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[[Image:World005.jpg|thumb|A map of the world.]]\'\'Synopsis:\'\' The world\'s 5 inhabited continents contain almost 7 billion people. The population is increasing rapidly, and it doubled between 1960 and 2000. There are 237 independent states. 66 of these have significant restrictions on religious belief. About 30% of the world\'s population call themselves [[Christian]] (2 billion people), 20% call themselves [[Muslim]] (1.3 billion people), 15% are [[non-religious]] (1 billion) and 13% call themselves [[Hindu]]. Although [[Europe]] is rapidly becoming secular and non-religious, the majority of Christians live in areas where European settlement or missionary work has been significant. [[Asia]] is the least evangelised continent. Of Christians, there are about 1 billion [[Roman Catholic]], 700 million [[Protestant]] and 550 million [[Eastern Orthodox]] Christians.

The world\'s 5 inhabited continents contain almost 7 billion people. The population is increasing rapidly, and it doubled between 1960 and 2000. The are about 500 cities with over 1 million people, and about half of the world\'s population live in an urban setting. There are about 12,000 ethnolinguistic peoples in the world, with about 7,000 separate languages spoken. There are 237 independent states. 66 of these have significant restrictions on religious belief. About 30% of the world\'s population call themselves [[Christian]] (2 billion people), 20% call themselves [[Muslim]] (1.3 billion people), 15% are [[non-religious]] (1 billion) and 13% call themselves [[Hindu]]. Although [[Europe]] is rapidly becoming secular and non-religious, the majority of Christians live in areas where European settlement or missionary work has been significant. [[Asia]] is the least evangelised continent. Of Christians, there are about 1 billion [[Roman Catholic]], 700 million [[Protestant]] and 550 million [[Eastern Orthodox]] Christians.

The continent of Asia contains over half of the world\'s people and spans from [[Japan]] in the east to [[Turkey]] in the west. It contains the rapidly developing, predominantly [[Buddhist]] countries of [[South East Asia]] and [[China]], [[Hindu]] [[India]] and the predominant [[Muslim]] nations of the [[Middle East]]. Asia is the least evangelised continent.