RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
6.1 Origins of Religions
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• Geographers distinguish between ethnic and
universalizing religions.
• The two types of religions have different origins ana
distributions.
Geographers distinguish between two types of religions:
• An ethnic religion appeals primarily to one group of people living in one place.
Hinduism is the largest ethnic religion.
• A universalizing religion attempts to be global, to appeal to all people, wherever they
may live in the world. The three with the largest number of adherents are Christianity,
Islam, and Buddhism.
6.1.1 Mt. KAILAS
Hindus believe that this
mountain is the home
of Siva. Thousands of
Hindus make an annual
pilgrimage to the base of
the mountain.
HINDUISM
Universalizing religions have precise places of
origin, based on events in the life of a man.
Ethnic religions have unknown or unclear
origins, not tied to single historical individuals.
The largest ethnic religion, Hinduism, did
not originate with a specific founder. The word
Hinduism originated in the sixth century B.C.
to refer to people living in what is now India.
‘Whereas the origins of Christianity; Islam,
and Buddhism are recorded in the relatively
recent past, Hinduism existed prior to recorded
history. The earliest surviving Hindu documents
were written around 1500 B.C., although
archaeological explorations have unearthed
objects relating to the religion from 2500 B.C.
Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded India
about 1400 B.C. and brought with them Indo
European languages, as discussed in Chapter
5. In addition to their language, the Aryans
brought their religion.
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6.1.2
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM
Most Christians believe that the church was constructed on the site
of Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection.
CHRISTIANITY
Christianity was founded upon the teachings
of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem between
8 and 4 B.C. and died on a cross in Jerusalem
about A.D. 30. Raised as a Jew, Jesus gathere a
small band of disciples and preached the coming
of the Kingdom of God. He was referred to as
Christ, from the Greek word for the Hebrew
word messiah, which means “anointed.
In the third year of his mission, he was
betrayed to the authorities by one of his
companions, Judas Iscariot. After sharing the
Last Supper (the Jewish Passover seder with his
disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus was arrested and put
to death as an agitator. On the third day the
his death, his tomb was found empty. Christians
elieve that Jesus died to atone for human sins,
that he was raised from the dead by God, and
that his Resurrection from the dead provides
people with hope for salvation.
BUDDISM
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama,
was born about 563 B.C. in Lumbini, in presentday Nepal. The son of a lord, Gautama led a
privileged life, with a beautiful wife, palaces, and
servants.
According to Buddhist legend, Gautama’s
life changed after a series of four trips. He
encountered a decrepit old man on the first fri
a disease-ridden man on the second trip, and a
corpse on the third trip. After witnessing these
scenes of pain and suffering, Gautama began to
feel he could no longer enjoy his life of comfo
and security. Then, on a fourth trip, Gautama
saw a monk, who taught him about withdrawal
from the world. Gautama lived in a forest for six
years, thinking and experimenting with forms
of meditation, and emerged as the Buddha, the
“awakened or enlightened one?’
HABODHI
6.1.3
TE PLE,BODH
GAYA. INDIA
The temple was built
where Buddha found
perfect wisdom.
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LAM
The word Islam in Arabic means “submission
to the will of God:’ and it has a similar root to
the Arabic word for peace. An adherent of the
religion of Islam is known as a Muslim, which in
Arabic means “one who surrenders to God?’
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was born
in Makkah about the year 570. At age 40, while
engaged in a meditative retreat, Muhammad
received his first revelation from God through
the Angel Gabriel. The Quran, the holiest book
in Islam, is a record of God’s words, as revealed
to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel.
Muhammad was a descendent of Ishmael, who
was the son of Abraham and Hagar. Jews and
Christians trace their history through Abraham’s
wife Sarah and their son Isaac. Sarah prevailed
upon Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael,
ho wandered through the Arabian desert,
eventually reaching Makkah , more commonly
known to Westerners as Mecca.
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6.1.4 PROPHET’S
MOSQUE, MADINAH
The Tomb of Muhammad
is in this mosque, in Islam’s
second holiest city.
6.1.5 WORLD RELIGIONS
Christianity, Islam
(represented by Sunni
Muslim and Shiite Muslim),
and Buddhism are the three
universalizing religions
with the largest number of
adherents. Hinduism is the
largest ethnic religion.
