Unaffiliated Migrants
Among religiously unaffiliated migrants – a plurality of whom
have come from the Asia-Pacific region – the main destination regions have been
Europe and North America.
The three largest countries of origin
for religiously unaffiliated migrants are, or recently were, officially atheist
states. Many of these migrants have come from China (about 4 million), followed
by two countries of the former Soviet Union – Kazakhstan and Russia (each more than 1 million). Significant numbers of unaffiliated migrants also have come from
the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico.
More than 4 million religiously
unaffiliated migrants have moved to the United States, many from China. Sizable
numbers of unaffiliated migrants, including many from China, also live in
Canada (about 1.3 million), Australia (nearly 1 million) and Hong Kong (nearly
1 million). The large populations of unaffiliated migrants in Russia (more than 2
million) and Ukraine (more than 500,000) are mostly due to changing borders since
the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
