This book, the first in the field for two decades, looks at the relationships between geography and religion. It represents a synthesis of research by geographers of many countries, mainly since the 1960s. No previous book has tackled this emerging field from such a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, and never before have such a variety of detailed case studies been pulled together in so comparative or illuminating a way. Examples and case studies have been drawn from all the major world religions and from all continents from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Major themes covered in the book include the distribution of religion and the processes by which religion and religious ideas spread through space and time. Some of the important links between religion and population are also explored. A great deal of attention is focused on the visible manifestations of religion on the cultural landscape, including landscapes of worship and of death, and the whole field of sacred space and religious pilgrimage.

Chris C.Park is Senior Lecturer in Geography and Principal of the Graduate College of Lancaster University.

Preface 1 GEOGRAPHY AND RELIGION: CONTEXT AND CONTENT 2 REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION 3 DISTRIBUTIONS: SPATIAL PATTERNS OF RELIGION 4 DIFFUSION: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ORGANISATIONS 5 DYNAMICS: HOW RELIGIONS CHANGE 6 RELIGION AND POPULATION 7 RELIGION AND LANDSCAPE 8 SACRED PLACES AND PILGRIMAGE