Roman Catholic
Protestant
•
• Orthodox / Eastern Christian
• Other Christian
13
I
19%
6%
2%
•
•
•
•
Sunni Muslim
Shute Muslim
Buddhist
Hindu
Chinese traditional
Other traditional
Nonreligious
125
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
6.2 Geographic Branches of Religions
The three largest universalizing religions have
different branches.
6.21 CHRISTIAN
PLACES OF WORSHIP
(Top) Eastern Orthodox
church in Gifhorn, Germany.
(Lower right) Roman
Catholic Cathedral in Pisa,
Italy. (Lower left) Protestant
church in Edgartown,
assachusetts.
•
Branches have distinctive regional distributions.
Each of the three largest universalizing religions is subdivided into branches,
denominations, and sects.
• A branch is a large and fundamental division within a religion.
• A denomination is a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations
in a single legal and administrative body.
• A sect is a relative1
gi7o
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1
that1as
ü broken away from an established denomination..
BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY
hristianity has three major branches:
r• Roman Catholicism.
God conveys His grace directly to humanity
through seven sacraments, including Baptisms
:
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126
Confirmation, Penance, Anointing the Sick
Matrimony, Holy Orders, ánd.theEuchaiist
(the partaking of bread aridwinC that repeats
the actions of Jesus at the Last Supper). The
Eucharist literally and miraculously becoñie
body and blood of Jesus while keeping only
appearances of bread and wine, anact knos
as transubstantiation.
Eastern Orthodoxy.
A collection of 14 self-governing churches
derive from the faith and practices in the
Eastern part of the Roman Empire. The split
between the Roman and Eastern churches
dates to the fifth century and became fin1 in
.D. 1054. The Russian OrthodOx Church has
more than 40 percent of all Eásterñ Orthodox
Christians, the Romanian Church 2Operent
2
the Bulgarian, Greek, and SerbianO’rthodox
churches approximately 10 percent each, and
nine others have the remaining 10 percent.
Protestantism
The Protestant Reformation movement is
regarded as beginning when Martin Luther
posted 95 theses onthe door of the church at
Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.
According to Luther, ndividuals had primary
responsibility forâchieving personal salvation
through direct communication with God.
Grace is achievedthiough faith rather than
through sacraments performed by the Chur
BRANCHES OF BUDDHISM
.The two largest branches OBUddh1Shi.
aie Théravada and Mahayana.
Theravada, which means “the way of the elders,” emphasizes Buddh
life of wisdom, self-help, and solit.,
introspection.
Mahayana (“the bigger ferry” or
“raft”), which split from Therava4a
Buddhism about 2,000 years ago,.’;”
emphasizes Buddha’s life of teachipg,
compassion, and helping.others.
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USLIM PLACES OF WORSHIP
Sunni Mosque in Manama, Bahrain. (Below) Shiite Mosque in
destroyed in 2006.
Iraq, which
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623 BUDDHIST 0 KS’
,(Above)Theravada Buddhist
at Tooth Temple in Kandy
Sn Lâñka.’(left) Máhayana
Buddhist at Great Buddha
statue in Kamakura, Japan.
—
II
CHES OF ISLAM
important branches:
is divided into
i from the Arabic word for orthodox)
Shiite (from the Arabic word for sectarian,
etimes written Shia in English). Differences
veen the two main branches go back to the
est days of Islam and reflect disagreement
the line of succession in Islamic leadership
er the Prophet Muhammad, who had no
ving son nor a follower of comparable
ership ability.
two
ES IN HINDUISM
duism does not have a central authority
a single holy book, so each individual
ects suitable rituals. The average Hindu has
egiance to a particular god or concept within
broad range of possibilities:
God with the largest number
- The manifestation
n
adherents—a estimated 68 percent—is
Vaishnavism, which worships the god Vishnu, a.’
eying god incarnated as Irishna.
• Ah estimated 27 percent adhere Sivaism,
and destructive god.
dedicated Siva,
worship dedicatedtotjie
- Shaktism
female consorts of Vishnu andSiva.
hi”India some geographic concentration àfo4.,
sipport for these deities exists: Siva and Sh’akti’
•.‘•,• I
in the north, Shakti and Vishnu in the east,
Vishnu in the west, Siva and some Vishnu in
the south. However, hóly.,places for Siva and
Vishnu are dlsLpersed thrug t India
624 HINDUISM
BathinginGanges
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to
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127
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
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6.3 Global Distribution
sIam and Buddhism predominate in Asia.
