Major Traditions in Buddhism BUDDHISTS AROUND THE WORLD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asia 507,237,000 Oceania 778,000 Europe 1,909,000 North America 4,734,000 Latin America 812,000 Africa 283,000 2015 Infographic: Center for the Study of Global Christianity Source: Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database. Leiden/Boston: Brill; accessed January 2016. Infographic: Center for the Study of Global Christianity Largest Population of Buddhists in 2015 Highest Percentage of Buddhists in 2015 Fastest Growth of Buddhists, 2000-2015* Thailand Cambodia Bhutan Myanmar Sri Lanka Japan Mongolia Laos Viet Nam Taiwan China Japan Thailand Viet Nam Myanmar Sri Lanka Cambodia South Korea India Taiwan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Qatar Mozambique United Arab Emirates Iran Cameroon Chad Uganda Bahrain Oman Kenya 218,088,000 70,593,000 59,271,000 45,981,000 40,088,000 14,257,000 13,455,000 12,477,000 9,309,000 6,189,000 87.2% 86.4% 84.0% 74.4% 68.8% 55.8% 55.7% 52.4% 49.2% 26.5% 9.2% 7.4% 7.3% 6.0% 5.4% 5.1% 5.0% 4.7% 4.7% 4.7% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The major traditions of Buddhism are Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan. Mahayana Buddhism encompasses many diversified sub-traditions of the faith such as Zen, and thus adherents of the tradition can be found worldwide. Adherents of Theravada Buddhism are found largely in South- eastern Asia. Tibetan Buddhism is concentrated in Tibet, Mongolia, and parts of Russia. Mahayana 71.5% Theravada 25.2% Tibetan 3.3% Source: Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database. Leiden/Boston: Brill; accessed January 2016. In 2015 [in countries > 100,000 in population] [in countries > 100,000 in population] The global fame of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, has helped to flame Western interest in the tradition, including its growth in the USA Statue of Gautama Buddha *Average annual growth rate