Religions of Asia

Last reviewed on 2026-10-24.

Every one of the world’s major religions either began in Asia or took its modern shape there. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and the East-Asian traditions of Shinto, Taoism, and Confucianism all trace their roots to specific Asian regions, and most still have their largest populations on the continent. This page surveys the major religions of Asia by where they began, where they are concentrated today, and how they tend to coexist with each other — with links to the country profiles that carry the underlying numbers.

Main religion of every Asian country

The table below lists the main religion of each of the 49 countries covered on AsiaMap.net, grouped by region, with the most notable religious minorities. “Main religion” means the faith of the majority, or of the largest group where there is no majority. Figures behind these labels come from national censuses and survey estimates, which vary in quality and date; in East Asia in particular, many people take part in more than one tradition, or in religious ritual without identifying with a religion, so a single label can only be a summary.

The four originating regions

It helps to think of the religious geography of Asia as four overlapping zones. West Asia is the cradle of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism and Christianity began in the Levant, and Islam in the Hejaz region of western Arabia. The Indian subcontinent is the cradle of the Indic religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The Iranian plateau is the cradle of Zoroastrianism, an old monotheistic religion that survives today in much smaller numbers. East Asia is the home of the Chinese religious-philosophical traditions of Taoism and Confucianism, the Japanese tradition of Shinto, and the form of Buddhism that became dominant after travelling east along the Silk Road. None of these zones is sealed off; the most striking feature of Asian religion is how often it crosses the lines between them.

Islam

Islam is the most widely practised religion in Asia by country count. Beginning in the early seventh century in what is now Saudi Arabia, it spread west across the Arab world, north into the Caucasus and Central Asia, and east along trade routes to South and Southeast Asia. Today the country with the largest Muslim population in the world is Indonesia. Islam is the dominant religion of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. The major split is between Sunni Islam, which is the majority across most of the Muslim world, and Shia Islam, which is the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan.

Hinduism

Hinduism is the oldest of the religions still widely practised today and is concentrated overwhelmingly in India, where it is the religion of about four-fifths of the population, and in Nepal. There are also significant Hindu populations in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Malaysia, and the Indonesian island of Bali is mostly Hindu. Hinduism is less a single doctrine than a family of related traditions sharing a body of sacred texts (the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita) and overlapping ideas about karma, dharma, and the cycle of rebirth.

Buddhism

Buddhism began in the foothills of the Himalayas in what is now Nepal and northern India in the fifth century BCE. It is unusual in that, although it originated in South Asia, its centre of gravity is now further east. Today Buddhism is the majority religion of Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and a major religion in China (which has the world’s largest Buddhist population), Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Buddhism splits broadly into Theravada (the older school, dominant in mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka), Mahayana (dominant in East Asia and Vietnam), and Vajrayana (dominant in Tibet, Bhutan, and Mongolia).

Christianity

Christianity began in the Levant in the first century and spread west to become the majority religion of Europe, but several Asian countries have substantial Christian populations. The Philippines and Timor-Leste are majority-Christian, both as legacies of European colonial rule. Armenia and Georgia are historically Orthodox Christian and were among the earliest states to adopt Christianity. Cyprus is majority Greek Orthodox, with a Muslim Turkish-Cypriot minority. Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq all have ancient Christian communities of varying sizes. South Korea has a large Christian population alongside its Buddhists and the irreligious.

Judaism

Judaism is the smallest of the three Abrahamic religions by global numbers and is concentrated in Israel, the only country in Asia with a Jewish majority. Smaller Jewish communities live in several other Asian countries, although most of the historic Jewish populations of West Asia and the Iranian plateau emigrated during the twentieth century.

Sikhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism

Sikhism, founded in the Punjab region in the late fifteenth century, is the religion of about two per cent of India’s population, concentrated in the modern state of Punjab. Jainism, even older, has a smaller but influential following in western India. Zoroastrianism, once the dominant religion of pre-Islamic Iran, survives today as a small minority in Iran and among the Parsi community of western India.