• Christianity predominates in the Western
Hemisphere and Europe.
ANGLO AMERICA
2% Other religions
19% Nonreligious
2% Sunni Muslim
2% Jewish
29% Protwitant
ATLANT
OCEA
39% Other Chriotian
-
UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS
• Christianity.
With more than 2 billion adherents,
Christianity is the predominant religion in
North America, South America, Europe, and
Australia. Within Europe, Roman Catholicism
is the dominant Christian branch in the
southwest and east, Protestantism in the
northwest, and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east
and southeast. In the Western Hemisphere,
Roman Catholicism pedominates.inLatin
America and Protestantism inNorth America.
• Islim.
he•religion of:1 :3 billion.peöple, Islam is
the predominant religion of the Middle East
from North Africa to Central Asia. One-half
of the world’s Muslims live outside the Middle
East in Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and India. The Sunni branch comprises 83
percent of Muslims and is the largest branch in
most Muslim countries. The Shiite branch is
clustered in Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.
• Buddhism.
With nearly 400 million adherents, Buddhism
is predominant mainly in China and Southeast
Asia. Mahayanists account for about 56 percent
of Buddhists, primarily in China, Japan,
and Korea. Theravadists comprise about 38
percent of Buddhists, especially in Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The
remaining 6 percent are Tantrayanists, found
primarily in Tibet and Mongolia.
128
----t-
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Universalizing Religions
Christianity
• Roman Catholic
Protnstant
• Eastern Orthodox
Other
Islam
Sunni
Shiite
Other Universalizing Religions
Buddhism
•
Ethnic Religions
• Hinduism
Juda6m
African
Mixed with universalizing
LATiN AMERICA
4% Other religious
3% Nonreligious
9% Protestant
84% C
Other universalizing religions.
Sikhism and Bahá’I are the next two largest
universalizing religions. All but 3 million of
the world’s 25 million Sikhs are clustered in
the Punjab region of India. The 8 million
Bahá’Is are dispersed among many countries,
primarily in Africa and Asia.
EASTERN EUROPE
1% Other religions
WESTERN EUROPE
6% Sunni Muslim
53% Catholic
f Christian
5
4% ()J
16% Orthodox
CathOliC
0
3% Protestant
43%
I
Nonreligious
31%Orthodox
21%
Protestant
1%lewish
I%OtherOian
3% Sunni Muslim
30’
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—
ARTIC
0 AN
60°
i80°
EASTASIA
2% Sunni Muslim
1% Other religions
16% Buddhist
5% Shinto
18% Chinese folk
64% Nonreligious
Tropic of Cancer
MIDDLE EAST
l%Other
igions
1% Jewish
BAY eF
BENIAL
2%Orthodox
13%Buddhist
5% Protestant
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
5t%Sunni
Mtthss
27% Shilte
I_Muslim
69%Sunni
Muslim
-
SOUThEAST ASIA
5% Other religions
4% Nonreligious
22% Catholic
Equarnr
-
N
INDIAN
OCEAN SOUThASLA
2% Sikh 4% Other religions
3% Shilte Muslim
2% Christian
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CORAL
SEA
SunniMusJim
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SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
6% Other religions
t3% Catholic
14% Arsimist
Tropic of Capricorn
SOUtH PACIFiC
2% Buddhist 5% Other religions
13% Nonreligious
17% Catholic
12% Protestant
4%
13% Other
Orthodoo
18% Other Chnslian
ETHNIC RELIGIONS:
• Hinduism.
Hindus account for more than 80 percent of the
population of India and Nepal. All but 3 percent
of the world’s Hindus are concentrated in India,
and most of the remainder in India’s neighbor,
Nepal.
• Other ethnic religions.
Several hundred million people practice ethnic
Christian
2% Orthodox
33% Sunni Muslim
39%
PrOIer0
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2,000
4, Miles
4,000 Kilometers
religions in East Asia, especially Confucianism
and Daoism in China and Shintoism in
Japan. Approximately 100 million Africans,
12 percent of the continent’s population,
follow traditional ethnic religions, sometimes
called animism. Judaism has about 6 million
adherents in the United States, 5 million in
Israel, 2 million in Europe, and 1 million each
in Asia and Latin America.
