith
Buddhism - is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Lower estimates are between 350–500 million. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Buddhist
Christianity - is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings. The belief in a Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is practiced. Christianity consists of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the various denominations of Protestantism. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion adherents. Christianity represents about a quarter to a third of the world's population and is the world's largest religion. For more information, please visit: Branches of Christianity
Confucianism - is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucianism focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics, the most basic of which are ren, yi, and li. Ren is an obligation of altruism and humaneness for other individuals within a community, yi is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good, and li is a system of norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act within a community. Countries strongly influenced by Confucianism include mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore. For more information, please visit: Religion of Confucianism
Gnosticism - is a modern scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices found among some of the early Christian groups called "gnostic" ("learned") by Irenaeus and other early Christian heresiologists. A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realization of Gnosis (intuitive knowledge), is the way to salvation of the soul from the material world. The Gnostics see the material world as created through an intermediary being (demiurge) rather than directly by God. Estimated totals for the Gnostics is 20 million worldwide. For more information, please visit: Religion of Gnosticism
Hinduism - is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent, and one of its indigenous religions. Hinduism includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Śrauta among numerous other traditions. Among other practices and philosophies, Hinduism includes a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on the notion of karma, dharma, and societal norm. Hinduism is a conglomeration of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs. Demographically, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. Hinduism was followed by around 80% of population in India. Other significant populations are found in Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (14 million) and the Indonesian island of Bali (3.3 million). For more information, please visit: Religion of the Hindu
Islam - is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur'an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of Allah (God) and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of Allah. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim and the most recognized sects are the Sunni and Shia. Muslims believe that Allah is one and incomparable and the purpose of existence is to love and serve Allah. The second largest religion in the world, Islam is practiced worldwide with over 1.5 billion followers or over 22% of earth's population. For more information, please visit: Branches of Islam
Jainism - is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Jain doctrine teaches that Jainism has always existed and will always exist. Jainism is a small but influential religious minority with as many as 4.2 million followers in India, and successful growing immigrant communities in North America, Western Europe, the Far East, Australia and elsewhere. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Jain
Judaism - is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish people. A monotheistic religion originating in the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship Yahweh (God) developed with the Children of Israel. Judaism claims a historical continuity spanning more than 3,000 years. It is one of the oldest monotheistic religions, and the oldest to survive into the present day. In 2010, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.4 million, or roughly 0.2% of the total world population. For more information, please visit: Branches of Judaism
Shinto - is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the people of Japan. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. There are currently 4 million observers of Shinto in Japan, although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. Shinto teaches that certain deeds create a kind of ritual impurity that one should want cleansed for one's own peace of mind and good fortune rather than because impurity is wrong. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Shinto
Sikhism - is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh gurus (the last teaching being the holy scripture Gurū Granth Sāhib Ji). It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, with over 30 million Sikhs. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally 'of the gurus'). Punjab of India is the only region in the world with a majority Sikh population and the principal beliefs are faith and justice, in Waheguru, meaning one God. Sikhi advocates the pursuit of salvation through personal meditation on the name and message of God. Adherents of Sikhi are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 26 million across the world. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Sikh
Taoism - is one of five religions recognized by the People's Republic of China. The government regulates its activities through a state bureaucracy (the China Taoist Association). The term Tao originally means "way", "path" or "principle", and can be found in many Chinese philosophies and religions. Taoism emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao, the source and essence of everything that exists. The number of Taoists is difficult to estimate, due to a variety of factors including defining Taoism. The number of people practicing Chinese folk religion is estimated to be just under four hundred million. Most Chinese people and many others, such as Taiwan adherents, have been influenced in some way by Taoist tradition. Estimates for the number of Taoists worldwide range from twenty million and possibly as many as 400 million in China alone. For more information, please visit: Religion of the Taoist