In the Northern Ireland, _____ percent of the population is Protestants.
Protestantism is the most popular religion practiced in the United Kingdom. For centuries, it has played a primary role in shaping political and religious life throughout the region. Although a German, Martin Luther, was responsible for the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century, the United Kingdom, and especially England, developed the Reformation further and produced many of its most notable figures. Protestantism influenced many of England's monarchs in the 16th and 17th centuries, including Henry VIII, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, and James I. Violence was commonplace, and persecution was largely dependent on whether the monarch was Catholic or Protestant. Reformers and early church leaders were greatly persecuted in the first centuries of the Reformation, but the non-conformist movement survived. As a result of the Reformation, Protestantism is the most widely practiced religion in the modern United Kingdom, although participation in the church has weakened in recent years.