Geography of Religion: Object, Subject, Interdisciplinarity

Abstract

Religion has accompanied the existence of mankind for many millennia. To­gether with the expansion of the ecumene, the boundaries of religion expanded. Religion is one of the systems that form the complex structure of the geographic shell of the earth – the religiosphere. The religiosphere is a set of religions co­existing in the geographic space. The religiosphere has a dynamic structure. The emergence of new religions, civilizations, states, large ethnic migrations – these and other factors change the lines of old religious boundaries and create new religious frontiers. The geography of religion is an interdisciplinary field of scientific knowledge that studies the organization of religion in geographic space. The article defines the object and subject of the geography of religion. Particular attention in the article is paid to the interdisciplinary status of the ge­ography of religion. The geography of religion develops in close conjunction with geography and religious studies. The article shows how the anthropology of religion, the phenomenology of religion, comparative religious studies and a number of other scientific disciplines formed the empirical and theoretical foundations of the geography of religion. The content of the article touches only on the Western scientific tradition. The significant Russian tradition of deve­loping the geography of religion requires a separate study.