As is evident in the powerpoint presentations above, religions diffuse over the land and impact the landscape. As geographers, we have to ask where the religions began and where have they diffused to. Once we know that, we can begin to figure out why it happened that way.

From the geographic perspective, we can break religions into two separate camps: universalizing and ethnic religions. Universalizing religions are those that attempt to attract people from all over the world. These religions often prosyletize or send missionaries out to diffuse their belief system. Often, but not always (i.e. Buddhism and Bahai), they believe that theirs is the only true religion. Examples of universalizing religions are Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Ethnic religions, on the other hand, are those that are unique to a particular area and people. They do not try to diffuse their beliefs. These religions often belong to native groups. For example, the Yanomamo people found in the Amazon region of Venezuela have unique religious rituals which include mixing the ashes of the dead with bananas to make a stew which is then consumed at the funeral. The Yanomamo are not interested in spreading their religion (and you are probably not interested in joining).

Religions also impact the landscape. Most often this impact comes in the form of places of worship. Each religion has developed distinctive forms of architecture as well. For a quick comparitive overview of some of these, see "Religions on the landscape" and the krysstal religions slide show.

Religions also impact the landscape in other ways. Read this brief web site on the role of cattle in Hindu India. There, the landscape, diet, and culture have been altered due to religious beliefs. In North America, most people belong to religions of the Christian tradition. Please read this excellent geographic breakdown of North American Religions. Be sure to look at the numerous maps.

You probably don't think about the affect religion has had on your landscape. But in numerous places in North America, the affect has been profound. On his North American Culture site, Professor Vogeler (UW-SP) has keyed in on several of these places. Please look at the Roman Catholics of Minnesota, The Mormons, the Hutterites and Mennonites, and the French Canadian Catholics. How was the landscape changed by each?