About this map
How Christianity spread from a small Jewish movement in Jerusalem across the world, and which branch prevailed where. From c. AD 30 to 2025. Colours: • White-grey: the still-undivided church of the Roman Empire (Latin and Greek halves), until the schism of 1054. • Red: Latin church / Roman Catholic (including Eastern Catholic churches such as the Greek Catholics in western Ukraine and the Maronites in Lebanon). • Yellow: Greek church / Eastern Orthodox. • Purple: Oriental Orthodox, after Chalcedon (451): Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Syriac. • Blue: Church of the East, from Mesopotamia to China and India; between the 9th and 14th centuries the largest church by extent. • Pink: Arianism, the faith of the Gothic and other Germanic kingdoms (4th–7th centuries). • Green: Protestant, from the Hussites (1420) and Luther (1517); includes Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and later Evangelical and Pentecostal. • Grey (translucent): areas where a majority now calls itself non-religious (e.g. the Netherlands, Czechia, Estonia, eastern Germany, New Zealand, British Columbia). How to read it: an area shows where a branch was the dominant form of Christianity or had a substantial community, not that everyone was Christian. Small circles are cities or communities in an otherwise non-Christian setting (early congregations, the Church of the East in Asia, Copts in Egypt). For the Germanic kingdoms, pink shows the religion of the rulers; the Roman population mostly stayed Catholic. In the colonial era the map roughly follows the colonial core, not the full conversion of the indigenous population. Borders are modern national and provincial borders used as an approximation; dates before 1500 are rough estimates. Sources (selection): Pew Research Center, Global Christianity (2011) and religious switching research (2026); CBS (Statistics Netherlands); censuses of Northern Ireland 2021, Czechia 2021, Estonia 2021, New Zealand 2023 and Canada 2021; CID Gallup (Central America 2023); Baumer, The Church of the East; Wikipedia overviews of Jingjiao, the Church of the East and Arianism; Natural Earth and historical-basemaps (A. Ourednik) for the borders.
Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/spread-of-christianity-302025.md
Timeline
| Date | What the map shows |
|---|---|
| 30 | c. 30 · First followers in Jerusalem |
| 60 | c. 60 · Missionary journeys of Paul |
| 100 | c. 100 · Congregations around the Mediterranean |
| 200 | c. 200 · From Lyon to Edessa |
| 301 | 301 · Armenia, first Christian state |
| 313 | 313 · Edict of Milan: freedom of religion |
| 340 | c. 340 · Aksum and Georgia converted; Goths Arian |
| 380 | 380 · State religion of the Roman Empire |
| 410 | 410 · Persian church becomes independent |
| 451 | 451 · Chalcedon: Oriental churches split off |
| 476 | 476 · Fall of Western Rome; Arian kingdoms |
| 500 | 496 · Clovis Catholic; Ostrogoths in Italy |
| 560 | 533–554 · Justinian retakes Africa and Italy |
| 600 | 589 · Visigoths Catholic; Lombards Arian |
| 700 | c. 700 · Anglo-Saxons, Lombards Catholic; Islam |
| 720 | 711 · Islamic conquest of Iberia |
| 800 | 800 · Charlemagne; Saxons Christianised |
| 900 | c. 870 · Cyril and Methodius; Bulgaria converted |
| 1000 | c. 1000 · Poland, Rus', Hungary and Scandinavia |
| 1054 | 1054 · East–West Schism |
| 1100 | 1071–1099 · Seljuks, Normans, Crusade |
| 1200 | c. 1200 · Wends Christianised; Rus' grows |
| 1250 | c. 1250 · Crusades in the Baltic |
| 1300 | c. 1300 · Mongol era; Prussia conquered |
| 1387 | 1387 · Lithuania baptised; Ming expels Christians |
| 1400 | c. 1400 · Timur; Church of the East shrinks |
| 1420 | 1415–1420 · Hus and the Hussites in Bohemia |
| 1453 | 1453 · Fall of Constantinople |
| 1492 | 1492 · Granada falls; Columbus; Kongo baptised |
| 1500 | c. 1500 · First colonies; Alodia falls |
| 1525 | 1517–1525 · Luther: the Reformation begins |
| 1540 | 1527–1541 · Scandinavia, England, Geneva |
| 1560 | 1555–1563 · Calvinism advances |
| 1580 | c. 1580 · Height of the Reformation |
| 1600 | 1596 · Union of Brest; missions overseas |
| 1650 | 1648 · Peace of Westphalia; Counter-Reformation |
| 1700 | c. 1700 · Greek Catholic unions; colonies |
| 1750 | c. 1750 · Uniates in Belarus and Ukraine |
| 1800 | c. 1800 · New Russia, USA, Australia |
| 1840 | 1839 · Synod of Polotsk: Uniates made Orthodox |
| 1880 | c. 1880 · The missionary century |
| 1900 | c. 1900 · Africa only c. 10% Christian |
| 1923 | 1915–1923 · Genocides and population exchange |
| 1950 | c. 1950 · After WWII: expulsion and growth |
| 1975 | 1974 · Cyprus divided; growth in Africa |
| 2000 | c. 2000 · After communism; East Timor |
| 2025 | 2025 · Christianity today |
Layers
Arianism (Gothic and Germanic kingdoms) · Church of the East ("Nestorian", Syro-Persian) · Oriental Orthodox (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, Syriac) · Greek church → Eastern Orthodox · Latin church → Roman Catholic · Protestant (Hussite, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Evangelical) · Secularised: non-religious majority
Events
- 30, Crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem: Around the year 30, Jesus of Nazareth is crucified. His followers, at first a Jewish movement, proclaim his resurrection and form the first congregation in Jerusalem.
- 301, Armenia: first Christian state: King Tiridates III is baptised by Gregory the Illuminator (traditionally 301, around 314 according to historians).
- 313, Edict of Milan: Constantine and Licinius grant Christians freedom of religion. The end of the great persecutions.
- 380, Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius makes Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.
- 451, Council of Chalcedon: A dispute over the nature of Christ splits the church: Copts, Armenians, Ethiopians and Syriacs reject Chalcedon and form the Oriental Orthodox churches.
- 496, Baptism of Clovis: The Frankish king chooses Catholicism over Arianism: the foundation of Catholic France.
- 635, Alopen in Chang’an: A monk of the Church of the East reaches the Chinese capital. The Xi’an Stele (781) describes the mission; after the persecution of 845 the church all but vanishes from China.
- 800, Coronation of Charlemagne: Pope Leo III crowns Charles emperor. Under Charles the Saxons are Christianised (by force).
- 988, Baptism of Kiev: Grand Prince Vladimir is baptised and chooses the Byzantine church: the beginning of Orthodox Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
- 1054, East–West Schism: Rome and Constantinople excommunicate each other. The break between Catholic and Orthodox becomes final after the sack of Constantinople (1204).
- 1453, Fall of Constantinople: The Ottomans capture the Byzantine capital. From now on Moscow sees itself as the ‘Third Rome’.
- 1517, Luther's Ninety-five Theses: The Reformation begins in Wittenberg. Within thirty years half of northern Europe is Protestant.
- 1648, Peace of Westphalia: End of the Thirty Years' War: the religious map of Central Europe is largely settled.
- 1915, Armenian genocide and Sayfo: In the Ottoman Empire, Armenian, Syriac and Assyrian Christians are murdered and expelled; Christianity all but vanishes from Anatolia.
- 1917, Russian Revolution: state atheism: The Soviet Union persecutes the churches; thousands of churches are closed. After 1991 Orthodoxy revives.