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If 100 Christians Represented All of Global Christianity

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the global Christian population totals 2.5 billion people. To help in the comprehension of that number, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity (@CSGC) has compressed it into this graphic as if 100 Christians represented all of global Christianity:
The World as 100 Christians graphic

  • 67 would live in Asia, Africa, Latin America or OceaniaBuy your copy of From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions in the FaithGateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day
  • 33 would live in Europe or Northern America
  • 65 would live in urban areas
  • 35 would live in rural areas
  • 16 would speak Spanish as their first language
  • 10 English
  • 8 Portuguese
  • 5 Russian
  • 3 Mandarin Chinese
  • 64 would be between the ages of 15–64
  • 26 would be under 15
  • 11 would be illiterate
  • 35 would have little to no access to secondary education
  • 53 would have access to the internetBuy your copy of Cultural Apologetics: Renewing the Christian Voice, Conscience, and Imagination in a Disenchanted World in the FaithGateway Store where you'll enjoy low prices every day
  • 14 would have no access to safe water
  • 5 would have malaria
  • 79 would live in countries with moderate to high corruption
  • 35 would live in countries with low development
  • 63 live on $10–100 a day
  • 34 would have inadequate access to doctors

According to these statistics, the typical Christian today is a non-white woman living in the global South, with lower-than-average levels of societal safety and proper health care. This represents a vastly different typical Christian than that of 100 years ago, who was likely a white, affluent European.

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Filed under Church, Culture, Discipleship, Missions, Statistics