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Based on the numbers of adherents, Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church.〔(Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents )〕 The most common estimates of the number of Orthodox Christians worldwide is approximately 225–300 million.〔(Orthodox Affiliation )〕 The numerous Protestant groups in the world, if taken all together, outnumber the Orthodox,〔Jay Diamond, Larry. Plattner, Marc F. and Costopoulos, Philip J. ''World Religions and Democracy''. 2005, page 119.((also in PDF file ), p49), saying "''Not only do Protestants presently constitute 13 percent of the world's population—about 800 million people—but since 1900 Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.''"〕 but they differ theologically and do not form a single communion.〔(Major Branches of Religions )〕 Orthodoxy is the largest single religious faith in the world's largest country - Russia (41%〔(Arena - Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia ). Sreda.org〕〔(2012 Survey Maps ). "Ogonek", ? 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. ''Retrieved 24-09-2012''.〕-73%〔()〕), where roughly half the Eastern Orthodox Christians live. It is the majority religion in Ukraine (27%〔("What religious group do you belong to?". Sociology poll by Razumkov Centre about the religious situation in Ukraine (2006) )〕- 66%,〔), Romania (82%),〔 Belarus (48%),〔(Religion and denominations in the Republic of Belarus by the Commissioner on Religions and Nationalities of the Republic of Belarus from November 2011 )〕 Greece (60%〔Data is estimated, there are no census figures available, Greece is said to be 98% Orthodox by CIA, but additional studies found only 60-80% believe in God, if true, then no more than 80% may be Orthodox.〕-98%), Serbia (85%),〔 Bulgaria (59%),〔 Moldova (93%),〔 Georgia (84%),〔 Macedonia (65%),〔 Southern Cyprus (89%),〔 Montenegro (72%),〔 Estonia (14%), it is also predominant in the disputed territories Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Novorossiya. Significant minorities, making up between 1 and 31 per cent of the population, are present in Bosnia and Herzegovina (31%〔), 18% of Latvian population, in Albania (7%),〔Religion in Albania#Religious demography〕 4% of Lithuania and Croatia, 2% of Slovenia, and 1% of Finland. In Asia, around the former USSR, Eastern Orthodox constitute the dominant religion in northern Kazakhstan, representing 23.9%〔 in Kazakhstan, 17% in Kyrgyzstan, 5% in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and 2% in Azerbaijan〔 and Tajikistan. In Lebanon 8% are Eastern Orthodox〔(Lebanon – International Religious Freedom Report 2010 ) U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 14 February 2010.〕 and 5-8% in Syria prior to the war, between 0.5-2.5% in Palestine,〔https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html〕 in Jordan are over a percent. Recent immigration raised the number of the Eastern Orthodox community in Catholic and Protestant countries such as Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada and Switzerland to roughly 2% of the population in each. The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 19 percent in 1914 to 2.5 percent in 1927, due to events which had a significant impact on the country's demographic structure, such as the Armenian Genocide, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey,〔(【引用サイトリンク】format=PDF )〕 and the emigration of Christians to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas). Today there are more than 160,000 people of different Christian denominations.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Religions )〕 ==Orthodox population by country== The number of members of the Orthodox Church in each country has been subject to a lot of debate. Each study performed that seeks to discover the number of adherents in a country may use different criteria, and be submitted to different populations. As such, some numbers may be inflated, and therefore inaccurate. Examples of this are Greece and Russia, where estimates of adherence to Orthodoxy may reach 80-98%, but where surveys found lower percentages professing Orthodoxy or belief in God. The likely reason for this disparity is that many people in these majority Orthodox countries will culturally identify with the Orthodox Church, especially if they were baptized as children. This includes those who may be irreligious, yet culturally identify with the Orthodox Church, or for whom Orthodox Christianity is listed on official state records. Other cases of incongruent data also might be due to counting ethnic groups from Orthodox countries rather than actual adherents. A case of this is the United States, which has large numbers of immigrants from Orthodox countries. The variety of Orthodox jurisdictions often reported large numbers of members, which together would total 2-3 million across the country. However, a 2010 study by Alexei Krindatch sought data from each parish, with the specific criteria of annual participation. This extensive study produced the "Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches", and discovered that despite previously inflated numbers of several million, there were only about 817,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians (including traditions not recognized by mainstream organizations) in the United States. The study explained that such a difference was due to a variety of circumstances, including the counting of ethnic populations who might have immigrated from Orthodox countries, or who might have ancestry from such countries. This study, while initially controversial, proved groundbreaking, and has since been officially approved for use by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. As such, any data used to figure the population of Orthodox per nation, should be understood as estimated rather than exact. Additionally, total numbers of Orthodox Christians throughout the world may be anywhere from 150 million to 300 million, depending on the studies and definitions which are used. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eastern Orthodox Church by country」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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