Seven in 10 Europeans say they believe in God but regional disparities abound, with 97 percent of Poles but only 37 percent of Czechs saying they believe, according to an opinion poll released Wednesday. The survey, to appear in the February 24 edition of Reader's Digest, was conducted in 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.

After Poland, Russia emerged as the country with the most believers at 87 percent, followed by Austria (84 percent) and Spain (80 percent). While 71 percent of Europeans said they believed in God, they were more sceptical about the prospects of life after death, with only 53 percent saying such a life exists.

Less than half of all respondents (43 percent) said they believed that religion was necessary for people to "make the distinction between good and evil". Reader's Digest said surveys were conducted in each country by nationally recognised polling institutes.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005