Oriental Orthodoxy by country

Distribution of Oriental Orthodox Christians in the world by country:

  More than 75% of population

  50–75% of population

  20–50% of population

  5–20% of population

  1–5% of population

  below 1% of population, but has local autocephaly

Oriental Orthodox Churches are the churches descended from those that rejected the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Despite the similar name, they are therefore a different branch of Christianity from the Eastern Orthodox. Oriental Orthodoxy consists of several autocephalous and autonomous jurisdictions holding a single set of beliefs and united in full communion. However, they each have their own separate rites, and there are significant differences between their respective practices. Thus, there is more internal diversity of practice among the Oriental Orthodox than among the Eastern Orthodox.

Distribution

Oriental Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in Armenia (94%), and Ethiopia (44%, the total Christian population being roughly 67%).^{[ citation needed ]}

Oriental Orthodoxy is especially the dominant religion in the two Ethiopian regions of Amhara (82%) and Tigray (95%), as well as the chartered city of Addis Ababa (75%). It is also important in Oromia Region (31%).^{[ citation needed ]}

Oriental Orthodoxy is also one of two dominant religions in Eritrea (47%), especially in its highland regions Maekel Region (87%) and Debub Region (86%).^{[ citation needed ]}

It is a significant minority religion in Egypt (10%), Sudan (5%, the total Christian population being 15%), Syria (3%, the total Christian population being 10-11% the rest being Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Church of the East), and Lebanon (5%, the total Christian population being 40%) . In India, Oriental Orthodox Christians are almost entirely concentrated in the state of Kerala. They constitute less than 1 % of overall Indian population. Indian Christians comprised less than 3 % of overall Indian population, while the total Christian population of just Kerala itself is around 18%. ^[1]

Predominantly Oriental Orthodox Christian countries

Oriental Orthodoxy is the largest single religious faith in:

•   Armenia
•   Ethiopia
•   Eritrea

Countries with a high percentage of Oriental Orthodox Christians include:

•   Egypt
•   Sudan
•   Syria
•   Lebanon
•   India
•   Iraq

Oriental Orthodox Churches in full communion

• The Coptic Orthodox Church
  • The British Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom
  • The French Coptic Orthodox Church in France
• The Armenian Apostolic Church
  • The Holy See of Cilicia
  • The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
  • The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• The Syriac Orthodox Church
  • The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in India
• The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Statistics

Country	Oriental Orthodox population	(%) Oriental Orthodox
Armenia	2,796,519 [2]	92.60
Australia	51,010 [3]	0.2
Canada	36,070 [4]	0.1
Egypt	10,309,500	10-12%
Eritrea	2,530,000	47
Ethiopia	47,353,560 [5]	43.8
Georgia	109,042 [6]	2.9
Germany	1,140,000	1.5
Guatemala	350,000 [7] [a]	2.5
India	3,800,059	0.4
Iran	250,000 [8] -300,000 [9]	0.1
Iraq	629,340	2
Israel	38,000 [b] [10] [11] [12]	0.4
Jordan	310,656	4.8
Kuwait	74,000 [13]	2.18
Palestine	118,057	3
Sweden	69,656 [14]	0.7
Sudan	500,000	1
Syria	1,800,400	8
Tajikistan	80,000	1.18
Turkey	180,000 [15]	0.1
United Kingdom	41,200 [16]	0.1
United States	492,000 [17]	0.1

See also

• Christianity by country
• List of Christian denominations by number of members

Other religions:

• Islam by country
• Jews by country
• Hinduism by country
• Buddhism by country
• Irreligion by country

General:

• List of religious populations

References

1. "Church in India - Syrian Orthodox Church of India - Roman Catholic Church - Protestant Churches in India". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
2. "Table 5.4: Population (urban, rural) by Ethnicity, Sex and Religious Belief, 2011 Census" (PDF). Statistical Committee of Armenia (ARMSTAT). Retrieved 13 September 2020.
3. "2016 Census Cultural Diversity, TableBuilder". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
4. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables: Religion (108), Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (11), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
5. "The World Factbook: Africa: Ethiopia". Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Retrieved 11 September 2020.
6. "Population by regions and religion". National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT). Retrieved 10 September 2020.
7. "Estadisticas actuales". icergua.org (in Spanish). June 2009. Archived from the original on 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
8. Price, Massoume (December 2002). "History of Christians and Christianity in Iran". Christianity in Iran. FarsiNet Inc. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
9. U.S. State Department (2009-10-26). "Iran – International Religious Freedom Report 2009". The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
10. "Church of St James Black". Axel Hogberg. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
11. "Israel". Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
12. "African Huts in Jerusalem". Shelley Fortune. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
13. "International Religious Freedom Report 2010: Kuwait". US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
14. "The Religious Landscape of Sweden: Affinity, Affiliation and Diversity in the 21st Century" (PDF). Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
15. "Religions". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
16. "Introduction: UK Christian Statistics 2: 2010-2020" (PDF). faithsurvey.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
17. "US Religion Census 2020: Dramatic Changes in American Orthodox Churches" (PDF). OrthodoxReality.org. Retrieved 3 August 2021.

1. A breakaway Catholic church was received into the Syrian Orthodox church by 2013. It is the major Oriental Orthodox denomination in Guatemala.
2. The Israeli government doesn't release denominational statistics, and classification of Christian minorities is complicated further due to the government's tendency to classify all Christians as Arab. Most Ethiopian-background Israelis are, or descended from, converts to Judaism due to the requirements of Aliyah. In collating unofficial estimates, we arrive at around 38,000 adherents: Around 17,000 Eritrean Tewahedo (many are refugees), 2,000 Ethiopian Tewahedo, 10,000 Armenian Apostolic, 8,000 Syriac Orthodox (15,000 minus 7,000 Maronites) and 1,000 Coptic Orthodox adherents in Israel.