religion of Western Germany, excluding Hamburg, which has a non-religious plurality. Northern Germany has traditionally been dominated by Protestantism, especially Lutheranism. The two northernmost provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have the largest percentage of self-reported Lutherans in Germany. Southern Germany has a Catholic majority, but also a significant Lutheran Protestant population (especially in Northern Württemberg and some parts of Baden and Franconia (Northern Bavaria)), in contrast to the almost entirely Protestant Northern Germany. Irreligion is predominant in Eastern Germany, which was the least religious region amongst 30 countries surveyed in a study in 2012. Personal beliefs According to a survey by Pew Research Center in 2017, 60% of German adult population believe in God, while 36% do not believe in God (9% don't believe in God but in a higher power, 27% do not believe in God or any higher power): Christianity At its foundation in 1871, about two-thirds of the population of the German Empire belonged to a state Protestant church; in 2020 the Evangelical Church in Germany was the faith of 24.3%. In 1871, one-third of the population was Roman Catholic; in 2020 its membership was 26.7%. Other faiths have existed in the state, but never achieved the demographic significance and cultural impact of these denominations. As of 2020, Christianity, with around 44.9 million members, was the largest religion in Germany (53.9% of the population) Consequently, a majority of the German people belong to a Christian community, although many of them take no active part in church life. About 1.9% of the population was Orthodox Christian in 2020, and about 1.1% followed other forms of Christianity (including other Protestant churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and others). Protestantism Source for all data: REMID Evangelical Church in Germany — 20,713,000 (2019) — 24.9% of the German population Free Baptist and Mennonite Groups — 290,000 (2007) Baptists (mostly Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany; see Baptists in Germany) — 80,195 (2020) Methodists — 52,031 (2016) Pentecostals (Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden) — 51,896 (2015) Mennonites — 44,714 (2017) Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden — 41,203 (2017) Seventh-day Adventist Church — 34,811 (2014) Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church — 33,175 (2014) Independent African Churches — 30,000 (2005) Evangelical Lutheran Free Church — 1,300 (2017) Catholicism Catholic churches in full communion: Roman Catholic Church in Germany — 22,600,000 (2019) — 27.2% of the German population Maronite Church Catholics — 6,000