129
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
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6.4 Diffusion of Religions
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• Universalizing religions have diffused beyond their
places of origin.
• Missionaes and military conquest have been important
methods of diffusing universalizing religions.
The three universalizing religions diffused from specific hearths, or places of origin, to
other regions of the world. The hearths where each of the three largest universalizing
religions originated are based on the events in the lives of the three key individuals. All
three hearths are in Asia. Followers transmitted the messages preached in the hearths to
people elsewhere, diffusing them across Earth’s surface along distinctive paths.
o
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To N0th
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OCEAN
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OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
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6.4.1 DIFFUSION OF UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS
Buddhism’s hearth is in present-day Nepal and northern India. Christianity’s is in presentday Israel, and Islam’s is in present-day Saudi Arabia. Buddhism diffused primarily east
toward Europe, and Islam west toward northern Africa and east toward southwestern Asia.
Buddhism Chnthamty slam
Hearth
Diffusion by
8th century
Diffusion by
12th century
•
—
Diffusion aiim
l2thcentucy ••*
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6.4.2 DIFFUSION OF
CHRISTIANITY
Constantine’s Vision of the
Cross, fresco in the Vatican
designed by Raphael and
completed by his students
in 1524.
130
DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY
Christianity’s diffusion has been rather clearly recorded
since Jesus first set forth its tenets in the Roman province of
Palestine. In Chapter 1 we distinguished between relocation
diffusion (through migration) and two types of expansion
diffusion (hierarchical through key leaders and contagious
through widespread diffusion). Christianity diffused
through a combination of all of these forms of diffusion.
Christianity first diffused from its hearth in Southwest
Asia through relocation diffusion. Missionaries—
individuals who help to transmit a universalizing religion
through relocation diffusion—carried the teachings of
Jesus along the Roman Empire’s protected sea routes and
excellent road network to people in other locations.
Christianity spread widely within the Roman Empire
through contagious diffusion—daily contact between
believers in the towns and nonbelievers in the surrounding
countryside.
The dominance of
Christianity throughout the
Roman Empire was assured
during the fourth century
through hierarchical
diffusion—acceptance of
the religion by the empire’s
key elite figure, the emperor.
Emperor Constantine
encouraged the spread of
Christianity by embracing
it in 313, and Emperor
Theodosius proclaimed it
the empire’s official religion
in the year 380. Migration
and missionary activity
by Europeans since the
year 1500 has extended
Christianity to other regions
of the world.
.3’..
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1’
6M3.,DiFFUSION OF BUDDHISM
hamekStupa,,Deer Park, Samath, India. T,iestupa (Sanskrit’f”heap”
Buddha
‘or’m6undä:buiIParound
.&: 5OOtoTharkthespotvihere
z..ttr
;.r
gave his firstsermon.
-
DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM
Most responsible for the spread of Buddhism
was Asoka, emperor of the Magadhan Empire
from about 273 to 232 B.C. About 257 B.C., at the
height of the Magadhan Empire’s power, Asoka
became a Buddhist and thereafter attempted to
put into practice Buddha’s social principles.
Emperor Asoka’s son, Mahinda, led a missibri.
to the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where
the king and his subjects were converted to..
Buddhism. As a result, Sri La.rika’isthe couiity;.
that claims the longest continuous traditioi6f:
practicing Buddhism. Missionaries wereá1
sent in the third century B.C.to Kashmir;iè
Himalayas, Burma (Myanmar), and elscwbere in
India.
In the first. century.A.D., merchants along
the trading routes from northeasternclndia
introduced Buddhism to Chma Chuiese rulers
allowed their people to become Buddhist monks
during the fourth: céntu y A;D.,.an in the
fâllowing centuries Bu4dhism turl into an
important Chinese religion. Buc .him further
diffused from China to Korea inthfóurth
century and-from K&eato Japan t$ centuries
later. .During:the same era, Biiddhiri lost its
rigiñai base of support in -i.n iaH
4
DIFFUSION OF ISLAM
Muhammad’s successors organized followers
into armies that extended the region of Muslim
control over an extensive area of Africa, Asia,
and Europe. Within a century of Muhammad’s
death, Muslim armies conquered Palestine, the
Persian Empire, and much of India, resulting
in the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam,
often through intermarriage.
