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Historically the Netherlands is characterized by multitude of religions. Although religious diversity remains to the present day, there is a major decline of religious adherence.

Contents 1 History 2 Major Denominations 2.1 Roman Catholicism 2.2 Protestant Churches in the Netherlands 2.3 Islam 2.4 Judaism 3 Demographics 4 References

Main article: History of religion in the Netherlands

The Netherlands became independent from Spain in 1648, after the Eighty Years' War. The independence was partially religiously motivated: during the Reformation the Dutch had become Anabaptist, Mennonite and Calvinist forms of Protestantism. These religious movements were suppressed by the Spanish, who supported the Counter Reformation. After independence the Netherlands adopted Calvinism as a state religion, but practiced religious tolerance towards non-Calvinists. It became a haven for Jewish and Protestant refugees from Flanders, France (Huguenots), Germany and England (Pilgrims for instance). There have always been considerable differences between orthodox and liberal interpretations of Calvinism: between Arminianism and Gomarism in the 17th century; and between the Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in the late 19th century. Catholics, who dominated the southern provinces, were not allowed to practice their religion openly. They emancipated during the late 19th and early 20th century through pillarization, by forming their own social communities. In the 20th century the major religions began to decline: most of the Dutch Jews did not survive the Holocaust; and in the 1960s and 1970s the Protestantism and Catholicism began to decline. There is one major exception: Islam which grew considerably as the result of immigration. Linked with the decline of religion is the Dutch adoption of liberal social policies towards abortion, euthanasia, prostitution and same-sex marriage.

Main article: Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands

Currently Roman Catholicism is the single largest religion of the Netherlands, forming the religious home of some 27,0 % of the Dutch people. The number of Catholics is declining and many people who identify as Roman Catholics do not attend mass often: 343.000 people or 8% does.^[1] Most Catholics live in the southern provinces of North Brabant and Limburg where they make up the majority of the population. The regions West Friesland, Zeeuws Vlaanderen and Twente and the cities Utrecht and Nijmegen are also in plurality catholic.^[2] The Archbishop of Utrecht Adrianus Johannes Simonis is the highest Catholic authority.

Main article: Protestant Churches in the Netherlands

The Protestant Churches of the Netherlands (PKN) forms the largest protestant denomination, with some 12% of the population. It was formed in 2004 as a merger of the two major strands of Calvinism the Dutch Reformed Church (which represented roughly 8,5% of the population) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (3,7% of the population) and a smaller Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Netherlands (0,1%). Since the 1970s these three churches had seen a major decline in adherents and had began to work together. The Church embraces religious pluralism.

A large number of protestant churches, mostly orthodox Calvinist splits, stayed out of the PKN, they represent some 6% of the population.

Main article: Islam in the Netherlands

Islam is a relatively new and fast growing religion in the Netherlands. Its numbers began to rise after the 1970s as the result of immigration. Migrants from former Dutch colonies, such as Surinam and Indonesia were muslim, as well as migrant workers from Turkey and Morocco. During the 1990s the Netherlands opened its borders for islamic refugees from countries like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Of the immigrant ethnic groups, 99% of Moroccans; 90% of Turks; 69% of Asians; 64% of other Africans and 12% of Surinamese were muslims.^[3] Muslims form a diverse group. Social tensions between native Dutch and migrant muslims began to rise in the early 21st century, with the rise of populist politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder of Theo van Gogh by an orthodox Muslim, Mohammed Bouyeri.

Main article: History of Jews in the Netherlands

For most of Dutch history Judaism, although a minor religion, took a special place in Dutch society: because of its social tolerance the Dutch Republic formed a haven for Jews, who were persecuted becuase of their religion throughout Europe. Prominent Dutch Jews include Baruch Spinoza, a 17th century philosopher, Aletta Jacobs, a 19th century feminist and Henri Polak, who founded both the socialist party SDAP and the labour union NVV. The large majority of Jews lived in Amsterdam, where they formed one eight of the population. During the Second World War, in which the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany, the majority of Jews (about 70%) were taken away and perished in the Holocaust.

