Africa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Religion=== [[File:Religion distribution Africa crop.png|A map showing religious distribution in Africa|thumb|upright=1.1]] {{Main|Religion in Africa}} {{See also||African divination}} While Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs, the majority of the people respect African religions or parts of them. However, in formal surveys or census, most people will identify with major religions that came from outside the continent, mainly through colonisation. There are several reasons for this, the main one being the colonial idea that African religious beliefs and practices are not good enough. Religious beliefs and statistics on religious affiliation are difficult to come by since they are often a sensitive topic for governments with mixed religious populations.<ref name=stanford>{{cite web|url=http://library.stanford.edu/africa/religion.html|title=African Religion on the Internet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902182749/http://library.stanford.edu/africa/religion.html |archive-date=2 September 2006 |url-status=dead |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/world/rising-muslim-power-in-africa-causes-unrest-in-nigeria-and-elsewhere-963950.html|date=1 November 2001|title=Rising Muslim Power in Africa Causing Unrest in Nigeria and Elsewhere|first=Normitsu|last=Onishi|work=The New York Times|access-date=1 March 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> According to the ''[[World Book Encyclopedia]]'', [[Islam in Africa|Islam]] and [[Christianity in Africa|Christianity]] are the two largest religions in Africa. Islam is most prevalent in Northern Africa, and is the state religion of many North African countries, such as Algeria, where 99% of the population practices Islam.<ref>{{Citation |title=Algeria |date=2024-04-11 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/algeria/#people-and-society |access-date=2024-04-16 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}</ref> The majority of people in most governments in Southern, Southeast, and Central Africa, as well as in a sizable portion of the Horn of Africa and West Africa, identify as [[Christians]]. The [[Copts|Coptic Christians]] constitute a sizable minority in [[Egypt]], and the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] is the largest church in Ethiopia, with 36 million and 51 million adherents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Center |first=Pew Research |date=2017-11-08 |title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}</ref> According to [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], 45% of the population are Christians, 40% are Muslims, and 10% follow [[Traditional African religions|traditional religions]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} A small number of Africans are [[Hindu]], [[Buddhist]], [[Confucianist]], [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]], or [[Judaism in Africa|Jewish]]. There is also a minority of people in Africa who are [[Irreligion in Africa|irreligious]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page