Buddhist
Buddhism is a path of awakening founded in 5th-century BCE India by Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha — the "Awakened One" — after attaining enlightenment beneath a bodhi tree. His teaching is organized around the Four Noble Truths: life involves suffering, suffering arises from craving, suffering can cease, and the Noble Eightfold Path leads to that cessation. Core practices include ethical conduct, meditation, and the cultivation of wisdom, aimed at liberation (nirvana) from the cycle of rebirth. Unlike theistic religions, Buddhism does not posit a creator god; instead, teachings center on the Three Jewels of the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings), and the Sangha (the community). The tradition divides into three major schools — Theravada, dominant in Southeast Asia; Mahayana, dominant in East Asia; and Vajrayana, dominant in Tibet and the Himalayas. Worldwide there are roughly 500 million Buddhists, with the greatest populations in China, Thailand, Myanmar, and Japan.
Countries by Buddhist Population (31)
- 1. 🇰🇭 Cambodia 97.1%
- 2. 🇹🇭 Thailand 92.5%
- 3. 🇲🇲 Myanmar 87.9%
- 4. 🇧🇹 Bhutan 75.3%
- 5. 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 70.2%
- 6. 🇱🇦 Laos 64.7%
- 7. 🇲🇳 Mongolia 51.8%
- 8. 🇯🇵 Japan 46.4%
- 9. 🇹🇼 Taiwan 35.3%
- 10. 🇸🇬 Singapore 31.1%
- 11. 🇲🇾 Malaysia 18.7%
- 12. 🇨🇳 China 18.2%
- 13. 🇰🇷 South Korea 16%
- 14. 🇳🇵 Nepal 8.2%
- 15. 🇧🇳 Brunei 6.3%
- 16. 🇻🇳 Vietnam 5.8%
- 17. 🇶🇦 Qatar 3.8%
- 18. 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 3.2%
- 19. 🇦🇺 Australia 2.4%
- 20. 🇫🇷 France 2%
- 21. 🇳🇿 New Zealand 1.1%
- 22. 🇱🇾 Libya 1%
- 23. 🇹🇿 Tanzania 1%
- 24. 🇹🇬 Togo 1%
- 25. 🇨🇾 Cyprus 1%
- 26. 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 1%
- 27. 🇨🇦 Canada 1%
- 28. 🇨🇺 Cuba 1%
- 29. 🇺🇸 United States 0.7%
- 30. 🇯🇴 Jordan 0.4%
- 31. 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 0.1%