Religious identity of population of Belarus depending on a type of locality and confessional affiliation

Abstract

The a rticle presents a n a nalysis of religious identity depending on the t ype of locality, region, confessional affiliation, age of respondents. Global trends are taken into account, which affects identification processes, secularization urbanization, religious diversity in large cities, and leads to the formation of a special type of urban culture, characterized by the simultaneous decline and growth of religious consciousness, blurring the boundaries of the religious and non-religious way of life of citizens. Based on the data of a sociological survey conducted in 2021 by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, a comparative analysis of the confessional, religious structure of various population groups has been carried out, the level of trust in the main Christian churches has been revealed. The conclusion has been made about the specifics of the own way of development of the Belarusian society, which is characterized by wide opportunities for worldview and identification choice in large cities, where a certain part of the inhabitants consider themselves free from religious influences.