To the west, Muslims captured North Africa,
crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and conquered
part of Western Europe, retaining it, particularly
much of present-day Spain, until 1492. During
the same century in which the Christians
regained all of Western Europe, Muslims took
control of much of southeastern Europe and
Turkey.
As was the case with Christianity, Islam, as a
universalizing religion, diffused well beyond its
hearth in Southwest Asia through relocation
diffusion of missionaries to portions of sub
Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Although
it is spatially isolated from the Islamic core
region in Southwest Asia, Indonesia, the world’s
6.4.4 DIFFUSION OF
ISLAM
Mezquita de Cordoba,
Spain. This was the second
largest mosque in the
world, until 1236 when the
Muslims were expelled from
fourth most populous cuti ispjepminantiy this part of Spain, and the
structure was reconsecrated
Muslim because Arab traders brought the
as a cathedral.
religion therè
3 the
ee th century
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TI-IF RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE
6.5 Diversity of Universalizing Religion
Other universalizing religions and Christian churches
exist in addition to the largest ones.
• The United States has strong regional differences
the distribution of religions.
Christianity; Islam, and Buddhism are the three
universalizing religions with the larges
number of adherents, and Roman Catholicism, Prot
estan
tism, and Eastern Orthodoxy
are the three largest branches within Christianity. Other univ
ersalizing religions and
other Christian churches have flourished in addition to
the largest ones.
6.5.1 MOR
ML
UAKE
OThER CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Several Christian churches developed
independent of the three main branches of
Christianity.
• Two small Christian churches survive in
northeast Africa—the Coptic Church of Egypt
and the Ethiopian Church.
• The Armenian Church originated in Antioch,
Syria, and was important in diffusing
Christianity to South and East Asia between
the seventh and thirteenth centuries.
• The Maronites are an example of a small
Christian sect that plays a disproportionately
prominent role in political unrest. They are
clustered in Lebanon, which has suffered
through a long civil war fought among
religious groups.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
( ormons reg ds its ch c as a branch of
Christi Wse ate from other ran es.
out
rs
OThER UNIVERSALIZING REUGIONS
Sikhism and Bahá’i are the two universalizing
religions other than Christianity Islam, and
Buddhism with the largest numbers of adherents.
• Sikhism. God was revealed to Sikhism’s first
guru (religious teacher or enlightener) Nanak
(1469—1538) as The One Supreme Being, or
Creator, who rules the universe by divine will.
Sikhism’s most important ceremony, introduced
by the tenth guru, Gobind Singh (1666—1708), is
the Amrit (or Baptism), in which Sikhs declare
they will uphold the principles of the faith.
Gobind Singh also introduced the practice of
men wearing turbans on their heads and never
cutting their beards or hair. Wearing a distinctive
clothing helped to give Silths a disciplined
outlook and a sense of unity of purpose.
• Baha’I. Siyyid li Muhammad, known as the
Báb (Persian for “gateway”), founded the Bábi
movement, a precursor of the “Baha’i” faith in
Shfráz, Iran, in 1844. Bahá’Is believe that one
of the Bab s disciples, Husayn Ali Nun, known
as Bahá’u’lláh (Arabic for “Glory of God”), was
the prophet and messenger of God. Bahá’u’lláh’s
ction was to overcome the disunity of
‘ons and establish a universal faith through
abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices.
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32
RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS
m
6.8 Territorial Conflicts: Ireland
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z
• Northern Ireland and the city of Belfast are divided
among Roman Catholics and Protestants.
The a
tby intënS&adhereñts
• Conflicts between the two religious groups have
flared periodically in North Ireland.
of one rçligion to organize Earth can conflict with the
spatial eipression of other religious or nonreligious ideas Contributing to more intense
religious conflict has been a resurence of religious fundamentalism, which is a literal
mterpretation anda strict and mtense adherence to basic prmciples of a religion A
group convmãed that its religious view is the correct one may spatially mtrude upon the
térritorycôntrolled by others.
The most troublesome religious boundary
in Western Europe lies on the island of Eire
(Ireland). The Republic of Ireland, which
occupies five-sixths of the island, is 92 percent
Roman Catholic, but the island’s northern
one-sixth, which is part of the United Kingdom
rather than Ireland, is about 58 percent
Protestant and 42 percent Roman Catholic
The entire island was an English colony
for many centuries and was made part of
the United Kingdom in 1801. Agitation for
independence from Britain increased in Ireland
during the nineteenth century, especially after
poor economic conditions and famine in the
1 840s led to mass emigration, as described in
Chapter 3. Following a succession of bloody
confrontations, Ireland became a self-governing
dominion within the British Empire in 1921.
