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Tired of being surrounded by hordes of religious fanatics? Wish there were more atheists or at least non-believers around who share your love of reality?
Well here’s the top 10 atheistic countries in the world!
Coming in at number 10 is:
Estonia
Population: 1,340,600
National Language: Estonian
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 49%
At number 9 is:
South Korea
Population: 48,224,000
National Language: Korean
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 30-52%
The 8th Most Atheistic Country Is:
France
Population: 64,473,140
National Language: French
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 43-54%
Next on the list at number 7 is:
Finland
Population: 5,326,100
National Languages: Finnish, Swedish
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 28 - 60%
6th on the list of most atheistic countries is:
The Czech Republic
Population: 10,446,157
National Languages: Czech
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 54 - 61%
At number 5 is:
Japan
Population: 127,690,000
National Language: Japanese
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 64 - 65%
Number 4 on the list is:
Norway
Population: 4,799,035
National Languages: Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk)
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 31 - 72%
Coming in at number 3 is:
Denmark
Population: 5,506,000
National Language: Danish
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 43 - 80%
At number 2 is:
Vietnam
Population: 87,375,000
National Language: Vietnamese
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 81%
Finally, Your number 1 most atheistic country in the world is:
Sweden
Population: 9,248,805
National Language: Swedish
% of Atheists/Non-believers: 46 - 85%
My first choice would be Sweden. Not only does it have the highest number of atheists, but it’s also home to the pirate bay AND beautiful blonde girls. Pretty tough to beat that. Too bad I don’t speak Swedish.
How do these countries compare to the United States and Canada?
U.S.A’s ranks number 43 with 3-9% Atheist/Non-believers.
Canada ranks number 20 with 19-34% Atheist/Non-believers.
Check out some top posts:
Don’t Tell Your Parents You’re an Atheist Until After Christmas: Here’s Why
Atheist Humor 1: Some of Gods Many “Cool Designs”
Data and stats provided by: http://www.adherents.com and Wikipedia.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Got a feeling the number of infidels in the US is higher than your stats show. But it’s probably the #1 country for people who don’t believe, but say they do, ‘cuz they wanna “fit in”.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:17 am
pew surveys within this past year put those who claimed no “affiliation with” with religion or belief around 15% It’s growing every years. The theists get louder as their percentage of the majority shrinks. I also thought the UK would have ended up in the top 10.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I am from Sweden but now i live in a small town (pop 1300) in Minnesota as an exchange student. I think about 98% believe in the Christian god here.
Before I came here I had never talked to a person that argumented against the evolution theory (and here they do it w/o any other arguments then that the carbon-14 method is invalid) and I don’t think I know anyone in Sweden who attends church every Sunday or even at Christmas.
In USA a person who doesn’t believe in the Christian God wouldn’t be elected president. In Sweden, being religious would lower your odds.
April 5th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I became non-believer at the age of Nine ( in 1942) , now I am plus 75.
I became atheist at the age of 21 when I read Jawaharlal Nehru’s books and later books by Bertrand Russel and Marx -Engles. I joined Communist Party of India in 1953 and still hold party card. I joined Soviet Consulate and Moscow’s Novosti Press Agency in 1967 and continued to be with the USSR Consulate in Bombay till USSR collapsed in 1991. However I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and Democraticy.Even in my office ( USSR consulate I had 30 per cent of books in my bookshelf that were anti-Soviet.
My daughter remained or six years in USSR and did her film direction course. However she returned more theistic then before. I never stoped my wife from praying and being a believer.
It will take at least one more century to move towards atheism. If we have tolerated God for so many centuries , let us wait for some more time. Let people themselve decide.
I had been to Afghanistan in 1988 . President Najib was my personal friend. I had been with Mujahidin and gone to their houses . I had some role in persuading my Soviet friends in sending Army to Afghanistan.
The failure of Afghan revolution is a big tragedy.
I consider Chinese /Maoist responsible for the break up of the World socialist movement. I still have no respect for them USSR was not a perfect society but they were steadily and slowly moving towards socialism….. I beelieve in what M.N. Roy said in 1937 that Soviet revolution of 1917 was not a socialist revolution but a bourgeoise democratic revolution brought out by working class ….. let us stop here now .
I am a journalist and wrote over 500 articles against Hindu fundamentalism after the collapse of the Babri Mosque. Now I have no work……
April 30th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I am from South Korea, # 9 in this survey, and I am also one of the featured columnist on the website of a Korean organization called Anti-Christianity Coalition (www.antichrist.kr).
And as a person who is longing for a day when Christianity will vanish from Korea, I have to tell you that this survey is flawed.
First, I am very surprised that neither North Korea nor China is among top 10, but that is not an important point.
The number you provided here about Korea (i.e., 30-52% of South Koreans are non-religious) is probably correct, but that is less than a half of the story.
The fact about South Korea is that she is plagued with Christianity. True, Christians are only about 29% of the population. But that 29% is second highest in Asia, only next to the Philippines. The Protestants, according to 2005 survey, are 18% of the population, which probably is the highest percentage in Asia.
