Religion may be a touchy subject, but that’s because it’s filled with a lot of feeling. As much as 80% of the world identifies with a religion, most of which have hundreds or thousands of years of history. Rather than feeling, this post is brimming with data. We’ve mapped every country in the world below, along with the religious demographics of each country. Using the grouping features of BatchGeo, you can explore the rich dataset visually, the best way to understand the details behind the data.

View Religions by Country in a full screen map

For example, click the button in the lower left of the map, currently labeled “Region.” You can choose any of the various fields of data to zero in on a religion, region, or other field. Better yet, you can mix and match, to answer questions like “what religion is most popular in countries with the most people who don’t affiliate with a religion?” You can find the answer by selecting Unaffiliated, choosing the highest range, then looking at the ranges still available as you choose the other fields. You’ll find Buddhism and Folk Religions about equal with unaffiliated in a handful of Asian countries. There are also a number of Christian countries, especially in Europe, with large numbers of unaffiliated people.

There are many ways to go through the data yourself (based on this Wikipedia page). We’ll cover the highlights by religion below.

Christianity Around the World

Christianity is the most widespread religion in the world, with 157 countries with a majority who identify as Christian. There are 2.1 billion Christians, almost one third of the the world population. The United States has the most number of Christians by whole numbers, with nearly 250 million. Brazil (173M), Mexico (107M), and Russia (104M) join the U.S. in the hundreds of millions of Christians.

Yet, percentage-wise, none of those countries even make the top 25 Christian nations in terms of percentages. There are five countries with 99% or higher rate of Christianity, with one country reaching 100%. Once you know it, you won’t be surprised: Vatican City (within Italy, but officially a country), home of the Pope, has 800 residents, every single one a Christian. The other countries with at least 99% Christians are Tokelau (99.8%) in Polynesia, Timor-Leste (99.6%) in Southeastern Asia, Romania (99.5%), and Papua New Guinea (99.2%). While Tokelau has a small population (1,400), the others are over a million each, with Romania at over 20 million.

While Christianity is spread throughout the world more than other religions, there are clumps of high percentage practitioners. Latin America, the South Pacific, Southern Africa, and Europe all have multiple countries with at least 90% Christian residents.

On the flip side, there are many countries with only a very few Christians. Somalia, with a population of over 9 million, is home to 100 Christians, or one-thousandth of a percent of the population. Most of its citizens are Muslim, as are other countries with few Christians, including Morocco, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and Yemen.

Islam Around the World

Islam is the religion practiced by Muslims, and it is second only to Christianity in popularity worldwide. There are 1.5 billion Muslims, accounting for 23% of the world. There are 49 majority Muslim countries, making Islam and Christianity the only religions with more than 10 countries with majority populations.

Indonesia has over 200 million Muslims, more than any other country. Others with 100 million or more are India (176M), Pakistan (167M), and Bangladesh (133M). Only one of these, Pakistan, is top 25 in percentages. It has the 23rd most Muslims by percentage. Nine countries have 99% or more of their population practicing Islam: Morocco (99.9%), Somalia (99.8%), Afghanistan (99.7%), Iran (99.5%), Tunisia (99.5%), Yemen (99.1%), Mauritania (99.1%), Northern Cyprus (99%), and Iraq (99%). With the exception of Northern Cyprus, these countries have populations ranging from 3.4 million to over 70 million.

Unsurprisingly, the countries with the highest number of Muslims are clustered in the Middle East, including Northern Africa and into Central Asia. By contrast, there are 45 countries that apparently have no Muslims. The lowest number reported is Falkland Islands with nine Muslims, which makes up 0.3% of the South American country.

Hinduism Around the World

Though it doesn’t get the television news coverage of Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is the religion of over a billion people, or 15% of the world population. Yet, most of them live in one country.

