Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: What is the major religion in Ukraine?
Religion in Ukraine is diverse, with a majority of the population adhering to Christianity. A 2018 survey conducted by the Razumkov Centre found that 71.7% of the population declared themselves believers. About 67.3% of the population declared adherence to one or another strand of Orthodox Christianity (28.7% of the Kiev Patriarchate, 23.4% state simply 'Orthodox' with no declaration as to which Patriarchate they belong to, 12.8% of the Moscow Patriarchate, 0.3% Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and 1.9% other types of Orthodoxy), 7.7% 'Christian' with no declared denominational affiliation, 9.4% Ukrainian Byzantine Rite Catholics, 2.2% Protestants and 0.8% Latin Rite Catholics. Judaism was the religion of the 0.4%; while Buddhism, Paganism (Rodnovery), and Hinduism were each the religions of 0.1% of the population. A further 11.0% declared themselves non-religious or unaffiliated.[1] According to the surveys conducted by Razumkov in the 2000s and early 2010s, such proportions have remained relatively constant throughout the last decade, while the proportion of believers overall has decreased from 76% in 2014 to 70% in 2016 and 72% in 2018.[1][2] (p.22).
The idea of making the national holiday was expressed by the then Minister of Economy of Ukraine Sergey Tigipko on October 15, 2009. Five days later, President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree establishing the holiday. The first settlements in Eastern Ukraine were liberated by Soviet troops in December 1942. Major battles for the liberation of the Ukrainian SSR lasted from January 1943 to the autumn of 1944. At this time, half of Ukraine was in the hands of the Red Army. On August 23, 1943, the city of Kharkiv was liberated. On October 27, 1944, Uzhhorod was retaken from the Germans, and Soviet troops arrived at what would be the modern western border of Ukraine. On 28 October 1944 the last territory of current Ukraine (near Uzhhorod, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) was cleared of German troops; this is annually celebrated in Ukraine (on 28 October) as the "anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis".
Since the late twentieth century, the paradigm has faced critique by scholars of religion like Jonathan Z. Smith, some of whom have argued for its abandonment. Critics have argued that the world religions paradigm is inappropriate because it takes the Protestant variant of Christianity as the model for what constitutes religion; that it is tied up with discourses of modernity, including modern power relations; that it encourages an uncritical understanding of religion; and that it makes a value judgement as to what religions should be considered "major". Others have argued that it remains useful in the classroom, so long as students are made aware that it is a socially constructed category.
The Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) plus Azerbaijan from Southern Caucasus are Muslim, except for their dwindling Russian and other European minorities. The Baltic States are historically Western Christian (Protestant and Roman Catholic), which adds another layer of pro-Western orientation to those countries, although the vast majority of what was the Protestant population (Estonia and northern Latvia) there is now irreligious. The dominant religion in the remaining former Soviet countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine) is Orthodox Christianity. In most countries, religiosity has increased since the Soviet collapse.
In terms of religion, the majority of adherents share the Byzantine Rite of Christianity as in the rest of Ukraine, but due to the region escaping the 1920s and 1930s Soviet persecution, a notably greater church adherence and belief in religion's role in society is present. Due to the complex post-independence religious confrontation of several church groups and their adherents, the historical influence played a key role in shaping the present loyalty of Western Ukraine's faithful. In Galician provinces, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has the strongest following in the country, and the largest share of property and faithful. In the remaining regions: Volhynia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia the Orthodoxy is prevalent. Outside of Western Ukraine the greatest in terms of Church property, clergy, and according to some estimates, faithful, is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). In the listed regions (and in particular among the Orthodox faithful in Galicia), this position is notably weaker, as the main rivals, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, have a far greater influence.
According to a 2016 survey of religion in Ukraine held by the Razumkov Center, 65.0% of the population in Donbass believe in Christianity (including 50.6% Orthodox, 11.9% who declared to be "simply Christians", and 2.5% who belonged to Protestant churches). Islam is the religion of 6% of the population of Donbass and Hinduism of the 0.6%, both the religions with a share of the population that is higher compared to other regions of Ukraine. People who declared to be not believers or believers in some other religions, not identifying in one of those listed, were 28.3% of the population.
The size of the Jewish population of Ukraine has varied over time. Jews are primarily an ethnicity, closely linked with the religion of Judaism. Jews in Ukraine are estimated to be between 100 and 300 thousands. However, ethnic Jews may be irreligious or practise other religions than Judaism. It is estimated than only 35-40% of the Jewish population of Ukraine is religious. Most observant Jews are believers of Orthodox Judaism, but there are as well communities of Chabad-Lubavitch and Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism.[39]
As of 2016, Islam was the religion of 1.1% of the population of Ukraine. Muslims are mostly concentrated in Donbass, where they make up 6.0% of the population.[2] In the same year, there are 229 registered Islamic organizations.[34] In Crimea, which in 2014 was annexed by Russia, Crimean Tatar Muslims make up to 15% of the population. A major part of the south steppes of modern Ukraine at a certain period of time were inhabited by Turkic peoples, most of whom were Muslims since the fall of the Khazar Khanate.
