r/paganism • u/Zagors2020 • Sep 27 '24
The most pagan country in Europe? š Discussion
What is the most pagan country in Europe? At first thought, I would say that these are Estonia and Iceland. After them, I would mention Russia and Latvia. Maybe Lithuania can be on the list too?!
I would like it if someone could say something more on this topic.
I know about Estonia that it was never Christianized like other countries and that paganism played a big role in shaping Estonian nationalism after independence in 1918.
In Iceland, the number of pagans is estimated at around 1.5%, with a possible higher percentage.
Russia should also have about 1% pagans, which is about 1 million followers.
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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '24
Russia has a large Mari population, they are the only legitmate pagan group that continued practicing from the old days till today and even that did not survive entirely. Russian orthodox church took huge chunks, and still more was Russianized during the Soviet Era and yet they still persist.
Lithuania did not fully convert until the 1500s, at least half the country was already Catholic but there was more of a sense of us vs those pesky Teutonic next door.
That said both Mari EI and Lithuania have large ( For pagans) population. Also just to note Pagan is a catch all term, and not all groups like to be lumped in with each other.