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60 free World Religions trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Roughly 2.3 billion people are Christians, 2 billion are Muslims and 1.2 billion are Hindus, yet the world's faiths also include a religion with fewer than a thousand citizens in its capital, a 15th-century Punjabi tradition with a book as its living guru, and a Japanese one whose sun goddess is the claimed ancestor of an emperor. Comparative religion is a trivia goldmine because every tradition has a founder, a text, a holy city and a calendar. These 60 questions tour Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, the Bahá'í Faith and Rastafari. Easy questions cover the Five Pillars, the Torah and the Kaaba; harder ones ask about the Mishnah's compiler, the Guodian slips, the Achaemenid state religion and where the Universal House of Justice sits. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a classroom or quiz-night round.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which religion has the most followers worldwide, about 2.3 billion?
Christianity
Pew's 2025 report puts it at 28.8% of humanity, with Muslims at 25.6% and the unaffiliated at 24.2%.
Q 02Which faith is the world's second-largest, with about 2 billion adherents?
Islam
Its two main branches are Sunni (87-90%) and Shia (10-13%).
Q 03Which is the world's third-largest religion and the largest ethnic religion?
Hinduism
Its roughly 1.17 billion followers live mostly in India and Nepal, with notable communities in Mauritius and Bali.
Q 04Which religion is the world's fourth-largest, with some 320 million followers?
Buddhism
It began on the eastern Gangetic plain and spread across Asia along the Silk Road.
Q 05In which region of the Indian subcontinent did Sikhism originate?
Punjab
It emerged around the end of the 15th century and now has 25-30 million adherents.
Q 06Who was the first of the ten Sikh gurus?
Guru Nanak
He lived from 1469 to 1539 and was followed by nine human successors.
Q 07Which scripture do Sikhs regard as their 11th and perpetual living teacher?
Guru Granth Sahib
The tenth guru named the book his successor in 1708; it is written entirely in poetry set to 31 ragas.
Q 08In what year did Guru Gobind Singh found the Khalsa order?
1699
Members were to embody the "saint-soldier" ideal; baptised Sikhs wear the five Ks.
Q 09In which Indian city does the Golden Temple stand?
Amritsar
Its langar kitchen serves a free vegetarian meal to every visitor without discrimination.
Q 10Who overlaid the Golden Temple's sanctum with gold leaf in 1830?
Maharaja Ranjit Singh
The Sikh Empire's founder had already rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809.
Q 11Which principle of non-violence toward all living beings is central to Jainism?
Ahimsa
Jains extend it to speech and thought; historically many avoided farming and took up trade and banking instead.
Q 12How many tirthankaras, or "ford-makers", guide the Jain tradition?
24
The 24th and last, Mahavira, was a contemporary of the Buddha.
Q 13Which Jain sub-tradition's name means "sky-clad"?
Digambara
Its male monks renounce all possessions including clothing; Svetambaras are the "white-clad".
Q 14Roughly how many followers does Jainism have?
Q 21Theravada is the dominant Buddhist tradition in which country?
Thailand
It is also the main branch in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka; Mahayana prevails in East Asia.
Q 22The 14th Dalai Lama fled Lhasa in 1959 and settled in exile in which Indian town?
Dharamshala
Tenzin Gyatso left during the Tibetan uprising and made Dharamshala his base; his title comes from the Gelug school.
Q 23Hindus often call their tradition Sanatana Dharma, meaning what?
Eternal way
The usage dates from the 19th century; older endonyms include Vaidika Dharma.
Under 5 million
Most live in India, with diaspora communities in North America, Europe and East Asia.
Q 15In which present-day country was the Buddha born?
Nepal
His birthplace, Lumbini, lies near the modern Nepal-India border; he grew up in Kapilavastu.
Q 16In which town did the Buddha attain awakening under the Bodhi Tree?
Bodh Gaya
The tree was a Ficus religiosa; the Mahabodhi Temple now marks the spot.
Q 17The Mahabodhi Temple, marking the Buddha's enlightenment, is in which Indian state?
Bihar
A UNESCO site, it shelters a tree believed to descend from the original Bodhi Tree.
Q 18At what age did the Buddha die, reaching "final nirvana" at Kushinagar?
80
He had spent the decades after his awakening teaching the Dharma across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Q 19What does the word "nirvana" literally mean?
Blowing out
It describes the extinguishing of the passions, ending the cycle of rebirth.
Q 20Buddhists take refuge in the "three jewels": the Buddha, the Dharma and what?
The Sangha
The Sangha is the monastic community the Buddha founded after his awakening.
Q 24In Hindu thought, which of the four aims of life means liberation from rebirth?
Moksha
The other three aims are ethics and duty, prosperity and work, and desire and passion.
Q 25The Bhagavad Gita is part of which longer Hindu epic?
The Mahabharata
The major scriptures also include the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Agamas.
Q 26Which Indonesian island has a largely Hindu population?
Bali
Hindus also form large populations in Nepal and Mauritius outside India.
Q 27Diwali, the festival of lights, is especially associated with which goddess of prosperity?
Lakshmi
It also marks Rama's return to Ayodhya and is celebrated in variations by Jains and Sikhs.
Q 28In roughly what year did the Muslim faith originate in Mecca?
610 CE
Muslims hold that Muhammad received his first revelation then; the revelations continued until his death in 632.
Q 29Which of the Five Pillars is almsgiving?
Zakat
The others are the creed, daily prayer, fasting and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Q 30During which month do Muslims observe the fast known as sawm?
Ramadan
Fasting in that month is one of the Five Pillars alongside the hajj.