Religion

This section covers religion in the UK — how many people identify with different faiths, the constitutional role of the Church of England, other Christian denominations and world religions practised in Britain, and the four patron saints' days.

Religion in the UK Today

The UK is historically a Christian country. In the 2011 Census, 59% of people identified as Christian, with much smaller proportions identifying as Muslim (4.8%), Hindu (1.5%), Sikh (0.8%), and Jewish or Buddhist (both under 0.5%). Religious buildings for these and other faiths — mosques, Hindu temples, synagogues, Sikh gurdwaras and Buddhist temples — are found across the UK. Everyone has the legal right to choose their religion, or none: 25% of people in the 2011 census said they had no religion.

Christian Churches

In England, there's a constitutional link between Church and state. The official state Church is the Church of England (known as the Anglican Church elsewhere, or the Episcopal Church in Scotland and the US) — a Protestant Church that has existed since the Reformation in the 1530s. The monarch is head of the Church of England; its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, and several Church of England bishops sit in the House of Lords.

In Scotland, the national Church is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, governed by ministers and elders and led by a Moderator appointed for one year. Wales and Northern Ireland have no established Church. Other Protestant groups in the UK include Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Quakers, alongside other denominations — the largest being Roman Catholic.

Patron Saints' Days

Check That You Understand

• The different religions that are practised in the UK
• That the Church of England is the "established Church" of the state in England
• That other branches of Christianity practise freely without being linked to the state
• That other religions are practised in the UK
• The four patron saints and their days