The Geography of Religions

The recent election of Pope Leo, an American, who had worked most of his life in Peru, replacing Pope Benedict from Argentina, raised debates about whether the new Pope might be from black Africa or South East Asia. It hightlighted the geography of religions. There are an estimated 5.5 billion people in the world with religious beliefs: the three biggest being Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. But these religions, and their believers,. have geographies - internationally, between countries, intra-nationally - within countries, and regionally and locally. Internationally, Christianity is important in Europe, but also in most of Latin America and Phillippines as a result of Spanish and Portugese colonialism. It is also important in USA. Hinduism is largely concentrated in India, but Islam is important not just in the Middle East but in South East Asia in Indonesia and Malaysia. There is a history of religious segregation and conflict. We can see this in Northern Ireland, in India and recently in Myanmar where the Rohinga's have been violently pushed out into Bangladesh. Conflict in Israel and Palestine is also a major issue. There are also geographies of religious sites and pilgrimages, Jerusalem is a classic example but there is Mecca and Medina and other important ones in India. In Britain there has been growth of new Moslem mosques and Hindu temples and of religious schools. The geography of religion is an important issue.