Chinese folk religion, Taoism, and Confucianism

The religious life of China, Taiwan, and Chinese-heritage communities in Singapore and elsewhere mixes several distinct traditions. Buddhism, originally Indian, became thoroughly localised. Taoism, indigenous to China, focuses on living in accordance with the Tao (the “way”) and shaped Chinese ideas about medicine, meditation, and ritual. Confucianism, often classed as a philosophy rather than a religion, sets out a system of ethics and social organisation around family, hierarchy, and education that has had a deep influence on the cultures of China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Most Chinese folk practice is syncretic: a household altar may combine ancestors, Buddhist figures, Taoist deities, and locally specific spirits without contradiction.

Shinto

Shinto is the indigenous religious tradition of Japan, organised around the worship of kami — spirits associated with natural features, ancestors, and specific places. Most Japanese people participate in Shinto rituals (shrine visits at New Year, weddings, festivals) alongside Buddhist ones (funerals, memorial services). The two traditions have coexisted in Japan for more than a thousand years, and many Japanese describe themselves as belonging to both.

Where the secular and the religious overlap

Several Asian countries are formally secular but have a single dominant religion in practice. Turkey is constitutionally secular but overwhelmingly Muslim. India is constitutionally secular but predominantly Hindu. Japan is highly secular in everyday speech but most of the population participates in religious ritual at major life events. By contrast, a few countries are explicitly religious: Iran is an Islamic Republic; the Maldives requires citizens to be Muslim; Saudi Arabia takes its legitimacy in part from custodianship of the holy cities of Islam.

Religion and language — an aside

Religious and linguistic boundaries in Asia rarely line up neatly. Speakers of related languages can practise different religions (Bengali speakers in India are mostly Hindu; Bengali speakers in Bangladesh are mostly Muslim), and speakers of unrelated languages can share a religion (Buddhism unites speakers of Sinhala, Burmese, Thai, Lao, Khmer, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Japanese). For the parallel breakdown by language family, see Languages of Asia.

Religion by region in Asia

Each of Asia’s regions has its own religious profile, and the regional pattern is often the clearest way to answer “what is the main religion” for a given part of the continent.

South Asia

South Asia is split between Hinduism and Islam. India and Nepal are majority Hindu; Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran and the Maldives are majority Muslim; Sri Lanka and Bhutan are majority Buddhist. India alone also has one of the world’s largest Muslim populations, and it is home to the great majority of the world’s Sikhs and Jains. See the South Asia map.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia divides roughly into a Buddhist mainland and a mostly Muslim island world. Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia follow Theravada Buddhism; Vietnam leans towards Mahayana Buddhism and folk religion. Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei are majority Muslim, while the Philippines and Timor-Leste are majority Catholic. Singapore has no majority religion. See the Southeast Asia map.

East Asia

East Asia has no single dominant religion today. Mahayana Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Taoism and Confucian ethics in China and Taiwan, and Shinto alongside Buddhism in Japan, are usually practised in combination rather than as exclusive memberships, and large shares of people in China, Japan and South Korea describe themselves as having no religion. South Korea stands out for its large Christian population, and Mongolia follows Tibetan Buddhism. See the East Asia map.

Central Asia

All five Central Asian republics — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — are majority Sunni Muslim, and all have secular constitutions shaped by the Soviet period. Russian Orthodox Christianity is the main minority faith, especially in northern Kazakhstan. See the Central Asia map.

West Asia

West Asia is the heartland of Islam, with Sunni majorities in most countries and Shia majorities in Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. It is also where Judaism and Christianity began: Israel is the only Jewish-majority country in the world, Armenia, Georgia and Cyprus are majority Christian, and Lebanon has the largest Christian share of any Arab country, although most estimates put Muslims in the majority. Smaller faiths such as the Druze, Alawites and Yazidis are concentrated in the region too. See the West Asia map.

