More than 100 million Africans still adhere to the traditional African religions. 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UK-based internet entrepreneur with love for the great continent of Africa. Christianity has become one of the accepted religion in Africa with over 500 million Christians of different affiliations, Catholics, Anglican, Pentecostal, Jehovah witness and so on. Strong Jain communities exist in Kenya in particular — one of the first countries to receive Jain immigrants — and temples in Nairobi and Mombasa organize cultural and religious activities year round. One doesn’t necessarily associate Judaism with a strong African heritage, but some of the oldest Jewish populations in the world can be found on the continent. 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. by. Islam got its start in Africa during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. Alongside Christianity, Islam is the biggest religion on the continent. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Top 10 Most Popular Religions In Africa, World’s Biggest Emerald: African Miner Finds 1.1-Kilogram Emerald at Kagem in Zambia, Cristiano Ronaldo Overtakes Selena Gomez, Becomes The Most Followed Person On Instagram. There are quite a few famous churches and monasteries located throughout the continent. Then there are several other religions that are tribal. 2. 2. Meanwhile, sailors and merchants making port in West Africa continued to preach the faith. While the largest Buddhist population on the continent lives in South Africa (somewhat surprising, given its geographical distance from Asia), it only makes up between 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent of the population — though it has been shown that this number is growing by the year. There are quite a few famous churches and monasteries located throughout the continent. A couple of examples include Zoroastrianism and Rastafarianism. Atheists are scattered throughout the continent in almost equal numbers, from those opposed to all organized religion to those who harbor some skepticism but still identify with certain sects of religion. Though many don’t consider atheism a religion, the high number of Africans who identify as atheists make it important to include in this list. No doubts why Islam is the second largest and most popular religions in the world. Trending In the Republic of Mauritius, an African island nation in the Indian Ocean, 54.4% of the population are Hindu. Roughly half of all Buddhists in the continent reside in South Africa. Fearing persecution among the Arabs, his disciples fled to Africa where they could practice their religion in safety. Conclusion: Africa is a Continent of Spiritual Richness and Diversity. There are quite a few famous churches and monasteries located throughout the continent. The most infrequent participation in services were noted for individuals that said they followed ancestral, tribal, animist or other traditional African religions. Na wa ooo, Your email address will not be published. Interestingly enough, there is actually a country where it is the most popular religion. If you’re asking what is the predominant faith of the whole continent of Africa today, it’s Christianity, with Islam a close second. The number of atheists is lower in Africa than in many other parts of the world, particularly the West and Asia. Islam then spread further as Caliph Umar expanded the Arab empire through the Sinai Peninsula. I never knew Islam is this popular in Africa ooo. Furthermore, there is a large population of Sufism that differentiated with other Muslims because of their philosophy. About 420 million people practice it. Population: Approximately 100 million, or 10 percent of Africa’s population. Share Tweet. We use cookies to personalise ads and to analyse our traffic. However, there is a good percentage of the Shia population too. Today, Christianity, Islam and Bahá’í are the major religions, but if you visit the continent, you may also encounter practitioners of indigenous faiths, as well as Buddhists, Hindus, and followers of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Rastafarianism. The churches in this amazing UNESCO World Heritage site were constructed through a process of excavation, and are among the most unique structures in the world. Share Tweet Get Stories like this. A couple examples include the Monastery of Saint Anthony, founded in 356 AD in Egypt, and the Church of Our Lady Marion of Zion in Ethiopia, founded in … Be sure to check out our articles ranking Africa’s most beautiful churches and mosques before you plan a tour of Africa’s religious destinations! In fact, the faith got its start on the continent all the way back in the 1 st century AD. There are numerous different religions practiced in Africa which do not get a lot of attention—just as there are everywhere. Alongside Armenia, it is believed that Ethiopia may have been the first country on the planet to accept the religion.. Christianity. Bahá’í is the third most popular Abrahamic faith in Africa, following Christianity and Islam. by While reading the articles on our site, you have probably