The vast majority of Hindus live in India, where 973 million people make up almost 80% of the country’s people. The rest of the top five include Nepal (24M), Bangladesh (13M), Indonesia (4M), and Pakistan (3.2M). Among those, Nepal barely tops India in terms of percentage Hindu. Nearly 81% of Nepalese are Hindu. Only one other country is majority Hindu, Mauritius, in Eastern Africa.

Buddhism Around the World

The religion of Buddha is the fourth-most popular religion, the practice of just under 500,000 worldwide. While not in the billions like the others, that’s still 7% of the population. While more than half of Buddhists live in China (244M), there are several other countries with many that follow The Buddha. The top five are rounded out with Thailand (64M), Japan (45M), Burma (38M), and Vietnam (15M).

In terms of percentages, a couple of those same countries make the list. Cambodia is first percentage-wise, at 96.9%. It’s also the sixth-most in total numbers. Thailand (93.2%), Burma (80.1%), Bhutan (74.7%), and Sri Lanka (69.3%) fill out the top five. Only two others, Laos and Mongolia, are majority Buddhist. As is likely obvious from the list, Buddhism is most popular in Southern and Southeast Asia.

Folk Religions Around the World

Unlike the other religions on the map, this group is made up of many small religions based on cultural or ethnic elements. These folk religions, as they are known, are separate from organized religions, though they may borrow some elements of one or more popular religions.

There are about 400,000 people who practice a folk religion. While that’s a small number compared to the major religions, it’s still nearly 6% of the world population. The bulk of the practitioners are in China (293M), where folk religions make up over 20% of its population. There are 5 million or more in four other countries: Vietnam (42M), Taiwan (10M), India (6M), and Brazil (5M). Macau in Eastern Asia is the only country that is a majority folk religion (58.9%). Vietnam (45%) and Taiwan (44%) are nearly so.

Judaism Around the World

The last on the list of affiliated religions is Judaism. There are 13 million Jewish people in the world, accounting for just one-fifth of a percent of the worldwide population. The United States and Israel are home to most of those 13 million, with just over 5 million each. The bottom three countries of the top five are Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, each with around 300,000 followers of Judaism.

Beyond the 75% of Israel that is Jewish, most countries have 2% or fewer. While over 150 countries report no Jewish people, Afghanistan has one. Zablon Simintov lives alone next to the only synagogue in the country and has received special permission to slaughter his own meat since there are no kosher butchers in Afghanistan.

Atheism and Unaffiliated Religions Around the World

We’re listing unaffiliated religions last, though together this group is 1.1 billion people, about 16% of the world population. However, unaffiliated does not mean atheist, agnostic, or even non-spiritual, though those are all included. Rather, it’s a catch-all for anyone who does not identify with a specific religion.

Nearly 700 million of those who do not affiliate with a religion live in China, which accounts for a narrow majority of its citizens (52%). Japan (72M), France (50M), Vietnam (28M), and Russia (23M) also have high numbers of unaffiliated. Other majority unaffiliated countries include Czech Republic (76%), North Korea (71%), Estonia (59%), Japan (57%), and Hong Kong (56%). Eastern Asia and Europe are the most popular regions for being areligious.

Again, not having a religion is not the same as atheism, which is a disbelief in any God. According to some studies, the most atheist country is France, with 40% claiming there is no “spirit, God, or life force.” Those numbers don’t quite measure up with the unaffiliated data in the map above, which shows France at 28% unaffiliated (63% Christian and 7.5% Muslim). It’s possible someone might affiliate with a religion while not believing its teachings.

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Nevertheless, the data shown on the map above provides a glimpse into how the seven billion people on earth think about religion. There are many more insights to be had in the large version of the world religion map.

Every September baseball fans all over the US and beyond get excited. As the weather gets cooler, things really heat up for some teams and fans. Finally, by the end of October, some are very happy and others… not so much.

Of course, there are some fans who seem to experience this excitement almost every year. And for others, they’ve waited generations. The Chicago Cubs, for example, waited almost 100 years between their second and third championships. In fact, the Cubbies didn’t even make an appearance in the 70 years between 1946 and 2015.