Abrahamic religions are those monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him. They constitute one of three major divisions in comparative religion, along with Indian religions (Dharmic) and East Asian religions (Taoic).
The three major Abrahamic faiths (in chronological order of revelation) are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some strict definitions of what constitutes an Abrahamic religion include only these three faiths. However, there are many other religions incorporating Abrahamic doctrine, theology, genealogy and history into their own belief systems.
American civil religion is a sociological theory that a nonsectarian quasi-religious faith exists within the United States with sacred symbols drawn from national history. Scholars have portrayed it as a cohesive force, a common set of values that foster social and cultural integration. The very heavy emphasis on nondenominational religious themes is quite distinctively American and the theory is designed to explain this. The concept goes back to the 19th century, but in current form, the theory was developed by sociologist Robert Bellah in 1967 in his article, "Civil Religion in America". The topic soon became the major focus at religious sociology conferences and numerous articles and books were written on the subject. The debate reached its peak with the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976. There is a viewpoint that some Americans have come to see the document of the United States Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights as cornerstones of a type of civic or civil religion or political religion. Political sociologist Anthony Squiers argues that these texts act as the sacred writ of the American civil religion because they are used as authoritative symbols in what he calls the politics of the sacred. The Politics of the Sacred, according to Squiers are "the attempt to define and dictate what is in accord with the civil religious sacred and what is not. It is a battle to define what can and cannot be and what should and should not be tolerated and accepted in the community, based on its relation to that which is sacred for that community."
Article 83 clause six, in what is commonly referred to as the Imperative mandate stated ""According to election results and on the basis of a common ground achieved between various political positions, a coalition of parliamentary factions shall be formed in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to include a majority of People’s Deputies of Ukraine within the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine"".
According to a 2016 survey of religion in Ukraine held by the Razumkov Center, approximately 73.5% of the population of central Ukraine declared to be believers, while 4.8% declared to be non-believers, and 2.6% declared to be atheist. Of the total population, 86.5% were Christians (76.7% Eastern Orthodox, 6.5% simply Christians, 1.9% Latin Rite Catholics, 1.0% members of various Protestant churches, and 0.4% members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), 0.3% were Jewish, and 0.1% were Muslims. Not religious and other believers not identifying with any of the listed major religious institutions constituted about 12.8% of the population.
The Crimean Tatars are the only indigenous Muslim ethnic group in the country. The Nogays, another Muslim group who lived in the steppes of southern Ukraine, emigrated to Turkey in the 18th-19th century. In addition, there are Muslim communities in all major Ukrainian cities representing Soviet-era migrants from Muslim backgrounds. There are approximately 150 mosques in Ukraine. Many Muslim mosques use the Crimean Tatar language, Arabic, Azeri, the Tatar language and Russian.
A third criticism of the world religions paradigm is that it encourages an uncritical and "sui generis" model of 'religion'. It presents each of the 'world religions' in an abstracted and essentialised form, failing to take account of hybridization. For instance, in teaching about Christianity it does not refer to reincarnation, because this is not typically regarded as a Christian doctrine, and yet there are Christians who profess a belief in reincarnation.
A fourth criticism is that in choosing to focus attention on the "major" religions, it makes a value judgement as to what constitutes "major" and what does not. 
The Bahá'í Faith in Ukraine began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Ukraine, as part of Russia, would have had indirect contact with the Bahá'í Faith as far back as 1847. Following the Ukrainian diasporas, succeeding generations of ethnic Ukrainians became Bahá'ís and some have interacted with Ukraine previous to development of the religion in the country. There are currently around 1,000 Bahá'ís in Ukraine in 13 communities.
Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school is the largest non-Christian religion in Ukraine, and the majority of Ukrainian Muslims are Crimean Tatars. Other Turkic peoples indigenous to Ukraine, predominantly found in South and south-east Ukraine, practice other forms of Islam. These include Volga Tatars, Azeris, North Caucasian ethnic groups and Uzbeks. In 2012 an estimated 500,000 Muslims lived in Ukraine, including 300,000 Crimean Tatars. In February 2016 Said Ismagilov, the mufti of Ummah, counted one million Muslims in Ukraine.
Ukraine had 840,000 Jews in 1959, a decrease of almost 70% from 1941 (within Ukraine's current borders). Ukraine's Jewish population declined significantly during the Cold War. In 1989, Ukraine's Jewish population was only slightly more than half of what it was thirty years earlier (in 1959). The overwhelming majority of the Jews who remained in Ukraine in 1989 left Ukraine and moved to other countries (mostly to Israel) in the 1990s during and after the collapse of Communism.
