EARTH, THE. 



223 



The claim of the above population statistics 

 to accuracy becomes better from year to year, 

 as the number of countries which take an offi- 

 cial census steadily increases, and the method 

 of taking the census continues to be improved. 

 However, the aggregate population of all the 

 countries in which an official census is taken 

 was in 1880 estimated at only 626,000,000, and 

 for the majority of the total population of the 

 earth we are still dependent on mere estimates. 

 (See CENSUS.) 



II. RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. In most of 

 the European countries as well as in their col- 

 onies, in which an official census is taken, the 

 religious denomination of the inhabitants is 

 among the inquiries which have to be made by 

 the census-taker. There has been of late a 

 tendency in several countries to omit the reli- 

 gious feature of the enumeration, but we have 

 for nearly every country at least one census 

 which includes the religious denomination of 

 the inhabitants. As it can be shown that the 

 percentage of the religious denominations in the 

 European countries has not been materially 



changed during the last fifty years, the results of 

 one census containing the religious statistics of 

 a country are sufficient to form an estimate of 

 the present strength of the religious denomina- 

 tions, which may be accepted as nearly correct. 

 In the United States the bishops furnish annual- 

 ly an estimate of the Catholic population, while 

 nearly all the Protestant denominations publish 

 the statistics of their actual (adult) members. 

 For the non-Christian countries, the number of 

 the Christian inhabitants can be ascertained 

 with tolerable accuracy from missionary ac- 

 counts. As the immense majority of the Chris- 

 tian population lives in countries where statis- 

 tical investigations are steadily improved, we 

 are on the whole well informed on the statistics 

 of the Christian population of the globe. A re- 

 vision of the religious statistics published in 

 former volumes of the "Annual Cyclopaedia," 

 on the basis of the official statements above 

 referred to, gives the following results in re- 

 gard to the numerical strength of the Christian 

 population of the globe at the close of the year 

 1880: 



Christianity is the prevailing religion in ev- 

 ery state of Europe, except Turkey ; in every 

 State of America, in the Australian colonies, 

 and most of the Polynesian Islands. In Africa, 

 the independent Christian states are Abyssinia, 

 Liberia, Madagascar, and the Orange Free State ; 

 while Christianity also prevails in the European 

 colonies. The largest empire in Asia Russia 

 is also a Christian country. India, the third 

 Asi.-itic country in point of extent and the sec- 

 ond in point of population, is under the rule of 

 a Christian government, and so is a large por- 

 tion of Farther India. 



As regards non-Christinn forms of religion, 

 the number of Jews can be ascertained with 

 about the same degree of accuracy as that of 

 Christians, and is now generally estimated at 

 from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000. The number of 

 Mohammedans is conceded to be much larger 

 than it is represented in former estimates, and 

 may be assumed as not falling short of 230,000,- 

 000. (See MOHAMMEDANISM.) No trustworthy 

 statistics can be given of Buddhism, which pre- 

 vails in Farther India, China, and Japan. Re- 

 cent reports from Japan claim, however, near- 

 ly the entire population of that country for 

 Buddhism. (See JAPAN.) Brahmanism is the 

 prevailing religion in British India. 



III. STATISTICS OF SEX. According to the 

 latest accounts, the number of females for 1,000 

 males was in the countries from which statis- 

 tics on this subject could be obtained as fol- 

 lows : 



