text: how many branches does christanity have and which of them are the least spoken of or heard about?   within christianity numerous distinct groups have developed with beliefs that vary widely by culture and place. since the reformation christianity is usually represented as being divided into three main branches:  roman catholicism: the roman catholic church, the largest single body — which includes several eastern catholic communities — as well as certain smaller communities (e.g., the old-catholics), with more than 1.085 billion baptized members.   eastern christianity: oriental orthodox churches, the assyrian church of the east, and the eastern orthodox churches (including western orthodox churches which preserve latin practices while accepting orthodox theology), with a combined membership of more than 240 million baptized members.    protestantism: numerous denominations and groups such as anglicans, lutherans, reformed, evangelical, charismatic, presbyterians, baptists, methodists, anabaptists, and pentecostals. the oldest of these separated from the roman catholic church in the 16th-century protestant reformation, followed in many cases by further divisions. some protestants identify themselves simply as christian, or born-again christian. others, particularly among anglicans and in neo-lutheranism, identify themselves as being "both catholic and protestant". worldwide total ranges from 592 to 600 million.    other denominations and churches which self-identify as christian but which distance themselves from the above classifications together claim around 275 million members. these include african indigenous churches with up to 110 million members (estimates vary widely), the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (also called mormons) with more than 12 million members[5], jehovah's witnesses with approximately 6.6 million members[6], and other groups[7]. most of these groups were founded by protestants.