Most Popular Religions In Africa

Africa is a deeply religious place with a higher percentage than any other continent claiming affiliation to one religion or another. In such a diverse region, it’s no surprise that the number of religions practiced far exceeds any top 10 list’s reach, especially considering the wide prevalence of small traditional religions that exist within particular tribes in particular regions. Here are the most popular religions in Africa according to a 2010 survey conducted by Britannica.com.

Sources: Britannica.com, Wikipedia.org (numbers are estimates)

Christianity

488,880,000

All affiliations of Christianity are included in one category for the purposes of this list: Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Anglicans, Independent and non-affiliated Christians. Smaller sects are also included such as Unitarians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, and Religious Science. But also prominent are sects of Christianity that are unique to Africa or most prominent on the African continent, such as Pentecostalism and other African-Christian denominations.

Islam

421,938,820

Mirroring the statistics of the rest of the world, the Muslim population in Africa is predominantly Sunni, but there is a large Shia population as well. Additionally, Sufism has a large presence, or a more mystical dimension of Islam that is sometimes considered its own philosophy altogether. Unsurprisingly, the largest pockets of Muslims live in Northern Africa, but the Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, and West Africa also have large populations. In comparison, very few Muslims live in South Africa, where Christianity and other traditional religions have a larger following.

Traditional African Religions

Approximately 100 million, or 10 percent of Africa’s population

The indigenous religious beliefs and practices of African people include various traditional religions. It is difficult to generalize these indigenous religions due to the diversity of African cultures, but they do have some characteristics in common. Almost all are oral rather than scriptural, they include belief in a supreme being, belief in spirits and other divinities, veneration of ancestors, use of magic, and traditional medicine.

Traditional African religions have been passed down from one generation to another orally and can be found through art, rituals and festivals, beliefs and customs, names of people and places, songs and dances, proverbs, and myths. The extent of adherence to traditional religion in Africa is hard to estimate, due to melding practices with Christianity and Islam.

Hinduism

2,945,000

Though only one country in Africa (Mauritius) has Hinduism as its dominant religion, it has a strong presence throughout the continent that can be felt especially in East Africa. Initially taking root in the late 19th century following British colonization, Hinduism arrived with many Indians brought to Southern and Eastern Africa as indentured servants. Even after colonial rule ended, many facets of Indian culture remained, as did descendants of former servants. Indo-African communities are extremely common throughout the continent (particularly in former British colonies), and the Hindu community is continuing to grow.

Bahá’í Faith

2,178,000

Some of the largest populations of Bahá’í in the world exist in Africa, primarily in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Zambia, and Mauritius. While they have also have a strong presence in Egypt (the country where they were arguably introduced to the continent) and Northern Africa at large, political strife resulted in their rights being taken away as a religious group, and they have struggled since to regain their rights and societal standing. As a result, Bahá’í followers have flourished more in sub-Saharan Africa, where wide-scale growth made them the third-largest religion of the region.

Others

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