Learning Target/QOD
• Learning Target: Students will be able to
compare the differences between the major
world religions and their origins.
• QOD Where are the major religions located
today? Give continents/ countires / or
direction.
AP Human Geography:
The Spatial Distribution of World Religions
David J. Doran
ddoran@ggc.edu
Central Gwinnett High School
November 23, 2009
AP Geography
• What is Culture?
• What are the two most
important cultural attributes
which identify a unique
culture (nation) ?
• What is religion?
• Name some world religions?
• What specific geographic
regions are associated with
particular faiths?
• How are world religions
categorized?
What is Culture?
Culture is the shared learned behavior of a unique group of people
President Johnson – Liberia:
Africa’s first elected female leader!
Traditional Dress: Somalia
What cultures influence this fashion?
What are the two most important cultural attributes?
• Language & Religion are the
two most important cultural
attributes which identify a
unique culture (nation)
What is religion?
• Religion is a set of beliefs
shared by a group of people
Can you name some world religions?
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Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Sikhs
Confucianism
Taoism
Shinto
Animism
What specific geographic regions are associated with particular faiths?
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Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Sikhs
Confucianism
Taoism
Shinto
Animism
The Geographic Location of World Religions by Majority
What specific geographic regions are associated with particular faiths?
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Judaism: U.S. & Israel
Christianity: Europe & U.S.
Islam: SW Asia & Africa
Hinduism: India
Buddhism: SE Asia & Tibet
Sikhs: The Punjab of India
Confucianism: China
Taoism: China
Shinto: Japan
Animism: Africa
Seoul, South Korea
Jakarta, Indonesia
How are world religions categorized?
• Categories of Religion
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Eastern & Western Religions
Universal & Ethnic Religions
Monotheism & Polytheism
Chinese Philosophies
Indigenous Faiths: Animism
Denominations & Schisms
Eastern & Western Religions
• Eastern Religions:
– Polytheistic Faiths
• India
• East Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Western Religions:
– Monotheistic Faiths
• Europe
• The Americas
• Southwest Asia
Universalizing & Ethnic Religions
• Universalizing Religions:
– Global faiths
– Seek Converts (Missionary)
• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Islam
• Ethnic Religions:
– Born into faith
– Few Converts
• Hinduism
• Judaism
Polytheistic & Monotheistic Religions
• Polytheistic Faiths:
– Multiple Gods
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Monotheistic Faiths
– One God
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
Philosophies & Indigenous Beliefs:
• Chinese Philosophies
– Confucius
– Taoism
– Syncretic Buddhism
• Indigenous Beliefs
– Animism
– Paganism
– Syncreticism
• Santeria & Voodoo
Denominations & Schisms
• Christianity:
– World’s most divided faith!
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Great Schism 1051
Protestant Reformation 1517
American Colonization 1700
American Independence 1776
• Islam:
– Sunni & Shia Divide
• The rift occurred during Islam’s
1st century over the successor of
the Prophet Mohammed
Religious Conflicts
• QOD
• Name at least 1
religious conflict in
the world today.
What do you know
about it?
• http://m.huffpost.co
m/us/entry/5617767
• https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=4r1E
mEni2Rw
The Five Pillars:
1. There is only one God (Allah)
2. Pray 5 x Day facing Mecca
3. Practice Charity (Tithe)
4. Fasting during month of Ramadan
5. Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca
How did world religions diffuse geographically?
Arab merchants brought Islam to the Indian Ocean Basin by 1,000 CE:
What other religions diffused throughout the Indian Ocean Basin?
Portuguese brought Christianity to East Timor & Goa, Spanish brought
Christianity to the Philippines, & Indians brought Hinduism to Bali
Trade brought Islam to the Sahara, Sahel, & East African Coast
• Timbuktu and Zanzibar:
– What city does Zanzibar resemble?
• Look at its architectural style?
• What culture influenced it?
• Clue: It preserved Greco-Roman
civilization when most of Europe
lived in poverty and ignorance of
the Middle Ages.
Venice was influenced by Arab civilization through merchants.
The Jewish Diaspora occurred in the
first century after the destruction of
Jerusalem & Masada by the Romans.
Most fled to the port cities of the
Mediterranean. The Jewish Ghetto of
Venice was the most famous enclave
of Jews – who dominated the banking
and merchant trade. The Bubonic
Plague was blamed on the Jews. The
King of Poland welcomed Jewish
refugees. The Jewish Pale was pushed
west by Czarist Russian Pogroms.
Most of the Jews of Poland, the Czech
Republic, & Hungary were
exterminated by Hitler’s henchmen
during WWII. 6 million were
massacred. Survivors migrated to
Israel and the US after 1945.
The Jewish Diaspora:
Jerusalem’s Old City: Holy to all Monotheistic Faiths
Understand Secular versus Religious States and Religious Fundamentalists
Name one religious state?