Moscow, Russia - Two thirds, or 66%, of world population consider themselves religious believers irrespective of their being church goers.
A quarter of the surveyed (25%) declared they were nonreligious people, while only 6% are convinced atheists. Sociologists established that women were more religious than men (71:61).
‘ROMIR Monitoring’ research holding, exclusive representative of ‘GALLUP International’ in Russia and the CIS countries gave the information to Interfax on October 16, the International Day for Tolerance.
‘ROMIR Monitoring’ took part in the ‘Voice of the People-2005’ international project held last May-July together with research companies of other countries that belong to ‘GALLUP International’. Fifty thousand people from 68 countries were surveyed.
The sociological survey showed that adherence to religion is stronger on the African continent, where 9 out of 10 respondents, or 91%, called themselves religious people. The index is 94% and 96% in Nigeria and Ghana respectively, which is the highest in the world.
82% of the Latin American respondents said they were religious, compared to 79% in the Middle East. Seven out of ten, or 73%, residents of North America consider themselves religious, 25% - nonreligious (25%), and only 1% - atheists.
The level of religiosity in Western Europe averages to 60%. Greece is the most religious country in Western Europe (86%). Norway is the least religious (36%).
Minimum six out of ten respondents in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe are religious. The Czech Republic makes an exception as half of its people consider themselves nonreligious (51%), and one fifth are atheists (20%). The highest indices of religiosity were shown in Kosovo (86%), Macedonia, Poland and Romania (85% each).
57% of respondents in Russia say they are religious. The South Federal District showed the highest index of 62%.