Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe

Eastern Orthodoxy constitutes the second largest Christian denomination in Europe. Eastern Orthodox Christians are predominantly present in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and they are also significantly represented in diaspora throughout the Continent. The term "Eastern Orthodox Europe" is informally used to describe the predominantly Eastern Orthodox countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Eastern Orthodox majority countries

• Eastern Orthodoxy in Moldova, 94.3% (2024 census)^[1]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece, 90% (2022 est.)^[2]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Georgia, 83.4% (2014 census)^[3]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Serbia, 81.1% (2022 census)^[4]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Cyprus, 74.5% (2021 census)^[5]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Romania, 73.4% (2021 census)^[6]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Belarus, 73.3% (2011 est.)^[7]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, 72% (2022 est.)^[8]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Montenegro, 71.1% (2023 census)^[9]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Bulgaria, 62.7% (2021 census)^[10]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia, 61% (2026 est.)^[11]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in North Macedonia, 46.1% (2021 census)^[12]

Eastern Orthodox minority countries

• Eastern Orthodoxy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 30.7% (2013 census)^[13]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Estonia, 16.3% (2021 census)^[14]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Latvia, 13.3% (2019 est.)^[15]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Albania, 7.2% (2023 census)^[16]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Austria, 4.9% (2021 census)^[17]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Lithuania, 4.4% (2021 census)^[18]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Slovenia, 3.7% (2019 est.)^[19]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Croatia, 3.3% (2021 census)^[20]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Italy, 3% (2023 est.)^[21]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Germany, 1.5% (2024 est.)^[22]
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Finland, 1% (2025 census)^[23]

See also

• Byzantine commonwealth

References

1. ^ "Rezultatele finale ale Recensământului Populației și Locuințelor 2024: Caracteristici etnoculturale ale populației" (in Romanian). statistica.md. 2025-10-21. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
2. ^ https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/greece/
3. ^ "საქართველოს მოსახლეობის საყოველთაო აღწერის საბოლოო შედეგები". National Statistics Office of Georgia. 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
4. ^ "2022 Census of Population, Mother tongue, religion and ethnic affiliation". Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.
5. ^ "Population Enumerated by Religion, Sex and Citizenship Group, 1.10.2021"
6. ^ "Rezultatele parțiale ale recensământului din 2022 privind situația religiei în România". 30 December 2022.
7. ^ "Generations and Gender Survey, 2020 Belarus Wave 1". ggpsurvey.ined.fr. Archived from the original on 2022-10-16. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
8. ^ https://kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=1129
9. ^ "Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2023". Monstat. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
10. ^ "Преброяване 2021: Етнокултурна характеристика на населението" [2021 Census: Ethnocultural characteristics of the population]. Archived 24 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine.
11. ^ "Русская православная церковь" [Russian Orthodox Church] (in Russian). Public Opinion Foundation. 2026. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
12. ^ "Попис на населението, домаќинствата и становите во Република Северна Македонија, 2021 - прв сет на податоци" (in Macedonian). Archived from the original on 30 March 2022.
13. ^ "Bosnia and Herzegovina". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
14. ^ https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat/rahvaloendus__rel2021__rahvastiku-demograafilised-ja-etno-kultuurilised-naitajad__usk/RL21451
15. ^ "Ziņojums par Tieslietu ministrijā iesniegtajiem reliģisko organizāciju pārskatiem par darbību 2019.gadā" (in Latvian). 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
16. ^ "Religious belief data/ What are the results of the 2023 Census". 28 June 2024.
17. ^ "Religionszugehörigkeit 2021: drei Viertel bekennen sich zu einer Religion" [2021 religious affiliation: three fourths profess a religion] (with comparative data from the censuses from 1951 to 2021). Archived 4 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine.
18. ^ "Population by religious community indicated, municipalities (2021)" (in Lithuanian). Statistics Lithuania. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
19. ^ "Special Eurobarometer 493, European Union: European Commission, September 2019, pages 229-230". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
20. ^ "Share of Croats in Croatia increases as census results published". 22 September 2022. Archived 2023-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
21. ^ https://cesnur.com/dimensioni-del-pluralismo-religioso-in-italia/
22. ^ "Religionszugehörigkeiten 2024" [Religious denominations 2024] (in German). fowid.de. fowid ('Worldviews in Germany Research Group'). 2 April 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
23. ^ https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rx.px/

Sources

• Victoria Clark (21 November 2011). Why Angels Fall: A Journey Through Orthodox Europe from Byzantium to Kosovo. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-1639-1.
• Jonathan Shepard (2007). The Expansion of Orthodox Europe: Byzantium, the Balkans and Russia. Ashgate Variorum. ISBN 978-0-7546-5920-4.
• Jonathan Sutton & William Peter van den Bercken (2003). Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Europe: Selected Papers of the International Conference Held at the University of Leeds, England, in June 2001. Peeters Publishers. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-90-429-1266-3.
• Alexandru Duţu (1 January 1998). Political Models and National Identities in "Orthodox Europe". Babel. ISBN 978-973-48-1042-0.
• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.
• Obolensky, Dimitri (1974 [1971]). The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. London: Cardinal. ISBN 9780351176449.
• Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.