This animated map shows how religion spread across the world | Hacker News Reader

This animated map shows how religion spread across the world

facebook.com

28 pointshumbertomn15 comments

Here is a non-facebook link - http://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-how-religion-spread...

Thanks for this.

Also thanks from me. Can the URL be changed to the source?

Unfortunately not, after 1 hour, I can't edit it anymore. The facebook URL does not require login, tho :)

Interesting, kind of inaccurate, and omits many belief systems. Also doesn't show the various interactions between religions, derivatives, etc... The easiest and most canonical examples would be how Mesopotamian (ie. Sumerian/Babylonian) religion influenced Judaism and Islam, or how Proto-Indo-European religion influenced northern European, Hindu and near-eastern religions.

I think a more narrowly focused one that tracked 'furthest reach' rather than state religion would be more interesting.. like watching the near east from, say 2000-bc to 600 AD only... seeing the persians sweep through with zoroastrianism, then alexander with greek philosophy, then the romans, and buddhist and hindu missionaries, and so on..

Also:

1. It omits Manicheaism, which as I understand, had a significant following for a century or two. 2. I am kinda doubtful that Hinduism spread to Indo-China and Southeast Asia as early as 1000 BCE. The cultural diffusion happened much later, with the rise of the maritime kingdoms of Southern India. (One cannot really call it a religious conversion, since that concept isn't explicit in Hindu religious cannon)

Nice! Would be interesting to see population numbers along side it.

WTB: the East/West Schism, Protestantism, Sunni/Shiite, and maybe a few of the different types of Buddhism.

incredibly inaccurate.

How so?

One problem I spotted was this: Mongol Empire seems to be shown as being Islam while in reality it was multiple religions with Buddhism being the prevalent one.

As well as nestorian christian.

Christianity was far more widespread along the Mediterranean at the start of Islamic expansion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_7th_centur...

Agree, it's completely over-simplified. And it's not like Christianity is a single religion either, they did not even show the main schisms - and Buddhism has multiple incarnations as well.

Besides, There were other major religions before these 5 ones, and since they are not represented, they make it look like the world was "Godless" before they actually appeared.

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