All the great religions arose in Asia: Jesus and Moses , Zarathustra, the authors of the Veda and the teachers of the Upanishads, Laozi, Confucius, Buddha and Mahavira, Mani and Mohammed have worked in Asia. The religions that arose east of the Hindu Kush (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism) can now be found exclusively in South and Southeast Asia as well as Central and East Asia (China, Korea, Japan), with the exception of the diaspora that arose through migration. In its Tibetan form (Lamaism), Buddhism is widespread in Tibet, the Himalayan region of India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir [Ladakh]), Bhutan, Russia (Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva), Mongolia and northern China (Inner Mongolia). In contrast, the religions that arose west of the Hindu Kush (Parsism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) – primarily through mission – expanded far east (Christians mainly in India, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and the Asian part of Russia; Muslims in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and China; small Jewish communities in India, Hong Kong, and Japan; Parse in India). Shamanistic ethnic or tribal religions (Shamanism) are common in Siberia, Central and East Asia (Tibet, Mongolia, Korea). Other traditional folk religions (including ancestor worship, worship of local gods and nature deities) are common in India and China (there often as a “mixture” of Confucian ethics, elements of Daoism and traditional beliefs in gods). a. represented in Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines).

Mountains (selection)
Surname	Country	Mountain range	height
Mount Everest	Nepal / China (Tibet)	Himalayas	8 850 m above sea level M.
K 2	Pakistan (Kashmir)	Karakoram	8 611 m above sea level M.
Kangchenjunga	Nepal / India (Sikkim)	Himalayas	8,586 m above sea level M.
Dhaulagiri	Nepal	Himalayas	8,167 m above sea level M.
Nanga Parbat	Pakistan (Kashmir)	Himalayas	8 126 m above sea level M.
Tirich me	Pakistan	Hindu Kush	7 690 m above sea level M.
Gongga Shan	China	Daxue Shan	7 556 m above sea level M.
Pik Ismoil Somoni	Tajikistan	Pamir	7 495 m above sea level M.
Pik Pobedy	Kyrgyzstan / China	Tian Shan	7,439 m above sea level M.
Gaurisankar	Nepal / China (Tibet)	Himalayas	7 145 m above sea level M.
Demawend	Iran	Elburs	5,671 m above sea level M.
Elbrus	Russia	Greater Caucasus	5,642 m above sea level M.
Ararat	Turkey	Armenian highlands	5 137 m above sea level M.
Kinabalu	Malaysia (Sabah)	Bahjaran Crocker	4 101 m above sea level M.
Fuji	Japan	–	3 776 m above sea level M.

According to statistical projections, around 26% of the population of Asia are Muslim, around 22.5% Hindus, around 10.9% Buddhists and around 8.4% Christians. Around 70% of the Japanese feel they belong to both Shintoism and Buddhism; over 28% of the Chinese follow traditional Chinese religions (folk religions, Daoism, Confucianism). The number of followers of ethnic or tribal religions is estimated at around 154 million. Other religious communities are the more than 22 million Sikhs and more than 5 million Jainas in India, the 3.4 million Baha’is (largest religious minority in Iran [around 460,000]) and the almost 6 million Jews (mainly in Israel; also in Iran [around 11,000] and in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, India, Georgia, Hong Kong and Japan [10,000 to 1,000 each]). Of the numerous that originated in Asia new religions (altogether almost 60 million followers; examples: Japan, Japanese religions ; Vietnam, Caodaism) has so far spread beyond Asia. a. the Unification Church, which was founded in South Korea, gained permanent prominence. The number of religious people and atheists (especially in China and North Korea) is estimated at around 621 million.

In several Asian countries the predominant religion enjoys a special position, guaranteed by law or tradition (India), and the heads of state or government must belong to it; so in most Arab states, Bangladesh and Pakistan Islam, in Sri Lanka and Thailand Buddhism and in India Hinduism. The state religion in the legal sense is Buddhism in Bhutan and Cambodia as well as Islam in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran and the Maldives. In Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan there is a legal separation of state and religion; the “Islamic renaissance” is being pursued with (foreign) political objectives z. Partly supported by the state, in the Central Asian states, however, it is also subject to strict state control (with a view to possible fundamentalist tendencies). The socialist constitutions of China, North Korea and Vietnam guarantee freedom of religion; in all three states, however, the practice of religion is still subject to practical restrictions. The only state in Asia with a predominantly Christian population (around 94%) is the Philippines. Christianity in South Korea (around a third of the population) is strongly influenced by independent Korean churches that emerged from the Protestant mission churches.

South Asia

South Asia, part of Asia located south of the inner-Asian high region between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, comprises the Indian subcontinent (formerly known as the Indian subcontinent) including the offshore island of Ceylon; belongs to tropical monsoon Asia. The western border with western Asia is formed by the mountains in Afghanistan and Pakistan running south from the Hindu Kush, the eastern border by the Burmese border mountains. According to COUNTRYAAH.COM, South Asia includes the states of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; In Nepal and Bhutan, the transition to Central Asia is already taking place, both physically, geographically and culturally.