A:
Buddhism had its origins in India, but later Muslims and Hindus in India saw Buddhism as a mutual threat, and agreed to destroy the religion, thus few Buddhists can now be found in India or Pakistan. However, Buddhism was more successful elsewhere, spreading west through Afghanistan,east as far as Japan, and eventually into south-east Asia. By and large, both Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity spread peacefully as they moved through Asia, in stark contrast to Christianity in the West, once it became the religion of the Roman Empire. Both Christianity and Buddhism became established in China, but Christianity did not survive there, with Buddhism becoming the dominant religion, alongside Daoism and Confucianism.
Philip Jenkins (The Lost History of Christianity) reports that in 782, the Indian Buddhist missionary Prajna arrived in the Chinese imperial capital, Chang'an, but was unable to translate the Sanskrit sutras he had brought with him into either Chinese or any other familiar tongue. He duly consulted a Nestorian bishop, and Buddhist and Nestorian scholars worked amiably together for some years to translate seven copious volumes of Buddhist wisdom into the Chinese language.
Like all religions, Buddhism evolved over time, particularly under the influence of Tibetan and Chinese traditional beliefs.
In Vietnam, a curious syncretistic faith known as Caodaism, combining Catholic, Buddhist and Daoist beliefs, developed and won a following in the 1920s. It was granted legal recognition in 1997.
Buddhism
Buddhism has its origins in India and its development occurred in India and the far East (Japan China etc.). Christianity originated in the middle East from Jewish source materials and developed in Europe.
Christianity, which they spread to the Near East during the Crusades.
About 5000 miles or more or less
It started in Rome (Not the Middle East) and spread quickly.
*Note that these are scholar estimates* Judaism-500 BCE Islam-610 CE Christianity-33 CE Buddhism-490-560 BCE
The farthest west reported is till Herat, Afghanistan. In east, it reached Japan.
East Asia has no one dominant religion. Buddhism is certainly the most common religion, but since Buddhism lacks a strong orthopraxis and a strong orthodoxos, it can be mixed with local beliefs, such as Dao, Confucianism, Shinto, and Cao Dai. Additionally, many East Asians follow Christianity and Islam as informed by Buddhism. It is also worth noting that there are different general strains of Buddhism, like Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism. It is not a monolithic religion any more than Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism.
It first spread to China and Sri Lanka. From China it spread to Tibet, Japan and Korea. From Sri Lanka it spread to the rest of South East Asia.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were all founded in southwest Asia, more specifically the Middle East.
The spread of Christianity had political ramifications for the Roman Empire. The empire split into two, Constantinople to the east and Rome to the west
Yes. It's a South Asian belief which origionates in India and later spread across South East, and East Asia.