USA, February 14, 2009: Yesterday, Hindu Press International brought an article that highlighted the wide differences between U.S. states when it comes to faith and religion. An important number, however, was missing: Overall, the United States’ population that declare that religion is an “important part” of their daily lives is 65%. Across all the 143 populations of Earth covered by Gallup, the median proportion of residents who said religion is important in their daily lives is 82%.
Very poor countries tend to rank higher in the list, while developed countries with wealthy populations usually have less believers. Gallup’s website sates, “Social scientists have noted that one thing that makes Americans distinctive is the high level of religiosity relative to other rich-world populations.” So, how religious are Americans? As a whole, a little more than other wealthy populations, but with great inter-state variations.
For a list of the most and least religious countries, and expert analysis, click on the link above.