What is really disturbing about South Korea, however, is that, this country with a population smaller than 50 million is # 2 in the world in the number of Christian missionaries sent abroad (U.S.A. is # 1).
Korean Protestants are probably the most fanatic Christians in the world. The survey you quoted says 30-52% of South Koreans are non-religious, but you would not know it if you walk around the streets of Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. It looks as though that, at every corner of the street, you will find those crazy Christians who will try to recruit you to their church.
What makes the situation in South Korea more troublesome is that most of the Christians there are much more fanatic fundamentalists than American Evangelists. In order to make this point clear, I often tell my America friends that, if Jerry Falwell (even though he is dead now) or Pat Robertson learns Korean and moves to Korea to preach there, they will be regarded as moderate. And I can tell you in good conscience that I am not exaggerating even a bit.
In fact, a French TV station called France24 broadcasted a report (in English) about Korean Christianity, and I am hereby providing the link thereto to you guys. Please look at it, to see how serious the situation is in Korea.
http://zyntag.com/tags/video/fmrNQAU0I94/
What makes matters worse is the attitude of most of those 30-52% of “non-religious” South Koreans. Most of those “non-religious” South Koreans do not realize how insane these Korean Christians are and many of them even think that these Christians just try to live a good life.
In fact, in one of my writing in that website (www.antichrist.kr), I wrote that I have no doubt that Christianity will eventually vanish from human history but that I am afraid that the human history may remember Korea as THE LAST stronghold of Christianity.
So don’t let the number fool you guys. South Korea does not deserve to belong to top 10 non-religious countries. The country is in deeper trouble because of Christianity than any country is in trouble because of any religion.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:50 am
These statistics are unreliable, many do not distinguish between atheists and unbelievers. I am an unbeliever, but I abandoned atheism many years ago. I am just as far from atheism as I am far from a belief in God, or a belief in gods. I have read that in the Czech Republic there are only about 48% atheists, according to an opinion survey in 2007. The census of 2001 has 59% without religion, and 9% did not answer. So clearly some of those without religion are not atheist.
The census of Vietnam is hardly reliable, they still have a government favoring atheism, so some are surely afraid to admit their religion publicly on a census.
And to answer WarmIce, South Korea is not the second most Christian country in Asia. The highest percentage of Christians in Asia is in Timor-Leste (about 99%), second is apparently Armenia, then Georgia and Philippines, then Lebanon, and finally South Korea. Some consider Armenia and Georgia as being in Europe, but Timor-Leste and Lebanon are usually considered as being in Asia.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:03 am
I’m actually a bit scared of what U.S. theists will do when they collectively realize they are outnumbered or that their political influence is waning.
They have a long tradition of violence.
May 26th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
As long as Science and reason is taught in schools the decline of religion will continue until it is extinct. Unfortunately this will probably take longer than it should but it is inevitable that it will. Some countries will take longer than others; especially the deprived and 3rd world countries but in centuries to come religion will no longer exist in the civilised world due to the increasing scientific evidence that continually contradicts it and the spread of information and improved standards of education. In the mean time continue to educate the uneducated and help the delusional.
May 27th, 2010 at 1:31 am
Its interesting to see that most of the countries in the list are in Europe.
May 30th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Hey, don’t be afraid to come here because of language difficulties. A majority of Swedes are experienced and knowledgeable in the English language. During my trips to the states I’ve been mistaken for a fellow american. Also, my music teacher is from Chicago and obviously speaks English and nobody’s got a problem with it.
June 14th, 2010 at 11:20 am
To “Doc”: Do not judge the present by the past. “Christians” killed millions of people “in the past” in the name of their religion. All religions harm rather than help human beings. They “divide” and not unite and celebrate the human being. I wasted most of my adult, 63 years of life, being a “devout christian”. I threw away all of my personal dreams, goals, and ideas, because I thought that “God” would take care of everything. THIS life, THIS moment, is all we have. There is NOTHING after we die. Today, I am STILL full of life. I celebrate my total freedom from all “gods”, the supernatural, and “religious faith”. I have lost most of my former family and friends. What I have gained in the process, far outweighs the “losses”, a MILLION to ONE!!!
July 6th, 2010 at 6:09 am
Tom,
I don’t know about this census, and how non-religious Vietnamese people compare to other countries, but the result shows relatively well picture of Vietnamese society. Since ancient time, Vietnamese people have always like that, relatively superstitious but non-believing in any type of God, whether Buddha or else. Many Vietnamese now can be counted as nominal Buddhist, because they go to Buddhist pagoda regularly, but if you ask them whether they believe there is a real Buddha, the answer will be (mostly) absolutely no. Religious sites are more like somewhere to relieve stress.
From my point of view, the current Vietnamese government is too much liberal towards all kind of religions. No one care about whether you are in any religions, as far as you do not involve into politics.