wikipedia Demographics of atheism:

The demographics of atheism are difficult to quantify. Different people interpret "atheist" and related terms differently, and it can be hard to draw boundaries between atheism, non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, atheists may not report themselves as such, to prevent suffering from social stigma, discrimination, and persecution in some countries,[1] or, in cases where the situation is reversed, religious people may keep their beliefs secret in pro-atheist societies.

wikipedia Studies and statistics:

Because some governments have strongly promoted atheism and others have strongly condemned it, atheism may be either over-reported or under-reported for different countries. There is a great deal of room for debate as to the accuracy of any method of estimation, as the opportunity for misreporting (intentionally or not) a category of people without an organizational structure is high. Also, many surveys on religious identification ask people to identify themselves as "agnostics" or "atheists", which is potentially confusing, since these terms are interpreted differently, with some identifying themselves as being agnostic atheists. Additionally, many of these surveys only gauge the number of irreligious people, not the number of actual atheists, or group the two together. For example, research indicates that the fastest growing religious status may be "no religion" in the United States, but this includes all kinds of atheists, agnostics, and theists.

wikipedia Prejudice:
Legal and social discrimination against atheists in some places may lead some to deny or conceal their atheism due to fears of persecution. A 2006 study by researchers at the University of Minnesota involving a poll of 2,000 households in the United States found atheists to be the most distrusted of minorities, more so than Muslims, recent immigrants, man-loving-men and lady-loving-ladies, and other groups. Many of the respondents associated atheism with immorality, including criminal behaviour, extreme materialism, and elitism.[5] However, the same study also reported that, “The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one’s exposure to diversity, education and political orientation—with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.

wikipedia Geographic distribution:

Though atheists are in the minority in most countries, they are relatively common in Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, in former and present communist states, and to a lesser extent, in the United States and the Southern Cone. A 1995 survey attributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica indicates that the non-religious are about 14.7% of the world's population, and atheists around 3.8%. Another survey attributed to Britannica shows the population of atheists at around 2.4% of the world's population. It is difficult to determine whether atheism is growing or not. What is certain is that in some areas of the world (such as Europe) atheism and secularization are increasing.

wikipedia Geographic distribution:
While there are more atheists than ever before, polls show that atheism's percentages seem to be declining. This may be because birth rates in religious societies are much higher.[6] This is similar to a 2002 survey by Adherents.com, which estimates the proportion of the world's people who are "secular, non-religious, agnostics and atheists" at about 14%.[7] A 2004 survey by the BBC in 10 countries showed the proportion of the population "who don't believe in God" varying between 0% (Nigeria) and 39% (UK), with an average close to 17% in the countries surveyed. About 8% of the respondents stated specifically that they consider themselves to be atheists.[8] 65% of those polled in a 2011 survey by the British Humanist Association answered no to the question "Are you religious?".[9] A 2004 survey by the CIA in the World Fact book estimates about 12.5% of the world's population are non-religious, and about 2.4% are atheists.[10] A 2004 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that in the United States, 12% of people under 30 and 6% of people over 30 could be characterized as [/b]non-religious.[11] A 2005 poll by AP/Ipsos surveyed ten countries. Of the developed nations, people in the United States were most sure of the existence of God or a higher power [b](2% atheist, 4% agnostic), while France had the most skeptics (19% atheist, 16% agnostic). On the religion question, South Korea had the greatest percentage without a religion (41%) while Italy had the smallest (5%).[12]

wikipedia Geographic distribution:
A study has shown atheism in the West to be particularly prevalent among scientists, a tendency already quite marked at the beginning of the 20th century, developing into a dominant one during the course of the century. In 1914, James H. Leuba found that 58% of 1,000 randomly selected U.S. natural scientists expressed "disbelief or doubt in the existence of God" (defined as a personal God which interacts directly with human beings). The same study, repeated in 1996, gave a similar percentage of 60.7%. Expressions of positive disbelief rose from 52% to 72%.

wikipedia Europe:
According to a 2005 Eurostat Eurobarometer poll, 52% of European Union citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 27% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 18% that "they do not believe there is a spirit, God, nor life force". Results were widely varied between different countries, with 95% of Maltese respondents [/b]stating that they believe in God, on the one end, and only 16% of Estonians stating the same on the other

[img]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_belief_in_god.svg[/img]

wikipedia EUROPE:
Several studies have found Sweden to be one of the most atheist countries in the world. [b]23% of Swedish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 53% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 23% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". This, according to the survey, would make Swedes the third least religious people in the 27-member European Union, after Estonia and the Czech Republic. In 2001, the Czech Statistical Office provided census information on the ten million people in the Czech Republic. 59% had no religion, 32.2% were religious, and 8.8% did not answer

wikipedia EUROPE:
n France, about 12% of the population reportedly attends religious services more than once per month. In a 2003 poll 54% of those polled in France identified themselves as "faithful," 33% as atheist, 14% as agnostic, and 26% as "indifferent."[16] According to a different poll, 32% declared themselves atheists, and an additional 32% declared themselves agnostic.[17]



