There are approximately 350 million Buddhist followers (6% of the world population), making Buddhism fourth most widespread religion in the world. The TOP 10 countries with the highest proportion of Buddhists are as follows:
Buddhism is also very important in other several other Asian countries, but is no longer cited as the preferred religion by at least 50% of the population. In China and North Korea, Buddhism was forcibly suppressed by Communist regimes. It still remains important, but it is no longer the religious preference by the majority. Taiwan is a heavily Buddhist country, but it mixes the with Taoism and Confucianism, and thus, isn't considered as the preferable religion. In South Korea Christianity has influenced the majority of the population that Buddhism is no longer the religion of the majority. However, Buddhism is increasing in the number of converts among Western societies such as Europe, Australia and the United States.
The geographical distribution of Buddhism: [2]
Buddhism in comparison to other religions: [3]
(NOTE: To enlarge pictures, left-click once)
Footnotes:
1. Buddha Dharma Education Association, (2011), 'Statistics on Buddhists'. Accessed on July the 3rd 2011 from: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/bstatt10.htm
2.Wikipedia, (2011), 'Buddhism by Country'. Accessed on July the 3rd 2011 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_by_country
3.Unknown, (-), 'Mordern Distribution of World Religions'. Accessed on July the 3rd 2011 from: http://www.wadsworth.com/religion_d/special_features/popups/maps/matthews_world/content/map_01.html
