Diffusion of Religion (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Origins of Religion

• Religions can be traced back to their hearths, or points of origin

  • South Asia is the religious hearth of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism

  • The Middle East is the religious hearth of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

• Religions are spread via:

  • movement

  • trade

  • conquest

Global geographic distribution of major religions

Image: Map of world religions

• The global geographic distribution of Christianity includes:

  • The Americas

  • Europe

  • Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Oceania

• The global geographic distribution of Islam includes: 

  • The Middle East

  • North Africa

  • Southeast Asia

  • South Asia

  • Central

• The global geographic distribution of Hinduism includes: 

  • South Asia

  • Localized areas in the United States

  • Localized areas in the United Kingdom

• The global geographic distribution of Buddhism includes:

  • East Asia

  • Southeast Asia

• The global geographic distribution of Judaism includes: 

  • Israel

  • The United States

  • Canada

  • The United Kingdom

  • France

• Religions are divided into two categories: 

  • universalizing

  • ethnic

Pilgrimages

• Pilgrimages are journeys undertaken for religious purposes to a place considered holy to the believer and are connected to a religion’s diffusion from the hearth

  • Universalizing religions will tend to have more international pilgrimage locations than ethnic religions will, because ethnic religions’ believers tend to remain closer to the hearth and don’t need to travel to access holy sites

  • Universalizing religions’ believers may live anywhere and important sites may be in multiple, different countries

• Contagious diffusion will increase the number of people traveling to pilgrimage sites, as information about the religion spreads

• Relocation diffusion will affect international travel to pilgrimage locations as believers from different areas will travel from their new countries to the pilgrimage location

• The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is an important part of the Muslim faith and a prominent example of religious pilgrimage

Universalizing Religions

• Universalizing religions attempt to appeal to all people regardless of ethnicity or background and actively seek converts to their religion

• Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are universalizing religions

• Universalizing religions are diffused through contagious and relocation diffusion

  • For example, Buddhism spread in East and Southeast Asia via contagious diffusion along trading routes and globally via relocation diffusion 

  • Christianity spread through expansion and relocation diffusion in South America, Africa, and Asia due to colonization and through contagious diffusion due to missionary activity

  • Islam spread through contagious diffusion due to trade and conquest in Africa and Asia

Ethnic Religions

• Ethnic religions emphasize the unique cultural traits of a single ethnic group

• As a result, ethnic religions do not attempt to appeal to or convert a large audience

• Ethnic religions tend to stay closer to their hearths

  • They are often tied to sacred spaces, such as natural features or ancestral lands

• Judaism and Hinduism are ethnic religions

• Ethnic religions tend to diffuse through relocation diffusion:

  • Hinduism originated in South Asia and spread to Europe and the United States via relocation diffusion as migrant populations moved from India to those areas

  • Judaism originated in the Middle East (modern-day Israel) and spread to North America and Europe via relocation diffusion due to migration