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Christianity: The Largest Religion in the World

As you present facts about the Christian religion in the K-12 Public School classroom, it is important to remember that Christianity is not just a Western religion. In fact, its origins are anything but Western. Here are some dates and statistics about the spread and current reach of the largest religion in the world[1].

The first believers in the Christian message were Jews living in Jerusalem. Christianity spread to Europe by around 40 C.E. However, it took until the 1400’s for the Christian message to reach all of Europe. Today, around 562,000,000 Europeans say that they are Christians.

Christianity also began to spread in Asia by around 40 C.E. There have been Christians in India since 52 C.E. There have been Christians in China since 781 C.E. There have been Christians in Japan since 1549. Today, about 365,000,000 Asians say that they are Christians. Many Christians who live in Asia have been and, even today, are being persecuted, put in jail and even killed because of their faith.

Christianity reached Africa by around 50 C.E. There have been Ethiopian and Egyptian Christians since then. Christianity quickly spread across the northern coast of Africa. Today, some 510,000,000 Africans say that they are Christians.

Christianity arrived in South America by around 1520 when the first Spanish and Portuguese explorers and conquerors arrived. Catholic priests began to spread the Christian message to the first peoples of the continent.  Today, at least 556,000,000 Latin Americans say that they are Christians.

Christianity reached North America when Spanish explorers arrived in around 1530. The Spanish, French, English and Dutch colonists practiced the Christian message and spread it to the first peoples living across the continent. Today, around 228,000,000 North Americans say that they are Christians.

Christianity reached Australia and Oceana by 1788 when Australia began to be colonized by the British. Today, about 25,000,000 Australians and people from Oceana say that they are Christians.

One third of all the people who live in the world are Christians. So, how many Christians are there? In 2015 there were about 2,300,000,000 people who said they were Christians. More Iranians are converting to the Christian religion today than people from any other part of the world[2] . Almost half of the people who live in Kentucky say they are Christians[3].

By Lesley Barker PhD


[1]Pew Research Center. Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population. 2011. ONLINE at: https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/ ACCESSED 11/10/2020.

[2] Parke, Caleb. “Iran has world’s ‘fastest-growing church,’ despite no buildings - and it's mostly led by women: documentary”. Fox News Online. 2019. ONLINE at: https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/worlds-fastest-growing-church-women-documentary-film. ACCESSED 11/10/2020.

[3] Association of Religious Data Archives. ONLINE at: https://www.thearda.com/ ACCESSED 11/10/2020

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