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Buddhists, also known as Bauddha, are people who adhere to Buddhism, an Indian religious and philosophical tradition founded by the Buddha in the 6th or 5th century BCE in the Indian subcontinent. Buddhist identity may be religious, cultural, or secular, encompassing ordained members of the monastic community (Saṅgha), lay practitioners, and individuals who adopt Buddhist ethical principles, meditation, or mindfulness practices without formal ritual affiliation.
Buddhists are broadly classified into two main categories: Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunīs, who are ordained monastics and serve as religious teachers, and Upāsakas and Upāsikās, who are lay followers living a household life while supporting and practicing the teachings of Buddhism.
In ancient India, followers of the Buddha were sometimes identified as Shakyas, after the clan into which the Buddha was born. The English word Buddhist emerged in the early 19th century, formed from "Buddha" and the suffix "-ist", denoting an adherent of a belief system; its earliest recorded usage in English dates to 1810.
Buddhism comprises numerous schools and traditions, alongside non-denominational and secular forms. The two largest traditions are Theravāda Buddhism, predominant in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, and Mahayana Buddhism, which is dominant in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
There are approximately 530 million Buddhists worldwide, accounting for about 7% of the global population. Nevertheless, Buddhism has gained cultural and intellectual influence in Western countries, driven in part by growing interest in meditation and mindfulness practices.
By absolute numbers, Thailand constitutes the largest share of the global Buddhist population, followed by China and Myanmar. Outside of Buddhist-majority countries, sizable Buddhist populations are found in India and the United States.
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