In Spain, 81.7% are believers, 11% are non-believers and 6% are atheists (according to the 2005 poll of the public Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas).[18]

There is a complex situation with atheism in Russia. According to a surveys of Levada Center, 30% of those surveyed self-described as non-religious, agnostic or atheist. Although there are 66% of Orthodox believers (and 3% Muslims) in Russia, only 42% of people fully trust religious organizations and just 8% regularly (at least once a month) attend the service.[19]

According to a study carried out by doctor in political science Simon Geissbühler, Swiss atheists tend to be more left-leaning, even accounting for age and income than the average Swiss population

wikipedia United Kingdom:

In the United Kingdom, a 2007 survey found 15% of the population attends church more than once per month.[21] A poll in 2004 by the BBC put the number of people who do not believe in a God at 39%,[22] while a YouGov poll in the same year put the percentage of non-believers at 35% with 21% answering "Don't Know".[23] In the YouGov poll men were less likely to believe in a god than women, 39% of men as opposed to 49% of women, and younger people were less likely to believe in a god than older people.

In early 2004, it was announced that atheism would be taught during religious education classes in the United Kingdom.[24] A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority stated: "There are many children in England who have no religious affiliation and their beliefs and ideas, whatever they are, should be taken very seriously." There is also considerable debate in the UK on the status of faith-based schools, which use religious as well as academic selection criteria. A 2009 study reported that two thirds of teenagers in the UK do not believe in God.[25]

The graph below shows the trends of people who self-classify as Christian, non-Christian religious, and non-believer as measured by the British Social Attitudes Survey between 1983 and 2007

wikipedia North America:

A 2004 BBC poll showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in a god to be about 9%.[8] A 2008 Gallup poll showed that a smaller 6% of the US population believed that no god or universal spirit exists.[27] The most recent ARIS report, released March 9, 2009, found in 2008, 34.2 million Americans (15.0%) claim no religion, of which 1.6% explicitly describes itself as atheist (0.7%) or agnostic (0.9%), nearly double the previous 2001 ARIS survey figure of 0.9%.[28] The highest occurrence of "nones", according to the 2008 ARIS report, reside in Vermont, with 34% surveyed.[29]

The latest statistics show that a lack of religious identity increased in every US state between 1990 and 2008.[30] However less than 2% of the U.S. population describes itself as atheist.[31]

Atheism is more prevalent in Canada than in the United States, with 19–30% of the population holding an atheistic or agnostic viewpoint.[32] The 2001 Canadian Census states that 16.2% of the population holds no religious affiliation, though exact statistics on atheism are not recorded.[33] In urban centers this figure can be substantially higher; the 2001 census indicated that 42.2% of residents in Vancouver hold "no religious affiliation."[34] A recent survey in 2008 found that 23% of Canadians said they did not believe in a god.[35]

Separation of church and state is guaranteed by Article 130 of the Mexican Constitution, which also designates religious leaders as ineligible for public office, while the majority of the population identifies as Roman Catholic (89%).[36]

Although the demographics of atheism and irreligion in Mexico is hard to measure because many atheists are officially counted as Catholic, almost three million people in the 2000 National Census reported having no religion.[37] Recent surveys have shown that only around 3% of Catholics attend church daily[38] and, according to INEGI, t[b]he number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by 1.7%[/b]

wikipedia Population attributes of atheists in the US:

"The analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Study 1) and the General Social Surveys (Study 2) show that adolescent and adult intelligence significantly increases adult liberalism, atheism, and men's (but not women's) value on sexual exclusivity."[41][42][43]

Overall, U.S. Americans who profess no religion or self-identify as atheist or agnostic are more likely to be white non-Hispanic or Asian and less likely to be African American, as compared to the general adult population in U.S.[44]

In the U.S., 55 percent of atheists are under age 35, while 30 percent are 50 and over (compared to 37 percent of the total population). As a group agnostics are older than atheists, though still younger than the general population.[44] Comparing this 2001 data with the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI) provides evidence of a trend towards secularization among the younger American population.[44][45]

In the US men are more likely to be atheists than women, and also rate lower on various other measures of religiousity such as frequency of prayer

justcool on Yesterday at 05:52:40 AM:

I don’t have any scientific evidence that God exists; neither do you have any scientific evidence that God does not exist, . . .

davidylan on February 23, 2010, 05:00 PM:

Neither does the atheist have any empirical evidence that God doesnt exist at all . . . infact the only argument the atheist has is that the theist has not provided God's home address to him.

MyJoe on February 23, 2010, 05:06 PM:

That won't do. They'd want to shake hands.

Now, how such can qualify to be God in anyone's view beats me.

One cluster of comparative growth statistics is striking: As of mid-2011, there will be an average of 80,000 new Christians per day (of whom 31,000 will be Catholics) and 79,000 new Muslims per day, but 300 fewer atheists every 24 hours."