noticed that there are quite a few which focus on old and beautiful churches, monasteries, and other holy buildings and sites. Hot Most of the people practising Islam live in Northern Africa, the Swahili coast in Kenya as well as West Africa. As you might guess, just as there are many beautiful churches throughout Africa, there are also many stunning mosques. Take it or leave it, Africa is profoundly established in religion, so much that it affects way of life, expressions, culture and … Confusing numbers have been shown for Northern Africa, given the high number of Asian workers, but it is unclear how many of these are permanent residents or citizens. This is the second most popular religion in the continent. Smaller sects are also included such as Unitarians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, and Religious Science. In fact, the faith got its start on the continent all the way back in the 1stcentury AD. Those who practice Hinduism in Africa are largely (but certainly not exclusively) confined to the Indo-African communities where it has been passed down since the times of the British Empire. – Advertisment – The indigenous religious beliefs and practices of African people include various traditional religions. SHARES. Written by Keren Mikva Dec 17, 2013. How Africa As kids, we learn a few things about Christianity especially the story of the birth of Jesus. Ashkenazi Jews live in South Africa, where many Lithuanians fled during the Holocaust, and strong Jewish communities grew up throughout the country, especially in Cape Town. Vodun gave rise to a number of different diaspora faiths, throughout the world collectively known as “Voodoo” or “Vudú.”. 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. Finally, small pockets of groups are scattered throughout the continent that have developed their own traditions, but are rooted in Jewish tradition and trace back to ancient Israel. Indo-African communities are extremely common throughout the continent (particularly in former British colonies), and the Hindu community is continuing to grow. African religions, religious beliefs and practices of the peoples of Africa.It should be noted that any attempt to generalize about the nature of “African religions” risks wrongly implying that there is homogeneity among all African cultures.In fact, Africa is a vast continent encompassing both geographic variation and tremendous cultural diversity. In comparison, very few Muslims live in South Africa, where Christianity and other traditional religions have a larger following. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Your email address will not be published. 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. Most of Africa's organized religions were brought to the country from Europeans and other foreign settlers. Though it was introduced to the continent later as a result of immigration from India in the 19th century, Jainism has grown in Africa. Christianity. Even after colonial rule ended, many facets of Indian culture remained, as did descendants of former servants. 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. Required fields are marked *, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

, Sorry, you have Javascript Disabled! South Africa h… Africa is a continent which is steeped in spirituality; this should come as no surprise since it is regarded as the cradle of humankind. Some examples of African traditional religions include the Yoruba and Igbo of Nigeria, the Serer of Senegal, the Akan of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and Vodun, a religion practiced by the Gbe peoples. Most of Africa's organized religions were brought to the country from Europeans and other foreign settlers. Baha’i House of Worship, Kampala, Uganda – Image credit to Bxtst – CC BY-SA 3.0. The most famous by far however is the Lalibela church complex, also in Ethiopia. It is also worth mentioning syncretism here. It was also esti… Other strong Buddhist communities exist in countries along the Indian Ocean, and Mauritius has a high Buddhist population as well. This may lead you to wonder what the most popular religions in Africa are. The Islam of Morroco, Algeria, Libya, a,d the rest of Northwest Africa is distinctive from Wahabiism, or Sunni Islam, Shi'a made few if any inroads in Africa. Nearly half (47%) of Africans are Muslims, comprising a quarter (possibly as high as a third, according to some estimates) of the entire global Muslim population. According to statistics, the population of Muslims in the African continent, as with other continents, is mostly Sunni. Traditional African religion is still popular throughout Africa and stems from the beliefs of Central and West African ancestors. They have both spread and replaced indigenous African religions, but are often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems. Why hasn’t Hinduism spread more throughout the continent? , Mormons, Jehovah ’ s population October 30, 2018, 9:07 am back in the st... Listed here Image credit to Ivan Fourie – CC BY-SA 3.0 philosophy altogether the people practising Islam in. 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