The Telegraph on January 14 mapped the world’s most- and least – religious countries.  The Telegraph based its map on the results of three WIN/Gallup International polls, taken in 2008, 2009 and 2015.  Each asked respondents whether or not they felt religious; for each country the publication has included the most recent figures available.

As the map demonstrates, the most religious regions are Africa and the Middle East, with south-east Asia and Latin America not far behind.  Faith is important to many southern European countries too, with 74 percent of Italians and 71 percent of Greek claiming to feel religious.

Five countries tie for the title of most religious. In each of Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Sri Lanka and Yemen, 99 percent of those questioned answered “yes.”   

Poland stands out against the rest of Europe, with 86 percent answering “yes” to the poll; Paraguay would appear to be South America's most religious country.

The least religious countries, on the other hand, include Japan, Estonia, Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic, but China surpasses them all, with only seven percent.

Meanwhile, according to the surveys, Tajikistan with 85 percent those surveyed answering “yes” to the poll is the most religious country in the Central Asian region.

The least religious country in the region is Uzbekistan with 51 percent. 

In Kazakhstan, 64 of those surveyed answered “yes” and Kyrgyzstan saw 72 percent reply in affirmative.

In Turkmenistan, 80 percent of those questioned answered “yes.”