The UK has become a much more religiously diverse place than fifty years ago. Today its population includes Baha'is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and many others such as Mormons, Pagans, and Rastafarians as well as atheists, agnostics, humanists, and those with no formal belief system.

In the 2001 census, 76.8% of the United Kingdom population described themselves as having some religious affiliation.

Religion	Thousands	Percentage
Buddhist	152	0.3
Christian	42,079	71.6
Hindu	559	1.0
Jewish	267	0.5
Muslim	1,591	2.7
Sikh	336	0.6
Other	179	0.3
Total all religions	45,163	76.8
None	9,104	15.5
Not stated	4,289	7.3
Total None / Not stated	13,626	23.2

The UK population: by religion, April 2001

(Source: National Statistics website. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO).

Religious identity is of great significance to many people: their beliefs shape how they live their lives and the way they interact with those around them. For this reason, how the media covers religion is very important.

Increasingly, how religions coexist and cooperate is a matter of importance in the United Kingdom. Inter faith understanding and cooperation on social issues is a key part of community cohesion. Again, the media have a significant role as reporters on both stories of occasional inter-community misunderstanding and the more frequent if less eye catching stories of friendship and cooperation. In some cases, programmes are making a very active contribution to inter faith understanding.

For general queries about the National Conference on the Media and a Multi Faith Society, please email:
info@faithandmedia.com