Irreligion in Kazakhstan

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Share of nonbelievers by rayons and cities 2009 Kazakhstan atheists 2009.png
Share of nonbelievers by rayons and cities 2009

According to the 2021 census, only 2.25% of the population said they were Atheist, a decrease from the 2009 Census. [1] According to one study, Atheists constituted 18.8% of those who participated in the 2019 study, which was conducted by a government-affiliated think tank. However, another 2019 CRA study shows that 92.8 percent of the population self-identified as religious. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Religious affiliation of the population of Kazakhstan
(estimate 2020 [7] )
Religious affiliation of the respondersPopulation
Share
of the population
%
Islam 12,870,00070.19
Christianity 4,130,00026.17
Judaism < 10,0000.03
Buddhism 60,0000.09
Other religions 90,0000.19
No religion 720,0002.81
Did not answer< 10,0000.51
Total17,880,000100.00
Religious affiliation of ethnic groups in Kazakhstan
(preliminary results of the 2009 census [8] )
Ethnic groupIslamChristianityJudaismBuddhismother religionsunbelieversdid not answertotal
Kazakhs99287053917219297491612985112608510096763
Russians54277347674814527301011230935286113793764
Uzbeks45266817943428781673722 456997
Ukrainians31343021991084974243293138333031
Uighurs221007114234336313771057224713
Tatars162496209134758123165694023204229
Germans28271455568966192249054774178409
Koreans52564954321111446138286155176100385
Turks96172290762032119997015
Azerbaijanis808642139161624158664785292
Belarusians5265993625920519876266476
Dungan513881914151917914851944
Kurds37667203116928514438325
Tajiks35473331263030712836277
Poles2353067514445248659834057
Chechens29448940631665336531431
Kirghiz2250020666435220023274
Other nationalities545338225412861433210132664233157215
All:11239176421423252811466336884515478101016009597

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">State atheism</span> Official promotion of atheism by a government

State atheism is the incorporation of hard atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. To some extent, it is a religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically linked to irreligion and the promotion of irreligion. State atheism may refer to a government's promotion of anti-clericalism, which opposes religious institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, including the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen. In some instances, religious symbols and public practices that were once held by religions were replaced with secularized versions of them. State atheism can also exist in a politically neutral fashion, in which case, it is considered non-secular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhism by country</span> Buddhism in the world

This list of Buddhism by country shows the distribution of the Buddhist religion, practiced by about 535 million people as of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church by country</span>

The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome ." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the "Temple of the Holy Spirit", among other names. According to Vatican II's Gaudium et spes, the "church has but one sole purpose–that the kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism by country</span> Hindu citizens in various countries

Hinduism has approximately 1.2 billion adherents worldwide. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity (31.5%) and Islam (23.3%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkistan (city)</span> City in Turkistan Region, Kazakhstan

Turkistan is a city and the administrative center of Turkistan Region of Kazakhstan, near the Syr Darya river. It is situated 160 km (100 mi) north-west of Shymkent on the Trans-Aral Railway between Kyzylorda to the north and Tashkent to the south. Its population has increased in ten years from 102,505 to 142,899. Turkistan's most prominent historical and cultural asset is the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city is served by Hazrat Sultan International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Kazakhstan</span> Overview of the situation of human rights throughout Kazakhstan

Human rights in Kazakhstan are uniformly described as poor by independent observers. Human Rights Watch says that "Kazakhstan heavily restricts freedom of assembly, speech, and religion. In 2014, authorities closed newspapers, jailed or fined dozens of people after peaceful but unsanctioned protests, and fined or detained worshipers for practicing religion outside state controls. Government critics, including opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov, remained in detention after unfair trials. Torture remains common in places of detention."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity by country</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikhism by country</span> World Sikh population breakdown

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According to various polls, the majority of Kazakhstan's citizens, primarily ethnic Kazakhs, identify as Sunni Muslims, Less than 1% are part of Shi'a. There are a total of 2,900 mosques, all of them affiliated with the "Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan", headed by a supreme mufti. The Eid al-Adha is recognized as a national holiday.

The Turkmen of Turkmenistan, are predominantly Muslims. According the U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2019,

According to U.S. government estimates, the country is 89 percent Muslim, 9 percent Eastern Orthodox, and 2 percent other. There are small communities of Jehovah's Witnesses, Shia Muslims, Baha’is, Roman Catholics, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and evangelical Christians, including Baptists and Pentecostals. Most ethnic Russians and Armenians identify as Orthodox Christian and generally are members of the Russian Orthodox Church or Armenian Apostolic Church. Some ethnic Russians and Armenians are also members of smaller Protestant groups. There are small pockets of Shia Muslims, consisting largely of ethnic Iranians, Azeris, and Kurds, some located in Ashgabat, with others along the border with Iran and in the western city of Turkmenbashy.

In the United States, between 6% and 15% of citizens demonstrated nonreligious attitudes and naturalistic worldviews, namely atheists or agnostics. The number of self-identified atheists and agnostics was around 4% each, while many persons formally affiliated with a religion are likewise non-believing.

Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. The government of Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its restrictions on religious freedom. Saudi law requires its citizens to be Muslim, and, public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam is forbidden. Any non-Muslim foreigner attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Furthermore, Hanbali is the official version of Sunni Islam and adherence to other sects is restricted. According to a 2012 online poll by WIN-Gallup International, 5% of 502 Saudi Arabians surveyed stated they were "convinced atheists".

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Azerbaijanis in Kazakhstan are part of the Azerbaijani diaspora. They are Kazakh citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background. According to the 2009 census, there were 85,292 ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Kazakhstan; Azerbaijanis comprised 0.5% of Kazakhstan's population and were the country's tenth-largest ethnic minority. Most Azerbaijani-Kazakhs have immigrated to Kazakhstan from the Republic of Azerbaijan; a small group of Iranian Azerbaijanis trapped by the Bolshevik taking of power in 1918 were also forced into Kazakhstan in 1938.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irreligion in Turkey</span>

Irreligion in Turkey refers to the extent of the lack, rejection of, or indifference towards religion in the Republic of Turkey. Based on surveys, Islam is the predominant religion and irreligious people form a minority in Turkey, although precise estimates of the share of Deists, atheists, agnostics, and other unaffiliated people in the population vary, though in the survey averages they make up more percentages than Christians and Jews in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Information and Social Development (Kazakhstan)</span> Kazakh government agency

The Ministry of Information and Social Development is a central executive body of the Government of Kazakhstan. Formed by the presidential decree on 13 September 2016 as the Ministry of Social Development. The Ministry is responsible for interaction with religious associations, ensuring the rights of citizens to freedom of religion, interaction between the state and the civil sector, and youth policy.

References

  1. https://cabar.asia/en/how-the-number-of-believers-changed-in-kazakhstan.
  2. "Казахстан-Спектр №1 - 2019 год". Archived from the original on 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  3. "Чем атеисты Казахстана отличаются от верующих - исследование".
  4. "Люди без религии. В Казахстане растет количество атеистов". September 2019.
  5. "People Without Religion. Number of Atheists Grows in Kazakhstan". CABAR.asia. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  6. Kazakhstan, U. S. Mission (2022-06-03). "2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Kazakhstan". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Kazakhstan. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  7. "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". www.pewforum.org. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  8. Итоги национальной переписи населения 2009 года. Национальный состав, вероисповедание и владения языками в Республике Казахстан [ permanent dead link ]