Religion in Europe
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Christianity has been the dominant feature in shaping up European culture for at least the last 1700 years. Modern philosophical thought has very much been influenced by Christian philosophers such as St Thomas Aquinas and Erasmus.
Millions of Europeans profess no religion or are atheist or agnostic. The largest non-confessional populations (as a percentage) are found in Sweden, the Czech Republic and France although most former communist countries have significant non-confessional populations. Attendance at church is a minority activity in most Western European countries - as an example, the Church of England attracts around 1 million worshippers on a Sunday, which corresponds to about 2% of the population of England.
The most popular religions of Europe are the following:
- Christianity
- Roman Catholicism: Countries or areas with significant Catholic populations are Portugal, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, southern Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, southern Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Malta, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, the Croatian parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, western and central Belarus, western Ukraine, The Hungarian parts of Romania, parts of Russia, Latgale region of Latvia, and Lithuania. There are also large Catholic minorities in England and Wales.
- Orthodox Christianity: The countries with significant Orthodox populations are Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland (Karelia), Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine.
- Protestantism: Countries with significant Protestant populations include Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, the UK, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. There are significant minorities in France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, and indeed small minorities in most European Countries.
- Islam: Countries with significant Muslim population are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, several republics of Russia, Crimea in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Also, Template:As of, about 5% of the EU identify themselves as Muslims, with many Muslim immigrants in Germany, the UK, Sweden and France.Template:Citation needed
Other minor religions exist in Europe, some brought by migrants, including:
- Judaism, mainly in France, UK and Russia.
- Hinduism, mainly among Indian immigrants in the UK.
- Buddhism, thinly spread throughout Europe, yet it is in Kalmykia, Russia
- Indigenous European pagan traditions and beliefs, many countries.
- Rastafari, communities in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and elsewhere.
- Sikhism and Jainism, both mainly among Indian immigrants in the UK.
- West African Vodun and Haitian Vodou (Voodoo), mainly among West African and black Caribbean immigrants in the UK and France.
- Traditional African Religions (including Muti), mainly in the UK and France.
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Official religions
A number of countries in Europe have official religions, including Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Vatican City (Catholic); and Greece (Eastern Orthodox), Denmark, Iceland and Norway (Lutheran). In Switzerland, some cantons are officially Catholic, others Reformed Protestant. Some Swiss villages even have their religion as well as the village name written on the signs at their entrances. In Bulgaria, an article in the constitution defines Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the country's "traditional religion".
Georgia has no established church, but the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys "de facto" privileged status. In Finland, both Finnish Orthodox Church and Lutheran church are official. Russia recognises Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism as all "traditional" Template:Citation needed (with three states, Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva, officially Buddhist Template:Citation needed). England, a country in the UK, has Anglicanism as its official religion.
Cuisine
The cuisines of Western countries are diverse by themselves, although there are common characteristics that distinguishes Western cooking from cuisines of Asian countries and others. Compared with traditional cooking of Asian countries, for example, meat is more prominent and substantial in serving-size. Steak in particular is a common dish across the West. Similarly to some Asian cuisines, Western cuisines also put substantial emphasis on sauces as condiments, seasonings, or accompaniments (in part due to the difficulty of seasonings penetrating the often larger pieces of meat used in Western cooking). Many dairy products are utilized in the cooking process, except in nouvelle cuisine. Wheat-flour bread has long been the most common sources of starch in this cuisine, along with pasta, dumplings and pastries, although the potato has become a major starch plant in the diet of Europeans and their diaspora since the European colonization of the Americas.
Clothing
The earliest definite examples of needles originate from the Solutrean culture, which existed in France from 19,000 BC to 15,000 BC. The earliest dyed flax fibers have been found in a cave the Republic of Georgia and date back to 36,000 BP. see Clothing in ancient Rome, 1100-1200 in fashion, 1200-1300 in fashion, 1300-1400 in fashion, 1400-1500 in fashion, 1500-1550 in fashion, 1550-1600 in fashion, 1600-1650 in fashion, 1650-1700 in fashion, Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.
Sport
See Olympic games
European Capital of Culture
Each year since 1985 one or more cities across Europe are chosen as European Capital of Culture.
Symbols
See also
See also
- European art
- European film
- European erotica
- European counterculture
- European counterculture "European counterculture"
- European Capital of Culture
- European cuisine
- Europeanisation
- Westernization
- Battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe
- Europalia
- Romano-Germanic culture