View World Series Wins and Appearances in a full screen map

Explore the map above to see the most wins, appearances, and winning percentage. Or read on to learn about the insights we’ve pulled from this map of World Series winners and losers.

Most World Series Wins

Even casual baseball observers know that the best team in the MLB, based on historical success, is the New York Yankees. The team has won 27 championships and been to the Fall Classic 40 times. The Yankees are in a class all their own here, with eight more victories than the next-closest team has appearances.

World Series Top 10

Team	Wins	Appearances
New York Yankees	27	40
St. Louis Cardinals	11	19
Boston Red Sox	7	11
New York Giants	5	14
Cincinnati Reds	5	9
Los Angeles Dodgers	5	9
Philadelphia Athletics	5	8
Pittsburgh Pirates	5	7
Detroit Tigers	4	11
Oakland Athletics	4	6

The St. Louis Cardinals consistently fielded competitive teams in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, back at a time when they needed to have the best record in all the National League to earn the right to go against the best American League team. Now, in the age of divisions and wild cards, there are 10 teams each postseason with a shot at the series.

The Red Sox are third on the list, a remarkable feat given the long drought between 1918 and 2004. The team has won three times in this century, with the other four coming between 1912 and 1918. If you count their previous name, the Boston Americans, the Red Sox can claim one more victory. The Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the very first series in 1903.

Of course, if we’re counting other names of existing teams, the Giants would tie for third place with the Red Sox. While the New York Giants baseball team had five championships, the San Francisco version of the team has added three more in recent years.

Highest Winning Percentage

When you’ve been to the World Series 40 times (or even 19, 14, or 11 times), it’s easier to rack up the wins. There are a handful of teams who have won every single time they went to the Fall Classic.

Team	Wins	Appearances
Toronto Blue Jays	2	2
Miami Marlins	2	2
Boston Americans	1	1
Arizona Diamondbacks	1	1
Anaheim Angels	1	1

While none of these teams has won more than two World Series, they’ve each won every time they’ve appeared. In fact, the Blue Jays did it in back to back seasons, 1992 and 1993.

The more appearances a team has, the harder it is to maintain a high winning percentage. There are nine teams with at least five appearances that have maintained better than a 50/50 record: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

American League vs National League

These days, the league that wins the All Star Game gets to be the home team in the World Series. Otherwise, outside of the designated hitter rule, there’s really little difference between the two. Yet, the American League has been far more successful than the National. The AL has 64 victories to the NL’s 48.

As you might guess, much of that difference is made up by the Yankee’s many championships. In fact, if you remove the top two from each league (Yankees and Cardinals), the two each have 37 victories as of 2016.

MLB Teams Without a World Series Win

With all this talk of winning, it’s easy to forget that some teams have never won a World Series.

• Texas Rangers (appeared in 2010 and 2011)
• San Diego Padres (1984 and 1998)
• Tampa Bay Rays (2008)
• Colorado Rockies (2007)
• Milwaukee Brewers (1982)
• Houston Astros (2005)
• Washington Nationals (never appeared)
• Seattle Mariners (never appeared)

So, if you’re not a baseball fan, or your team doesn’t have a shot this year… consider rooting for one of these underdogs.

And if you’re more of a basketball fan, check out these NBA Finals Winners and Losers on a Map.

In the days of world exploration, ships were the way to we discovered new land, new routes, and anything new. Then ships became the primary method of long distance transportation, and remained that way for centuries. These days, cruises take those who can afford the luxury on purposefully slow-paced journeys. Yet, another type of ship continues to rule the sea. In fact, an entire industry is named after it: shipping.