Major religious sites in Asia

Because so many religions began in Asia, the continent holds most of the world’s great pilgrimage sites. A selection of the best known:

• Mecca, Saudi Arabia — the holiest city in Islam, site of the Kaaba and the Great Mosque, and the destination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
• Medina, Saudi Arabia — the second-holiest city in Islam, home of the Prophet’s Mosque.
• Jerusalem — sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims: the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. Its status is disputed between Israel and Palestine.
• Bethlehem, Palestine — the Church of the Nativity, traditionally the birthplace of Jesus.
• Najaf and Karbala, Iraq — the shrines of Imam Ali and Imam Husayn, the most important pilgrimage sites of Shia Islam.
• Mashhad, Iran — the shrine of Imam Reza, the largest pilgrimage site in Iran.
• Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey — built as a cathedral in the sixth century, later a mosque, then a museum, and a mosque again since 2020.
• Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia — the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church and one of the oldest cathedrals in the world.
• Varanasi, India — one of the holiest cities of Hinduism, on the banks of the Ganges.
• Bodh Gaya, India — the Mahabodhi Temple marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
• Lumbini, Nepal — the traditional birthplace of the Buddha.
• Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, India — the holiest gurdwara of Sikhism.
• Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy, Sri Lanka — houses a relic believed to be a tooth of the Buddha.
• Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar — the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, its stupa covered in gold leaf.
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia — built in the twelfth century as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu and later used for Buddhist worship; one of the largest religious monuments in the world.
• Borobudur, Java, Indonesia — a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
• Potala Palace, Lhasa, China — the former winter residence of the Dalai Lama and a symbol of Tibetan Buddhism.
• Ise Grand Shrine, Japan — the most sacred shrine of Shinto, dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main religion in Asia?

Islam has the most followers in Asia overall, with Hinduism a close second; each has more than a billion adherents on the continent. Islam is also the main religion in the largest number of Asian countries: 27 of the 49 covered on this site. Hinduism is concentrated almost entirely in India and Nepal.

What are the 5 major religions in Asia?

By number of followers, the five major religions in Asia are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Chinese folk religion (often practised together with Taoism and Confucian traditions). Sikhism, Judaism, Shinto and Jainism are smaller but important religions that also began in Asia.

Which religions originated in Asia?

Practically all of the world’s major religions began in Asia. Judaism, Christianity and Islam began in West Asia; Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism began in South Asia; Zoroastrianism began on the Iranian plateau; and Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto began in East Asia.

What religion originated in South Asia but is most popular today in East and Southeast Asia?

Buddhism. It began in northern India and present-day Nepal around the fifth century BCE, but today most Buddhists live in East and Southeast Asia, in countries such as China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, while Buddhists are a small minority in India itself.

What is the dominant religion in East Asia today?

No single religion dominates East Asia. Buddhism is the most widespread organised religion across the region, but it is usually combined with Chinese folk religion and Taoism in China and Taiwan and with Shinto in Japan, and large shares of people in China, Japan and South Korea say they have no religion. South Korea also has a large Christian population.

How many religions are there in Asia?

There is no fixed number, because it depends on how traditions, sects and local folk religions are counted. Asia is home to at least a dozen major religions — Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto and Chinese folk religion — plus many smaller faiths such as the Baha’i Faith, Druze, Yazidism and numerous indigenous and animist traditions.

What are the ethnic religions of Asia?

Ethnic religions are tied to a particular people or place and do not generally seek converts, unlike universalising religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism. In Asia the main ethnic religions are Hinduism, Judaism, Shinto, Chinese folk religion and Taoism, along with smaller indigenous traditions such as Mongolian shamanism.

Which Asian countries are mainly Christian?

Five Asian countries have Christian majorities: the Philippines and Timor-Leste, which are mostly Roman Catholic, and Armenia, Georgia and Cyprus, which have their own ancient Orthodox or Apostolic churches. Lebanon and South Korea also have large Christian populations without a Christian majority.

Related pages

For the parallel guide to the continent’s languages, see Languages of Asia. Other reference pages on AsiaMap.net cover the capitals of Asia, the rivers of Asia (several of them, like the Ganges, sacred in their own right) and the mountain ranges of Asia. To test what you have learned, try the Asia map quiz.

To see how each country combines its religious traditions on the ground, follow the country links above or browse by region: South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. The “Religions” data overlay on the main Asia map shows the dominant religion in each country at a glance.