Religion

In Asia, religion means a lot for the individual as well as for the daily order and function of society

Even though there are various and vast minorities of people who have other religions than the majority, it is possible to divide Asia according to the four large religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

Religion affects daily life

Regardless which of the large four religions dominates in an area, religion as such has a great impact on daily life. For example, Moslems don't work on Fridays because it is their holiday. In Christian areas, Sunday is the holiday, and the Christians close their shops on Sundays while they dress up in nice clothes to go to church.

Unwritten rules are often decided by religion

Besides religious rituals many of society's written and unwritten rules are decided by the dominating religion.

In large parts of India, people are vegetarians and cows are perceived to be holy. This means that a cow can stop all traffic if it lies down to rest in a crossroad.

Find more information about the religions in each of the Asian countries at CIA