Polls: Russia Is the Most Pious Nation in Europe; Only Four Percent of Russians Are Muslims

Two polls -- released this week -- show that Russia is the most pious nation in Europe, most atheists are male, and Orthodox Christians outnumber Muslims overwhelmingly, according to the Orthodox Church Info Blog.

A record 82 percent of respondents acknowledged that they believe in God, according to the polls conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation and an obscure religious research group called Sreda.Atheists accounted for 13 percent of the respondents, and 68 percent of atheists were men.

Only 50 percent said they belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the polls. The Orthodox Church usually puts the figure around 70 percent. Only 4 percent of Russians called themselves Muslims.

The polls indicated that Russia is the most religious nation in Europe, as it showed that 56 percent believed in "God or a Supreme Being," compared to 51 percent in Poland, 50 percent in Italy, and 18 percent in Sweden.