Complete independence was declared in 1937,
and a republic was created in 1949.
When most of Ireland became independent,
a majority in 26 northern districts voted to
remain in the United Kingdom. Protestants, who
comprised the majority in Northern Ireland,
preferred to be part of the predominantly
Protestant United Kingdom rather th oin
the predominantly
Catholic epublic of
Ireland.
Percefrit Protestant
• 75—100
• 50—74
ED
OM
25-49
10-24
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25
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50 Oilomete,s
6.8.1 DISTRIBUTION OF PROTESTANTS IN IRELAND, 1911
Long a colony of England, Ireland became a self-governing dominion
within the British Empire in 1921. In 1937, it became a completely
independent country, but 26 districts in the north of Ireland chose to
remain part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland today is
more than 95 percent Roman Catholic whereas Northern Ireland has
a Protestant majority. The boundary between Roman Catholics and
Protestants does not coincide precisely with the international border, so
Northern Ireland indudes some communities that are predominantly
Roman Catholic. This is the root of a religious conflict that continues
today.
Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland have
en victimized by discriminatory practices,
h as exclusion from higher-paying jobs and
tter schools. Demonstrations by Roman
atholics protesting discrimination began in
968. Since then, more than 3,000 have been
ed in Northern Ireland—both Protestants
and Roman Catholics—in a never-ending cycle
of demonstrations and protests.
.c.
138
_______
•
small number of Roman Catholics
th Northern Ireland and the
i dblic of Ireland joined the Irish
blican Army (IRA), a militant
‘L’ ization dedicated to achieving
i.national unity by whatever means
‘able, including violence. Similarly,
scattering of Protestants created
mist organizations to fight the
including the Ulster Defense Force
a,
ELFASTLOUGH
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a,
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T
hhough the overwhelming majority
Northern Ireland’s Roman Catholics
• Protestants are willing to live
•
fully with the other religious
up, extremists disrupt daily life for
one. As long as most Protestants
firmly committed to remaining in
United Kingdom and most Roman
tholics are equally committed to
on with the Republic of Ireland,
ceful settlement appears difficult.
ce agreements implemented in 1999
vided for the sharing of power, but
Brit
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6.8.2 DISTRIBUTION OF CATHOLICS IN BELFAST
Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, contains predominantly Catholic
neighborhoods, primarily west of the river Lagan, and predominantly Protestant
neighborhoods to the east of the river. Troubles have been concentrated in areas
along the boundaries of the two religions.
• 81—100% Catholic
• 61—80%
Catholic
41-60% Catholic
21—40% Catholic
0-20% Catholic
Parks and open space
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6.8.3NORTHERN IRELAND TROUBLES
(opoteae) Twensix unarmed Roman
Catholic civil nghts protesters in Derry were shot
by British soIdierson January 0 1q72 now
known in Northern lreIad as Blôbdy Stihday
(Below) Protstants known as Apprentice Boys
march through Ballmérfa, Northn lrelii.J..
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139
,.
RELIGiOUS CONFLiCTS
m
6.9 Territorial Conflicts: The Middle East
I-.
0
Jews, Muslims, and Christians have fought to Control
Israel/Palestine.
•
Places holy to all three religions are clustered in
Jerusalem.
Religious conflict in thëMiddlë East is among the world’s longest standing and most
intractable. Jews, Christiãñs,afid,Mtislims have fought on and off for 2,000 years
to control the same small strip of land,which the Romans called Palestine after the
Phiistines, seafaring invaders who occupied the area in the twelfth century B.C.
city; after Makkah and Madinah, because it is
All three groups trace. their ‘origins-to Abraham
ways
in
diverge
religions
place from which Muhammad is thought to
the
but
Bible,
the
in the
the
share
them
to
have ascended to heaven.
that have made it difficult for
Palestine was incorporated into a succession.
of empires, culminating with the British after
V
same territory.
As an ethnic religion; Judaism makes a special
V
V
V
claim to the territory itcalls the Promised Land.
The major events in the development of Judaism
took place there, and the religion’s, customs and
rituals acquire meaning from the agricultural
life of the ancient Hebrew tribe.
