Religion in Hverland

Religion in Hverland is characterized by a strong historical affiliation with Lutheranism, particularly the Lutheran Church of Hverland (Ríkiskirkjia). Despite being the state church with a membership comprising about 77% of the population, Hverland also exhibits strong secular tendencies. These seemingly contrasting elements create a unique religious landscape that includes other Christian denominations and faiths, as well as a considerable percentage of non-religious or atheist citizens.

Church of Hverland

The Lutheran Church of Hverland was officially established during the 16th century following the Protestant Reformation. This event led to the severing of ties with the Catholic Church and initiated an era of Lutheran theological thought and cultural influence. However, the church's role has not remained static over the centuries; it has evolved to adapt to social changes, most notably the rise of secularism.

As of 2024, approximately 77% of Hverlanders identify as members of the State Church. Despite this high membership, a trend known as "menningarkristnar án trúar" (lit. "non-believing cultural Christians") has been observed, indicating that many view their religious identity more as a cultural heritage rather than an active faith.

Other religions

Apart from Lutheranism, Hverland has communities practicing Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, and indigenous faiths. There's also a growing trend of New Age spirituality, especially among younger generations.

Statistics

1890-1940

Religious affiliation, 1890-1940

Religion	1890		1900		1910		1920		1930		1940
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	34,113	7001994700000000000♠99.47%	35,784	7001993900000000000♠99.39%	36,941	7001993500000000000♠99.35%	38,786	7001993700000000000♠99.37%	41,833	7001987700000000000♠98.77%	52,654	7001964900000000000♠96.49%
└ Church of Hverland	34,051	7001992900000000000♠99.29%	35,491	7001985800000000000♠98.58%	36,765	7001988800000000000♠98.88%	38,591	7001988700000000000♠98.87%	41,329	7001975800000000000♠97.58%	52,113	7001955000000000000♠95.5%
└ Anglicanism	37	6999110000000000000♠0.11%	53	6999150000000000000♠0.15%	121	6999330000000000000♠0.33%	140	6999360000000000000♠0.36%	374	6999880000000000000♠0.88%	332	6999610000000000000♠0.61%
└ Calvinism	20	6998600000000000000♠0.06%	34	6998900000000000000♠0.09%	32	6998900000000000000♠0.09%	35	6998900000000000000♠0.09%	101	6999240000000000000♠0.24%	149	6999270000000000000♠0.27%
└ Catholic Church	5	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	11	6998300000000000000♠0.03%	23	6998600000000000000♠0.06%	20	6998500000000000000♠0.05%	29	6998700000000000000♠0.07%	60	6999110000000000000♠0.11%
└ Other Christians	–	–	10	6998300000000000000♠0.03%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Judaism	177	6999520000000000000♠0.52%	209	6999690009999900000♠0.69%	222	6999600000000000000♠0.6%	230	6999590000000000000♠0.59%	319	6999750000000000000♠0.75%	1,534	7000281000000000000♠2.81%
Other	2	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	7	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	8	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	5	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	12	6998300000000000000♠0.03%	45	6998800000000000000♠0.08%
Unaffiliated	2	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	4	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	10	6998300000000000000♠0.03%	10	6998300000000000000♠0.03%	189	6999450000000000000♠0.45%	334	6999610000000000000♠0.61%

1962-2022

Religious affiliation, 1962-2022

Religion	1962		1982		2002		2022
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	73,241	7001975600000000000♠97.56%	88,832	7001966400000000000♠96.64%	105,971	7001944900000000000♠94.49%	119,196	7001889200000000000♠88.92%
└ Church of Hverland	72,592	7001967000000000000♠96.7%	87,333	7001950100000000000♠95.01%	101,612	7001906000000000000♠90.6%	110,671	7001825600000000000♠82.56%
└ Catholic Church	403	6999540000000000000♠0.54%	720	6999780000000000000♠0.78%	1,493	7000133000000000000♠1.33%	3,375	7000252000000000000♠2.52%
└ Eastern Orthodoxy	37	6998500000000000000♠0.05%	189	6999210000000000000♠0.21%	567	6999510000000000000♠0.51%	1,827	7000136000000000000♠1.36%
└ Free Church in Hverhöfn	–	–	–	–	107	6999100000000000000♠0.1%	1,029	6999770000000000000♠0.77%
└ Other Christians	209	6999280000000000000♠0.28%	590	6999640000000000000♠0.64%	2,192	7000195000000000000♠1.95%	2,294	7000171000000000000♠1.71%
Folk, pagan or heathenry	590	6999790000000000000♠0.79%	547	6999600000000000000♠0.6%	501	6999450000000000000♠0.45%	410	6999310000000000000♠0.31%
Judaism	104	6999140000000000000♠0.14%	118	6999130000000000000♠0.13%	120	6999110000000000000♠0.11%	128	6999100000000000000♠0.1%
Islam	–	–	11	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	20	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	62	6998500000000000000♠0.05%
Hinduism	3	5000000000000000000♠0%	7	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	19	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	60	6998400000000000000♠0.04%
Buddhism	9	6998100000000000000♠0.01%	19	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	24	6998200000000000000♠0.02%	47	6998400000000000000♠0.04%
Other	297	6999400000000000000♠0.4%	433	6999470000000000000♠0.47%	502	6999450000000000000♠0.45%	625	6999470000000000000♠0.47%
Unaffiliated	826	7000110000000000000♠1.1%	1,957	7000213000000000000♠2.13%	4,993	7000445000000000000♠4.45%	13,524	7001100900000000000♠10.09%

Recent

Religious affiliation, 2023-

Religion	2023		2024
	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	120,356	7001878500000000000♠87.85%	119,908	7001859200000000000♠85.92%
└ Church of Hverland	110,881	7001809400000000000♠80.94%	108,010	7001774000000000000♠77.4%
└ Catholic Church	3,867	7000282000000000000♠2.82%	–	–
└ Eastern Orthodoxy	2,259	7000165000000000000♠1.65%	–	–
└ Free Church in Hverhöfn	1,054	6999770000000000000♠0.77%	–	–
└ Other Christians	2,295	7000168000000000000♠1.68%	–	–
Folk, pagan or heathenry	414	6999300000000000000♠0.3%	439	6999310000000000000♠0.31%
Judaism	132	6999100000000000000♠0.1%	135	6999100000000000000♠0.1%
Islam	98	6998700000000000000♠0.07%	125	6998900000000000000♠0.09%
Hinduism	75	6998500000000000000♠0.05%	159	6999110000000000000♠0.11%
Buddhism	57	6998400000000000000♠0.04%	54	6998400000000000000♠0.04%
Other	711	6999520000000000000♠0.52%	849	6999610000000000000♠0.61%
Unaffiliated	15,154	7001110600000000000♠11.06%	17,881	7001128100000000000♠12.81%

See also

• Religion in Europe