In the following table one can see the complexity of religion in the Netherlands: while 45% of the Dutch population is not member of any religious community, the other 55% are distributed over a diversity of religions. 45% of the Dutch population is affiliated with a Christian church. The largest group, 27,0%, is Roman Catholic. The rest is distributed over a multitude of protestant churches. The largest of which is the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, which in fact is an alliance of three Churches, two Calvinist and one Lutheran. Some 12% of the population is member of this Church. Smaller Churches have either been the result of conflicts within the Calvinist Church or been imported, mainly from the United States. The last 10% of the population is member of another religion, including Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Membership of Religious Communities^[4]

Religion	Orientation	Adherents	Year	Population (%) (estimate)
Christianity		7,500,000	*	roughly 45 %
Catholicism		4,413,000	2005	27,0%
Catholicism	Roman Catholic	4406000	2005	27,0%
Old Catholic Church	Old Catholic	5981	2004	0,0%
Free Catholic Church in the Netherlands	Free Catholic Church	800	2004	0,0%
Protestant		3033831	*	18,6%
Protestant Church in the Netherlands	Lutheran and Calvinist	2,002,155	2004	12,3%
Dutch Reformed Church in Repaired Relation	Calvinist (Hervormd)	70,000	2005	0.4%
Continued Reformed Churches	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	3900	2005	0.0%
Christian Reformed Churches	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	74,853	2005	0.5%
Reformed Parishes	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	103272	2005	0.6%
Reformed Parishes in the Netherlands	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	21,708	2005	0.1%
Reformed Parishes (outside of relations)	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	3000	2005	0.0%
Reformed Parishes in the Netherlands (in repaired relations)	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	1250	2005	0.0%
Old Reformed Parishes in the Netherlands	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	18000	2005	0.1%
Free Old Reformed Parishes in the Netherlands	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	18000	2004	0.0%
Reformed Churches (liberated)	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	125970	2005	0.8%
Dutch Reformed Churches	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	315900	2004	1.9%
Continued Liberated Church	Calvinist (Gereformeerd)	1500	2005	0.0%
Mennonite Church in the Netherlands	Baptist (Doopsgezind)	9368	2005	0,1%
Remonstant Brotherhood	Baptist (Remonstrant)	4581	2005	0,0%
Union of Baptist Churches in the Netherlands	Baptist (Baptist)	11364	2004	0,1%
Brotherhood of Baptist Churches	Baptist (Baptist)	4200	2004	0,0%
Independent Free Baptist Churches	Baptist (Baptist)	4200	2004	0,0%
League of Free Evangelican Parishes	Lutheran	5821	2004	0.0%
Evangelican Brotherhood	Lutheran	12000	2005	0.1%
New Apostolic Church Netherlands	Pentecostal	11856	2004	0.1%
Apostolic Community	Pentecostal	18673	2004	0.1%
United Pentecostal and Evangelical Parishes	Pentecostal	19820	2004	0.1%
Other Pentecostal	Pentecostal	50830	2004	0.4%
Anglican Church in the Netherlands	Anglican	33000	2004	0.2%
Jehovah's Witnesses	Restorationist	29632	2004	0.2%
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Restorationist	7500	2004	0.0%
Seventh-day Adventist Church	Restorationist	4500	2004	0,0%
Gathering of Religious	Dispensationalism	10000	*	0.1%
Salvation Army	Methodism	6840	2005	0.0%
Geredja Indjili Maluku	unknown	25000	2004	0.2%
Christian Church Netherlands (Nordic Brotherhood)	unknown	2100	2004	0.0%
Quaker	*	200	*	0.0%
Liberal Religious Community NPB	*	5338	2004	0,0%
Zwingli Union	*	150	*	0.0%
Eastern Orthodox		22000	2004	0,1%
Eastern Orthodox	Orthodox	22000	2004	0,1%
Islam		944000	2004	5.8%
Islam	Islam	944000	2004	5.8%
Judaism		35900	*	0.2%
Dutch Israelite Church	Judaism	5000	*	0.0%
Union of Religious Liberal Jews in the Netherlands	Judaism	3500	*	0.0%
Portuguese Israelite Church	Judaism	600	*	0.0%
Hinduism		215000	2004	1.3%
Hinduism	Hinduism	215000	*	1.3%
Buddhism		169000	2004	1.0%
Buddhism	Buddhism	169000	2004	1.0%
No religious affiliation		7230000	*	44,4%

1. ^ according to the University of Nijmegen insitute for ecclestical statistics website
2. ^ De Grote Bos Atlas 51st edition 1997 p.46
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ 2004 data drawn from 2007 SCP report