NEPAL
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
TAIWAN
EGYPT
QATAR
UAE
PAKISTAN
BAHRAIN
CAPE
VERDE
BURMA
SAUDI
ARABIA
NIGER
MALI
MAURITANIA
VANUATU
OMAN
INDIA
LAOS
THAILAND
PHILIPPINES
CHAD
SUDAN
ERITREA
YEMEN
SENEGAL
GAMBIA
GUINEA-BISSAU
GUINEA
LIBERIA
BURKINA
FASO
VIETNAM
CAMBODIA
FIJI
SIERRA LEONE
CÔTE
D’IVOIRE
NIGERIA
DJIBOUTI
C.A.R
ETHIOPIA
S. SUDAN
SRI LANKA
CAMEROON
GABON
CONGO
RWANDA
UGANDA
SOMALIA
MALDIVES
MALAYSIA
BRUNEI
EQ. GUINEA
KENYA
SINGAPORE
INDONESIA
D.R.
CONGO
BURUNDI
SEYCHELLES
COMOROS
ANGOLA
TANZANIA
ZAMBIA
EAST TIMOR
MALAWI
SOLOMON
IS.
PAPUA
NEW
GUINEA
NAMIBIA
MADAGASCAR
ZIMBABWE
MAURITIUS
BOTSWANA
MOZAMBIQUE
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
AFRICA
LESOTHO
SWAZILAND
South Africa:
Has 11 official
languages.
NEW
ZEALAND
Researchers have
identified 719
languages in
Indonesia…
Cyprus: Greek Cypriots make up
about 80% of the total
population, Turkish Cypriots
about 20%. The island has been
divided since 1974. Viewed as a
whole, the island is nationally
diverse; viewed separately, each
entity is homogenous.
…and over
850 languages in
Papua New Guinea.
58 War in the 21st Century R
Copyright © Myriad Editions Limited 27
TOGO
GHANA
BENIN
Religious Beliefs
Faithful countries
Countries with largest
populations of Christians
and Muslims
Christians
Muslims
The vast majority of people profess a religious faith. Although professing a faith
on a population census form and actually practising it are two very different
things, their faith is, for many, a basic marker of identity. Shared religious
conviction can unite people where other things divide them, and even
between different faiths there is significant ethical common ground
and a shared openness to the spiritual and immaterial.
But religious identity coincides with other markers of identity –
regional, national, ethnic, and cultural. When and where religious
leaders cannot or will not restrain the way in which adherents to different
faiths express their differences, conflicts can overheat and explode. Some of
the world’s most brutal violence is – and has been throughout history –
inflicted in the name of religion. And some of the worst violence is over
differences within the same religion: between Protestants and Catholic
Christians, or between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. Yet common to all
major religions is the over-riding value of peace.
CANADA
USA
246m
BERMUDA
MEXICO
107m
CUBA
BAHAMAS
Non-believers
People who profess no religion
as a percentage of population
2005
20% or more
10% – 19.9%
fewer than 10%
DOM.
REP.
HAITI
JAMAICA
PUERTO
RICO
BELIZE
GUATEMALA
EL SALVADOR
HONDURAS
NICARAGUA
COSTA