In Europe, most countries essentially have a government-sponsored religion, although worship of other religions is generally allowed to a large degree, with some notable exceptions. Most European countries espouse some form of Christianity. England, Germany, and Scandinavia are Protestant, whereas France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Austria are Catholic, for example. Catholicism may for all intents and purposes be considered one religion; however, Protestant countries each tend to have their own individual kind of Protestantism (Church of England in England, Lutheranism in Norway, etc.) Often, Catholics and Protestants tend to have a certain disdain for each other's religions, and often this is also true among the various sects of Protestantism (many members of the C of E despised Methodists, etc.) There were also, of course, many who treated each others' religions with great respect.

Russia has, in essence, government-sponsored atheism, which many other countries thought was as dangerous an idea as communism. Atheists exist in other countries, especially among the intelligentsia, but they are a persecuted minority religion (you can get arrested for spreading atheistic ideas in England and elsewhere.) Jews are a minority religion in practically every European country, and prejudice against them likewise exists practically everywhere. There are a few other religions, including Greek orthodoxy and Albanian orthodoxy, and small populations of Muslims in the extreme Southeast and Southwest of Europe.

America technically has no state-sponsored religion, but most consider it to be a Protestant nation, and Catholics in the lower classes (which is most of them) often face prejudice. Jews and atheists are no better liked in America than in Europe.

The Middle East and Northern Africa are nearly uniformly Muslim, although there are some important rival sects, especially Shi'ite and Suuni. There are also some exceptions; Armenia, for example, is Christian.

The far East has four major religions: Islam (mostly in India), Hindi (mostly in India), Buddhism (in India, China, and Japan), and Shinto (almost entirely in Japan.) There are, of course, other religions (Jainism, for example, and Taoism, which is actually quite widespread in China), but those are probably the ones with political importance. Religious conflicts most often occur between Muslims and Hindus in India.

There are a variety of religions in Southern and Central Africa, but they tend to be subjugated under the colonial powers. One of the more widespread ones is that of Nigeria, which, mixed somewhat with Catholicism, also has some influence in the Caribbean and a small minority of mainland Americans under the name voudoun.

South America is largely Catholic, a remnant of its colonial past under Spain and Portugal, which effectively wiped out most of the indigenous religions.

Widespread travel has for the first time started bringing the cultures and religions of far-flung peoples into contact with each other. There has begun to be some intermingling beyond the forced conversions of colonization. There is a craze for anything Japanese in England, including religious thought; converts to Christianity in China form a controversial but growing minority; Buddhism is beginning to be popular among certain American intellectuals.

At the same time, the place of religion in many countries, East and West, is beginning to slip. While almost all espouse a religion, commerce is beginning to take its place in the hearts and minds of many as a real motivating factor for war and belief, which is troubling to many religious leaders and philosophers.