Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
Religion is a major force in shaping and changing culture. The major world religions
today all stem from an area of Eurasia stretching from the eastern Mediterranean
to China. Major world religions are distributed regionally, with Hinduism in India;
Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Chinese philosophies in East and Southeast Asia;
Islam reaching across North Africa, through the Middle East and into Southeast
Asia; Shamanist religions mainly in Subsaharan Africa; and Christianity in Europe,
Western Asia, the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. Judaism, another major
world religion, is not as concentrated. Today, Judaism has a base in Israel and has
adherents scattered throughout Europe and the Americas.
As the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. made
clear, religious beliefs can drive people to extremist behaviors. On a day-to-day basis,
however, religion more typically drives cultures—shaping how people behave, how
people perceive the behaviors of others, and how people across place, scale, and time
interact with each other.
Geographic Concepts
religion
secularism
monotheistic religion
polytheistic religion
animistic religion
universalizing religion
ethnic religion
Hinduism
caste system
Buddhism
Shintoism
Taoism
Feng Shui
Confucianism
Judaism
diaspora
Zionism
Christianity
Eastern Orthodox
Church
Roman Catholic Church
Protestant
Islam
Sunni
Shi'ite
indigenous religions
Shamanism
pilgrimage
sacred sites
minarets
hajj
interfaith boundaries
intrafaith boundaries
ethnic cleansing
activity space
religious fundamentalism
religious extremism
jihad
Learn More Online
About Devils Tower
http://www.nps.gov/deto
About Religions of the World
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions
About the Sacred Sites in Jerusalem
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/middle_east/2000/holy_places/
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