Orthodox The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church[note 1] and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church,[note 2] is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members. It is considered by its adherents to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament. The Christian faith is essentially faith in Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah), the Son of God, the Savior, the manifestation of God to humankind (Immanuel), and God (Yahweh or the "Lord") himself (Russian Russian (русский язык, transliteration: russkiy yazyk, Russian pronunciation: [ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk], meaning 'Russian tongue ') is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages: Православие Pravoslavije), is Russia’s traditional and largest religion, deemed part of Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия transliterated: Rossiya , pronounced [rʌˈsʲijə]), officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация (help·info), Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), is a country in northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia together). It is a semi-presidential's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997.[1] Russian Orthodoxy The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Русская Православная Церковь (Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov), or Московский Патриархат (Moskovskiy Patriarkhat) (the latter designation being another official name) since 1943, Поместная Российская Православ is the dominant religion in Russia.[2] 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Русская Православная Церковь (Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov), or Московский Патриархат (Moskovskiy Patriarkhat) (the latter designation being another official name) since 1943, Поместная Российская Православ while there are a number of smaller Orthodox Churches.[3] However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis.[4] Nonetheless, the church is widely respected by both believers and nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Russian heritage and culture.[4] Smaller Christian denominations such as Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians[note 2] and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Church, and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches (called, Armenian Gregorian The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church. The Armenian Apostolic Church traces its origins to the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the 1 and various Protestants Protestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and exist.
The ancestors of many of today’s Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century.[4] Approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although the Church claims a membership of 80 million[5][6];also according to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center Russian Public Opinion Research Center, VCIOM, [established in 1987; till 1992 – Union Public Opinion Research Center] is the oldest polling institution in the post-Soviet space and is one of the leading sociological and market research companies in Russia, 63% of respondents considered themselves Russian Orthodox, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslim A Muslim , pronounced /ˈmʊslɪm/, is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah (Arabic: مسلمة). Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah and less than 1% considered themselves either Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish.[7] Another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers.[7]. It is estimated that Russia is home to 23 million people of Muslim backgrounds, including 1.5 million in Moscow alone.[8][9] The Orthodox Church estimated in 2000 that 20 million Russians were Muslim, while the official census counter around 15 million[10] Russia also has an estimated 3 million to 4 million Muslim migrants from the ex-Soviet states.[11] Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia, Moscow, St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг , tr.: Sankt-Peterburg, Russian pronunciation: [sankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk]) is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924) and western Siberia.[12] Buddhism Buddhism as traditionally conceived is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha. Adherents recognize the Buddha as an awakened teacher who shared his is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Buryat Republic , is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its area is slightly over 350,000 km² with a population of almost one million. Its capital is Ulan-Ude, Tuva Tyva Republic , or Tuva (Russian: Тува́, Tuva), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) and Kalmykia The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). The direct romanization of the republic's Russian name is Respublika Kalmykiya, and that of the Kalmyk name is Xal'mg Tanghch. It is the only state in Europe where the dominant religion is Buddhism. It has also become famous because its current government has.[13] Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, Yakutia The Sakha Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Саха́ (Яку́тия), Respublika Sakha (Yakutiya); Sakha: Саха Республиката, Sakha Respublikata) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). At half the size of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the largest subnational governing body by area in the world at 3,100,000, Chukotka Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka (Чуко́тка), is a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug) located in the Far Eastern Federal District, etc., practice pantheistic and pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Slavs The Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Many settled later in Siberia and Central Asia or emigrated to other parts of are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian.[14] Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim, although several Turkic groups in Russia are not.[14]
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