View Busiest Container Ports in the World in a full screen map

On the map above, you can find the 50 busiest ports in the world across 30 countries. What does busy mean? It’s measured by thousands of “TEUs,” twenty-foot equivalent units. A TEU is the equivalent of a single shipping container, the metal structures stacked on large ships and shuttled across the oceans.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, six of the top 10 ports are in China. Shanghai is number one, by over 5 million containers. China’s largest city has been top since 2010, when it surpassed Singapore (now number two). China’s other cities in the top 10 are Shenzhen (3), Ningbo-Zhoushan (4), Qingdao (7), Guangzhou (8), and Tianjin (10). The other non-Chinese ports in the top 10 are Hong Kong (5); Busan, South Korea (6), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (9).

Officially, Hong Kong is an administrative region of China, after being transferred from British rule in 1997, though Hong Kong operates with a high degree of autonomy. As recently as 2004, Hong Kong was the busiest container port in the world. While others in the top 10 have seen tremendous growth, Hong Kong actually has seen less traffic in its port over the recent years.

In the last 10 years, Shanghai container ship traffic has more than doubled, a considerable feat for a city already high on the list. By comparison, Singapore and Shenzhen have seen 33% and 49% growth respectively. Ningbo-Zhoushan, another China powerhouse, was #15 on the list a decade ago. It has moved up the list by seeing its volume nearly quadruple during that short time. Other ports that have at least doubled in the last 10 years are Balboa, Panama (364%); Guangzhou (265%); Dalian, China (260%); Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (209%); Tianjin (189%); Xiamen, China (176%); Qingdao (175%); Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates (129%); Port Klang, Malaysia (114%); Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia (111%); and Dubai (105%).

Indeed, China is seeing a lot of growth despite already being a stronghold of busy ports. In fact, the country tally amongst these top 50 ports puts China at nearly five times the container volume of the next-most, Singapore. Rounding out the top five are the United States, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

The overall Chinese growth rate over the last five years is only 34%, so on the short term there are smaller players that have gained ground faster. Greece, whose port city of Piraeus only saw 665,000 containers in 2010 was nearing 3.4 million in 2015, the latest data available. That puts Greece at over 400% growth, quintupling container volume in five years. Other fast-growing countries didn’t even double. Rounding out the top five are Vietnam (60%), Morocco (44%), Saudi Arabia (41%), and Brazil (39%).

A few of these countries with ports in the top 50 have seen negative growth in the last five years: Egypt (-17%), Hong Kong (-15%), and Japan (-3%). In the case of Japan’s four top port cities, only Nagoya has seen growth.

Wait, What’s a Shipping Container?

With all this talk about containers and the twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), it can be tough to picture exactly how much fits in a container. And for that matter, how many of these TEUs fit on a single ship?

Despite the official-sounding name, TEU, there actually isn’t a standard size for a shipping container. Most are 20 feet long, which is where that name comes from, but the height varies. Most are eight and a half feet tall, though others are nine and a half feet. Rarely there are some half-height containers that are four feet three inches tall. Confusingly, these all count as one TEU.

It gets more confusing. Remember when I said most are 20 feet long? Well, some are 40 feet long, so these are counted as two TEUs. Others are 45 feet long, and they are still counted as only two TEUs rather than 2.25 TEUs.

These factors complicate how much can fit in a single container, as well as how many containers fit on a ship. However, if we go with the most popular 20 feet by 8.5 feet, we end up with 1,360 cubic feet (strangely, for all the other variations, most shipping containers are eight feet wide).

How many containers can fit on a ship depends, obviously, on the size of the ship. A common class of container ship, the Panamax, is so-named because it’s the largest ship that can fit through the original Panama Canal. These ships hold 3,000-5,000 TEUs. A larger ship class, the Post-Panamax, can fit through the Panama Canal expansion, and holds 10,000-15,500 TEUs.

As for how much fits in a single container, that also depends on what you’re transporting, and how well you store it. There are currently two answers to a Quora question about coconuts, with one estimate two times as big as another. Yet, according to iContainers, a 20 foot container can hold 48,000 bananas, 400 flat screen TVs, or 200 full size mattresses.

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