This year’s report continues to document the resurgence of religion. At first glance, however, religion seems to be on the wane. A comparison of 1900 (99.8 percent religious) and 2011 (88.6 percent religious) shows that the world is less religious today than it was 100 years ago. (Add lines 13 and 17 and then divide by line 1 for the percentage of the world that is not religious in a particular year. Subtracting this figure from 100 percent then gives the percentage that is religious.) If we consider the figure for 1970 (80.8 percent religious), however, we can see that the world is more religious today than it was four decades ago. Furthermore, our projections for 2025 point to a more religious world in the future (up to 90.5 percent). What is behind these trends? The main factor is the collapse of Communism. While secularization has been slowly at work around the world, especially in Europe, the largest number of agnostics and atheists emerged under Communism in the Soviet Union and China. The high point of nonreligious adherence was thus around 1970. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, large numbers of the nonreligious returned to religion. One of the most profound examples is Albania, formerly a bastion of atheism, which today is almost entirely Muslim or Christian.

Our projections for the future show a sustained decline of the nonreligious. This is due primarily to the resurgence of Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions in China. If this trend continues, agnostics and atheists will be a smaller portion of the world’s population in 2025 than they are today.

mazaje:

I reject the Jesus stories because most of the story does not agree with the reality I see around me. . .There are no credible evidence to support the story and most of what Jesus was alleged to have said or promised his followers are impossible and do not occur as promised. . .

toba:

claremont its simple. Most atheist regards the theist and deists as deluded people for believing in imaginary being as a God. Yet u have all being claiming that new scientific discoveries/evidence are showing that the theists may not be right. Till date are still asking us for empirical proof of our God.  I believe the world changes with technology or with trend. How come the world is yet to reason along such line and believe that there's no God.

With the way u guys are propagating your beliefs here, im sure some 'baby believers' might begin to doubt their faith on the erroneous believe that Religion or belief in a form of spiritual being is behind the universe is gradually becoming unpopular.

another reason is for u guys to also have a rethink about your stance before its too late

toba:

claremont its simple. Most atheist regards the theist and deists as deluded people for believing in imaginary being as a God. Yet u have all being claiming that new scientific discoveries/evidence are showing that the theists may not be right. Till date are still asking us for empirical proof of our God. I believe the world changes with technology or with trend. How come the world is yet to reason along such line and believe that there's no God.

claremont:

@OP: I fail to understand what the point of your post is. If you are trying to say that numerically, Atheism has fewer "believers" as compared to religious adherents, I do agree on that point. My question is; what does numbers have to do with anything? Our argument should be based on clear-cut facts and logic, not on numerical figures.

InesQor:

One question I have for the Atheists:

Why do Atheists often deem religion as anti-intellectual but philosophy is considered intellectual?

claremont:

Erroneous? What is more erroneous to you; [b]a belief that God does not exist, OR a belief that God exists but we don't have the proof?

claremont:

The mere fact that the majority believe in a theory does NOT translate that theory into a fact. Facts require substantiated evidence, is that too much for religious people to understand and provide?!

claremont:

@OP: I fail to understand what the point of your post is. If you are trying to say that numerically, Atheism has fewer "believers" as compared to religious adherents, I do agree on that point. My question is; what does numbers have to do with anything? Our argument should be based on clear-cut facts and logic, not on numerical figures.

claremont:

@OP: I fail to understand what the point of your post is. If you are trying to say that numerically, Atheism has fewer "believers" as compared to religious adherents, I do agree on that point.

Our projections for the future show a sustained decline of the nonreligious. This is due primarily to the resurgence of Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions in China. If this trend continues, agnostics and atheists will be a smaller portion of the world’s population in 2025 than they are today.

claremont:

My question is; what does numbers have to do with anything? Our argument should be based on clear-cut facts and logic, not on numerical figures.

toba:

yes a belief that God doesnt exist without convincing us beyond reasonable doubt that in actual fact he doesnt. Whats the essence of u being an atheist then, if u cant educate me beyond what i currently know that God does exist?
I dont think it too much for us to understand if u guys too understand same regarding the position of the theists. As an atheist the only way i can convince u of Gods existence is to take u to where he lives, tell him to call your mobile phone or probably ask him to shake your hands right? No that cant be possible. God is beyond human being and too much for science and mere scientist to conceive with the aim of empirically proving his existence.

claremont:

Hello, the onus ultimately rests on you who believe in the existence of something to prove to non-believers that it exists. Telling me who doesn't believe in a God to prove his non-existence is totally illogical and fallacious. If you are telling me that you have no objective evidence of the existence of the deity you worship, then why then do you worship a deity that apparently cannot be proven to exist? It makes no sense to a casual onlooker, and it definitely makes no sense to me!

claremont:

Hello, the onus ultimately rests on you who believe in the existence of something to prove to non-believers that it exists. Telling me who doesn't believe in a God to prove his non-existence is totally illogical and fallacious. If you are telling me that you have no objective evidence of the existence of the deity you worship, then why then do you worship a deity that apparently cannot be proven to exist? It makes no sense to a casual onlooker, and it definitely makes no sense to me!