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AP Human Geography
Chapter 6
Religion
Key Issue I
Where Are Religions Distributed?
1. Describe the difference between ethnic and universalizing religions.
Universalizing Religions
2. Draw a pie chart revealing the breakdown in percent between universalizing religions,
ethnic religions, and no religion. (Figure on page 184)
3. What is the difference between a branch, denomination, and sect? Give an example for
Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Christianity
4. Describe the geographic distribution of Christianity in Europe.
Branches of Christianity
5. Draw a pie chart showing the breakdown of Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern
Orthodox adherents. (Figure 6-1)
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Christianity in the Western Hemisphere
6. Use Figure 6-1 and 6-3, page 184/187 to describe the geographic distribution of
Christianity in the United States. What role did migration play with respect to this
distribution? Give examples.
7. Why is Latin America comprised of 93% Roman Catholics?
Smaller Branches of Christianity
8. Describe the geographic location and reasons for their unique practices for the
following groups:

Coptic Church of Egypt

Ethiopian Church

Armenian Church

Maronites

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Islam
9. Describe the geographic extent of Islam. Where is the core of Islam?
Branches of Islam
10. For the two main branches of Islam describe their respective geographic distributions.
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Islam in North America and Europe
11. What factors are contributing to the recent growth of Islam in Europe? Which
countries in Europe have large Muslim populations?
Buddhism
12. Describe the geographic distribution of the branches of Buddhism. Draw a pie chart
that shows the three main branches of Buddhism. (figure 6-1)
Other Universalizing Religions
13. Where do most Sikhs live, and why is this problematic from a geographic
perspective?
Ethnic Religions
14. Why is Hinduism considered an ethnic religion?
Hinduism
15. Why do ethnic religions tend to have more clustered distributions than most
universalizing religions?
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16. What are the four main paths of Hinduism? How does the practice of Hinduism
manifest geographically?
Other Ethnic Religions
17. Describe the geographic distribution of Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintoism in
Asia. How are these ethnic religions able to comingle with Buddhism?
18. Describe the geographic distribution of Jews throughout the world, Europe, and the
United States.
19. Why is Judaism considered an ethnic religion?
Ethnic African Religions
20. What is the meaning of animism, and how many people in Africa follow a traditional
religion?
21. What are the reasons for the decline in animism throughout Africa?
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Key Issue II
Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?
Origin of Religions
22. How do we know where universalizing religions began?
Origin of Universalizing Religions
Origin of Christianity
23. Describe the origin of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestantism.

Catholicism

Eastern Orthodox

Protestantism
Origin of Islam
24. What do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have in common?
25. Where did Islam originate? What are the two most sacred locations for Muslims?
26. What is the reason(s) for the split in Islam?
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Origin of Buddhism
27. Where did Buddhism begin? Why did Buddhism split into two main branches? What
is the geographic distribution of each branch?
Origin of Other Universalizing Religions
Origin of Hinduism, an Ethnic Religion
28. Where do historians think Hinduism came from?
Diffusion of Religions
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
29. Where are the hearths for the three main universalizing religions in the world?
Diffusion of Christianity
30. Use the following types of diffusion to describe the geographic extent of Christianity:

Relocation

Contagious
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
Hierarchical
Diffusion of Islam
31. Describe the areas where Islam diffused to in just one hundred years. What were the
two main ways that Islam diffused during this time period?
32. How did Islam come to Indonesia?
Diffusion of Buddhism
33. Who is most responsible for the spread of Buddhism? What role did trade play in the
diffusion of Buddhism?
Diffusion of Other Universalizing Religions
34. Why could one criticize the British for the fate of the Sikh religion?
Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
Mingling of Ethnic and Universalizing Religions
35. What are the main reasons for pockets of ethnic religions in areas separated from their
origin?
Judaism, An Exception
36. What role did the diaspora, European discrimination, and the creation of Israel have
on the geographic distribution of Jews?
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37. Complete the charts by using pages 196-206 to describe/summarize each
Buddhism
Islam
Sikhism
Hinduism
Other Ethnic
Holy Places
Jewish
The Solstice
Islamic/Baha’i
Christianity/Buddhist
and Sikh
Calendar
Christianity
Islam
Hindu
Buddhist
Baha’i
Places of
Worship
Disposing of the Dead
Religious Settlements
Religious Place Names
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Key Issue III
Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive Patterns?
Administration of Space
Hierarchical Religions
38. Describe the geographical organization of the Latter-Day Saints and the Catholic
Church.
Locally Autonomous Religions
Local Autonomy in Islam
39. In the absence of a hierarchy, how does Islam maintain a sense of cohesiveness?
Protestant Denominations
40. Which denominations have a fairly structured geographical hierarchical structure?
How do most ethnic religions organized space?
Key Issue IV
Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise Among Religious Groups?
Religion Versus Government Policies
41. How do you think globalization and the diffusion of popular culture is impacting
religions around the world?
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Religion Versus Social Change
Taliban Versus Western Values
42. Why were the Taliban able to take control of much of Afghanistan in the mid 1990s?
43. Describe many of the laws the Taliban imposed on the people of Afghanistan.
44. Why did the Untied States invade Afghanistan – see chapter 7?
Hinduism Versus Social Equality
45. How did the British view the caste system in India? How is the caste system treated
today?
Religion Versus Communism
Orthodox Christianity and Islam Versus The Soviet Union
46. How did The Soviet Union treat religion? Why did religion slowly decline?
47. What areas experienced religious revival after the fall of the Soviet Union?
Buddhism Versus Southeast Asian Countries
48. How did Buddhist fare during the Vietnam War? How have other governments
treated Buddhists since the end of the war?
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Religion Versus Religion
49. What is religious fundamentalism, and how has it contributed to religious conflict?
Religious Wars in Ireland
50. What nations make up the United Kingdom? What religious groups inhabit Northern
Ireland? Describe the economic discrimination in Northern Island. To what extent is the
religious tension due to political and economic domination by Protestants?
Religious Wars in the Middle East
53. Why is the city Jerusalem a sacred place for Jews, Muslims, and Christians?
52.How did the Crusades set the stage for the present conflict in the Middle East?
Jews Versus Muslims in Palestine
53. Take a few notes (with special attention to migration and boundary changes) for each
of the following dates:
1516-1917
After WWI
1930s
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1947
1948
1949
1956
1967
1973
Conflict Over The Holy Land: Palestinian Perspectives:
54. Write a short paragraph outlining the main Palestinian perspectives on the conflict
with Israel.
Conflict Over the Holy Land: Israeli Perspective
55. Write a short paragraph including the major Israeli points regarding the conflict with
Palestinians.
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