Cultural
Characteristics of
Europe
Religion In Europe
Europe is home to many religions
 There are three main religions
 These are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
 These religions have some similarities and
even a common history
 Monotheism (the belief in one god) is
cental to all three religions

Religion In Europe
They are also different in their beliefs
about God and man.
 Sometimes these beliefs cause
disagreements between people.
 Disagreements can even happen between
people of the same religious group.

Europe Today
Religion has been very important in the history
of Europe.
 Wars have been fought, and government
leaders have been changed, because of religious
issues.
 Today, most Europeans have the legal freedom
to choose their religion.
 Most Europeans recognize and respect the rights
of others to choose their own religion.

Judaism
Founder- Abraham (about 2000 BC)
 Holy Book- Torah
 Name of Followers- Jews
 Number of Followers Worldwide- 15
million

Important Facts of Judaism
Torah is the first five books of the writings of Moses,
believed to be given to Moses by God at Mt. Sinai
 Talmud is the written version of the Oral Law
 belief is in the laws of one God and the words of his
prophets
 actions and following the laws are important
 Three main types of Judaism are: Orthodox (most
traditional), Conservative and Reform (least traditional)
 Jews in Europe were nearly wiped out by Hitler and Nazi
Germany (Holocaust)

Christianity
Founder- Jesus Christ (30 AD)
 Holy Book- Bible
 Name of Followers- Christians
 Number of Followers Worldwide- 2.1
Billion

Important Facts of Christianity
the five books of Moses make up the first five books of
the Bible
 beliefs are based on the teachings of Jesus: love of God
and neighbor, a regard for justice, a belief that Jesus is
the Son of God
 Christianity is divided into 3 major groups: Eastern
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant
 Protestants include Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists,
Presbyterians, Episcopalians and other non-Catholic, and
non-Orthodox Christians
 Christianity is in most parts of the world today

Islam
Founder- Muhammad (about 610 AD)
 Holy Book- Koran (Quran)
 Name of Followers- Muslims
 Number of Followers Worldwide- 1.3
Billion

Important Facts of Islam

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Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last of the
prophets, which included Abraham and Jesus
the main duties of Muslims are called the Five Pillars
–
–
–
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are prayer
giving to charity
belief in and submission to one God (Allah)
fasting during the month of Ramadan
a trip to Mecca once in a lifetime (Hajj)
the two largest groups of Muslims are the Sunnis and
the Shiites; the Sunnis account for 90% of the world’s
Muslims
 it is the main religion of the Middle East, North Africa,
and Asia number of followers is rapidly growing

Europe Languages
The continent of Europe is slightly larger
than the United States in land area.
 Europe’s population is more than double
the population of the United States.
 In the United States, English is the
dominant language.

Europe Languages
Europe is much different.
 It is home to more than two hundred
native languages.
 A few languages are dominant, but many
more are spoken by large numbers of
people.

Germanic Language
Most European languages are in three
main categories: Germanic languages,
Romance languages, and Slavic
languages.
 The Germanic language group has the
most native speakers.
 European native speakers of this group
live mostly in northwest and central
Europe.

Germanic Language
About 20 percent of Europeans speak one
of two languages—English and German—
as their native language.
 Most Europeans learn English as a second
language in their schools even if they
don’t speak English at home.

Romance Languages
languages, which includes French, Italian,
and Spanish.
 These languages are found in the south
and west of Europe.
 These languages come from Latin, the
language of the ancient Roman Empire.

Romance Languages

The Roman alphabet is used to write both
Romance and Germanic languages,
although not every language has the exact
same characters and punctuation.
Slavic Languages
Slavic languages include Russian. Slavic
languages are found in central and
eastern Europe.
 These languages do not always use the
Roman alphabet.
 They are written with a Cyrillic alphabet.
Russian, for example, uses the Cyrillic
alphabet.

Why is language a problem?
Having so many languages can be a
problem.
 It is difficult to live, work, and trade with
people who cannot communicate with
each other.
 Europeans have worked hard to solve this
problem.
 Most schoolchildren learn one or two other
languages besides their own.

European Union
The European Union has twenty-three
“official” languages to make sure that
people can understand laws and decisions
made by the government.
 There are special laws to protect
languages too.
 Europeans want to keep alive the
languages spoken by only a few people.
 At the same time, they are working to
build a unified Europe.

Summary
Describe the three different groups of
languages in Europe. (include the name
and where they are spoken
 Why is language such a problem in
Europe?
 Create a triple Venn diagram on the three
religions of Europe.
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