Christians consider Palestine the Holy Land
and Jerusalem the Holy City because the major
events in Jesus’s life, death, and Resurrection
were concentrated there.
Muslims regard Jerusalem as their third holy
World War I. 1n1947, the United Nations
partitioned Palestineintotwoindependent
states, one Jewish-controlled state named Israel
and one Arab Muslim-controlled state named.
Jordan. When the British withdrew in 1948,
Jordan and otherneighboring Arab Muslim
states attacked Israel unsuccessfully. Israel won
three more wars with its neighbors, in 1956,
1967, and 1973.
Especially important was the 1967 Six-Day
War, when Israel
captured territory;
Middle EastSince 1967 War
including Jerusalem,
• Occupied by Israel
from its neighbors.
Captured by Israel,
Israel returned the Sinai
returned to Egypt
• Captured by Israel,
Peninsula to Egypt in
some Palestinian
exchange for a peace
Jew
-c
control
treaty in 1979. The
Mediteroneon
6.9.1 BOUNDARY CHANGES IN PALESTINE/ISRAEL
After 1948-49 War
Israel
• Jordan
Plan 1947
• Arab Muslim state
Jewish state
U.N. Partition
Jerusal
Mediterranean
Sea
.
(mt
Jew I
.
Medderranean
Sea
Gaza
Gaza
Sec
GAZA
JORDAN
AR
Sinai
Peninsula
SAUDI
ARAS
1
Red Re,
ThE 1947 UNITED NATIONS
PARTITION PLAN
Two countnes were created, with the
boundaries drawn to separate the
predominantly Jewish areas from the
predominantly Arab Muslim areas. Jerusalem
was intended to be an international city, run
by the United Nations.
140
EGY
ISRAEL AFTER THE 1948-1949 WAR
The day after Israel declared its
independence, several neighboring states
began a war, which ended in an armistice.
Israel’s boundaries were extended
beyond the UN partition to include the
western suburbs of Jerusalem. Jordan
gained control of the West Bank and East
jerusalem, induding the Old City, where
holy places are dustered.
SAUDI
ARABtA
Red Seo
THE MIDDLE EAST SINCE THE
1967 WAR
Israel captured the Golan Heights from
Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem
from Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula and
Gaza Strip from Egypt Israel returned Sinai
to Egypt in 1979 and turned over Gaza
and a portion of the West Bank to the
Palestinians in 1994. Israel still controls the
Golan Heights, most of the West Bank, and
East Jerusalem.
.
West Bank (formerly
part of Jordan) and
Gaza (formerly part of
Egypt) have been joined
to create what is now
known as Palestine,
with its own Arab
Muslim government,
but under Israeli
military control.
The major obstacle
to a lasting peace in th
region is the status of
Jerusalem. Jerusalem is
especially holy to Jews
as the location of the
Temple, their center of
worship in ancient times. The Second Temple
was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, but its
Western Wall survives as a site for daily prayers
by observant Jews.
The most important Muslim structure in
Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock, built in Ad).
691. Muslims believe that the large rock beneath
the building’s dome is the place from which
Muhammad ascended to heaven, as well as the
altar on which Abraham prepared to sacrifice
his son Isaac. Next to the Dome of the Rock is
al-Aqsa Mosque, finished in A.D. 705.
The challenge facing Jews and Muslims is
that al-Aqsa was built on the site of the ruins of
the Jewish Second Temple. Through a complex
arrangement of ramps, Muslims have free access
to the Mosque without passing in front of the
Wall. But with holy Muslim structures sitting
literally on top of holy Jewish structures, the two
cannot be logically:divided-by a line on a map.
Cro
OStaton
l’*erods
Gate
tie
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New Gate
s
in
ii
Go’den
Gate
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p
6
aliff
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Churchof
The Redeemer
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JaffaGate
Dome of
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A
J
A
Afl
Temple
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ARTEI
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6.9.2 JERUSALEM.
Less than /4 square mile,the
. ite
Old Cityof Jerusalem contains
—
religious dures ipont
.:.‘:toJew(the Western Wall)
ç. iJ4
‘Muslims (Dome, the Rock and al Aqsa Mosque) and (ihnstians (Chtih of the
f e (iross In the photâ, Dome of the Rock is in
Holy Sepulhre’and Stations 2
the left rear, aAqsa MosqO right rear, and the Western Wall light for: u d.
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