Visualizing the spread of five major religions across the world

Many religions have core majorities in certain countries

Though most religions have members across the world, they also have major concentrated populations in specific nations. For example, 95% of Hindus live in India, while 85% of the world's Jews live in Israel and the US.

Watch Mediterranean power shift over millennia with this animated map

The ancient Mediterranean holds a vast amount of history; from Egypt to Rome, the coasts of this sea are home to some of the most advanced ancient civilizations. This video displays on a map the many different civilizations that rose and fell around the fertile region, from the year 2500 BCE to 0 BCE.

Explore the state of religious freedom around the world

This interactive tool visualizes government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion across countries worldwide. It enables users to compare nations and monitor changes over time.

The history of coffee

From its likely origins in what is now Ethiopia to today's worldwide consumption, this video uses a map to show how coffee conquered the world. Follow along and see how pilgrimages and centuries of trade influenced the spread of the beverage we all know so well.

Mapping the Middle East showing Sunni and Shia populations by country

France24's interactive visualization shows where each branch of Islam predominates across the region, from Iran's Shia majority to Saudi Arabia's Sunni dominance. The map helps make Middle Eastern politics (and conflicts) more legible.

Watch the British Empire expand and recede over 5 centuries

This interactive map traces the British Empire from 1450 to today—showing its explosive 19th-century expansion to one-quarter of the world's land and its steady contraction after World War II.

Charting 4,000 years of human history

Care to hang all of human history on your wall? This data visualization charts 4,000 years of humanity. This "histomap" was originally published in 1931 and sold for $1 per copy of the 5-foot-long chart. It was said to detail the course of...

A 12-minute crash course on Islam, its beliefs, and history

John Green's Crash Course World History episode overs Islam's core tenets, the Five Pillars, and the religions spread across continents in a jam-packed video under 15 minutes. The video is an efficient on-ramp for newcomers and is an ideal starting point to Islam.

Practices and beliefs from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism influenced yoga

Yoga scholars Mark Singleton and James Mallinson’s study, “Roots of Yoga,” collects over 100 core texts on the subject. They found that many different ethnicities and religions practiced yoga in antiquity; Singleton says that the practice was a “floating technology between various religious systems.”

Hear experts discuss how religion has shaped American life

Produced by the National Museum of American Religion, this podcast examines how religion has shaped America and how America has influenced religion—covering topics from the Nation of Islam and rock 'n' roll to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with scholars and everyday citizens as guides.

What is Sikhism? A 101 guide

Sikhism is a religion founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak in the northern regions of India. It is the fifth-largest religion in the world, with nearly 30 million adherents. Get to know the basic tenets of this lesser-known religion with this...

A look at some of the world's most unique churches

From a skeleton-adorned church in the Czech Republic to wooden churches built without nails in Russia, this video explores some of Christianity's most intriguing architectural feats. These places of worship were built in remote areas throughout history, and show amazing innovation. See a fascinating glimpse into the overlooked structures, along with stories of how and why they came to be.

A comprehensive guide to the gods

History is filled with the power and mystique of gods, from the epicly bearded Greek boss Zeus to Hoori, the Japanese god of hunting. Check out this database of over 4,000 of the world's deities, from Norse mythology to the gods of Polynesia, and click through for explainers and facts. Peruse specific pantheons (a single culture's collection of gods) or look for the god of a specific attribute, place, or emotion. Dive in here.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Why are all maps of the world wrong?

This 5-minute video explains why all maps to date are verifiably wrong. While globes can provide an accurate map and scale of the various continents, flattening that sphere has historically meant something will be distorted, whether land, sea, or...

US immigrants shifted from primarily originating in Ireland and Germany to Mexico and India

This visualization tracks the top country of birth among US immigrants by state from 1850 to the present, revealing a dramatic shift from European-dominated immigration to today's prominence of Mexican and Indian immigrants.

An animation illustrating the enormity of the universe

Look around you. Where are you? Where is this place you are occupying? Somewhere in a room, maybe in a city on a continent on a planet orbiting a star in a galaxy among billions. But… where is all of that?

See how cholera spreads in a community

This animated video offers a comprehensive look at how cholera spreads. It makes clear why it's so difficult to stamp out this disease in communities around the world. It also details what steps can help control cholera.

Visualizing the genetics of SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and rapidly spread worldwide in early 2020. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, leading to widespread lockdowns, travel restrictions, and economic disruptions.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

See how migrating tribes reshaped Europe after the fall of Rome

During the early Middle Ages (c. 300–700 CE), groups such as the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, and Suebi migrated into former Roman territories. Their movements transformed European politics and culture while preserving many Roman traditions.

Explore a multimedia timeline of Communism’s global rise and collapse

This timeline from The Washington Post traces the spread of Communism—from revolutions and Cold War flashpoints to movements in China, Cuba, Korea, and Vietnam—using archival photos and key moments to chart the ideology’s dramatic ascent and worldwide decline.

The role of textiles in South Asian art

Textiles play an essential role in the religious traditions of the Indian subcontinent, acting as portable shrines that can relay important allegories and depict spiritual iconography. This primer from Smarthistory breaks down how imagery is used on these textiles and helpfully provides high-quality images, allowing you to witness their beauty for yourself.

Visualizing the economic impacts of 5G

5G is set to revamp industries around the world, but the benefits may not be equally distributed. This nifty graphic illustrates what the global landscape may look like in 2035.

Visualizing the highest-grossing movie franchises from 1979 to 2019

A few dozen major movie franchises have dominated the box office in recent decades, including "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and Marvel. This video shows the change from quarter to quarter in gross revenue for each movie franchise over the decades.

A 3-minute look at Gandhi’s life, activism, and global influence

This video traces how a single incident launched Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent campaign against British rule, helping end the Raj. Archival images and footage show how his methods later shaped leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Christmas celebrates the anniversary of God's birth as the man Jesus

The major holiday originated in the Christian doctrine of God's incarnation in first-century Roman Judea. Though it was not celebrated for several hundred years after Jesus' death, it took on greater importance as the church spread, culminating in a global holiday season today.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.