POPULATION 59,765,983
ROMAN CATHOLIC 85 percent
MUSLIM 5 percent
PROTESTANT 2 percent
JEWISH 1 percent
OTHER (HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, TAOISM, AND CONFUCIANISM) 2 percent
UNAFFILIATED 5 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the French Republic. Because of its geographic location as a passageway between northern and southern Europe, the country has lent itself to strong external influences. Shaped like a hexagon, it has a coastline on both the Atlantic Ocean (the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel) and the Mediterranean Sea and shares land frontiers with eight modern states: Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland.

Christianity entered the region from the east near Lyon and the south along the Mediterranean shores. Judaism made its way into Antique Gaul from Germany when Hebrew merchants established their colonies near Strasbourg and Metz. Islam arrived from the south in the eighth century when Muslims crossed the Pyrenees in...