According to a 2016 survey of religion in Ukraine held by the Razumkov Center, 73.5% of the population in Eastern Ukraine were Christians (63.2% Eastern Orthodox, 8.1% simply Christians, 1.0% Protestants, and 0.3% Latin Rite Catholics), 0.5% were Muslims, 0.3% were Jewish, and 0.3% were Hindus. Not religious and other believers not identifying with any of the listed major religious institutions constituted about 24.7% of the population. It also showed that approximately 55.6% of the population of eastern Ukraine (which in Razumkov's mapping excluded Donbass and consisted of the regions immediately to the west of it) declared to be believers, while 13.4% declared to be undecided or non-believers, and 3.5% declared to be atheist. 
A 2007 survey by the Razumkov Centre asked "Would you like to have your region separated from Ukraine and joined another state?" In eastern Ukraine, 77.9% of respondents disagreed, 10.4% agreed, and the rest were undecided. 
In a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in the first half of February 2014, 25.8% of those polled in East Ukraine believed "Ukraine and Russia must unite into a single state", nationwide this percentage was 12.5%.
Sheikh Said Ismagilov (Ismagilov Serhiy Valeriyovych) - Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine “Ummah”, one of Muslim spiritual leaders of Ukraine, President of All-Ukrainian Public Organization “Ukrainian Center for Islamic Studies”, the Head of Muslim Community “Nur” of Donetsk city, the member of Public Organization “Al-Amal” of Donetsk city. Ukrainian scientist majoring in Islamic studies, the member of Donetsk regional cell of Ukrainian Association of Religion Researchers (UARR), the member of a board of directors of Center for Religious Studies and International Spiritual Relationships, the member of Council of Churches and Religious Organizations of Donetsk Region, lecturer of theology and religion in Ukrainian Islamic Institute (2001-2002), prominent public figure.
Islam is the fourth-largest religion in Ukraine, representing 0.6%–0.9% of the population. The religion has a long history in Ukraine dating back to the establishment of the Crimean Khanate in the 15th century.
Total civilian losses during World War II and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated at seven million, including over a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen and by their many local Ukrainian supporters in the western part of Ukraine. Ukraine had 840,000 Jews in 1959, a decrease of almost 70% from 1941 (within Ukraine's current borders). Ukraine's Jewish population declined significantly during the Cold War. In 1989, Ukraine's Jewish population was only slightly more than half of what it was thirty years earlier (in 1959). The majority of the Jews who remained in Ukraine in 1989 left Ukraine and moved to other countries (mostly to Israel) in the 1990s during and after the collapse of Communism. Antisemitic graffiti and violence against Jews are still a problem in Ukraine.
The two largest Christian churches of the country are the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), a Protestant confederation of United Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed) churches. The two churches together comprised 54% of the population in 2017, of whom 28.2% belonged to the Catholic Church and 26.1% to the Evangelical Church. In 2016, the Orthodox Church constituted ~2% of the population and other minor Christian churches (including Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter Day Saints, other Protestant denominations, and others), formed 1–1.5%.
Demographics of religion in Germany vary greatly by region and age. A majority of Germans under 25 years-old claim to not believe in any religion. Non-religious people (including atheists and agnostics) represent the majority in some of Germany's major cities, including Berlin and Hamburg, and the absolute majority of 70–80% of the population in all the eastern states of what between 1949 and 1990 used to be the German Democratic Republic; by contrast, rural areas of the western states of what in the same period used to be the Federal Republic of Germany are more religious, and some rural areas are highly religious.
According to a 2016 survey of religion in Ukraine conducted by the Razumkov Center, around 65.7% of the population of southern Ukraine declared to be believers in any religion, while 7.4% declared to be non-believers, and 3.2% declared to be atheists and agnostics. the study also found that 77.6% of the total Southern Ukraine population declared to be Christians (71.0% Eastern Orthodox, 5.1% simply Christians, 0.5% Latin Rite Catholics, 0.53% members of various Protestant churches, 0.5% members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), and 0.5% were Jewish. Not religious and other believers not identifying with any of the listed major religious institutions constituted about 24.7% of the population.
History of Christianity in Ukraine History of the Jews in Ukraine Religion by country Catholic Church in Ukraine Protestantism in Ukraine Ukrainian Bible Society Bahá'í Faith in Ukraine Islam in Ukraine
The Bahá'í Faith in Ukraine began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Ukraine, as part of the Russian Empire, would have had indirect contact with the Bahá'í Faith as far back as 1847. Following the Ukrainian diasporas, succeeding generations of ethnic Ukrainians became Bahá'ís and some have interacted with Ukraine previous to development of the religion in the country. There are currently around 1000 Bahá'ís in Ukraine, in 13 communities.