Christianity is the predominant religion in Gabon, with significant minorities of the adherents of Islam and traditional faiths. [2]
Gabon is a secular country and the constitution ensures freedom of religion. Many people practice elements of both Christianity and traditional indigenous religious beliefs. [2] Approximately 85% of the population (mainly Catholic) practice one of the denominations of Christianity; 10 percent practice Islam (mainly Sunni); the remainder practice traditional or other religions.
Christianity arrived in Gabon through the Portuguese traders in early 16th century. [3] The Italian Capuchin friars set up Christian missions in the 17th century. The Portuguese missionaries and Italian friars cooperation ended in the 18th century, and the Portuguese officials expelled the Capuchin friars in 1777. New missions such as the Sacred Heart and Holy Ghost, as well as Protestant missions from Europe arrived in the mid 19th century. Catholicism had established itself in Gabon with the Portuguese colonial efforts in 18th century, and grown to be the leading denomination by 1900. With the start of French colonial rule, Christian missions from Paris arrived between 1890s and 1960. More evangelical Churches have grown since the mid 20th century. [3]
The Babongo are a forest people of Gabon on the west coast of equatorial Africa. They are the originators of the Bwiti religion. Other peoples in Gabon have combined traditional Bwiti practices with animism and Christian concepts to produce a very different modern form of Bwiti. The Bwiti rituals form part of the initiation into the Babongo people. Babonga people's lives are highly ritualised through dance, music and ceremony associated with natural forces and jungle animals.
Islam has had a small presence in Gabon, with about 10% of the people following Sunni practice. The former president Omar Bongo converted to Islam in 1973 after a visit to Libya. Under Bongo's one-party rule, Gabon joined the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 1974. Gabon reintroduced multiparty democracy in 1993, though Bongo remained president until his death in 2009, upon which his son, also a Muslim, succeeded him. [4] [5]
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. [2]
On February 3, 2016, the Gabonese Republic granted official recognition to the local Orthodox Church, including plans to erect the first Orthodox church in the capital city Libreville. [6]
In 2023, the country was scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom; it was noted that some religious groups reported difficulty in registering with the government. [7]
Bwiti is a spiritual discipline of the forest-dwelling Punu people and Mitsogo peoples of Gabon and by the Fang people of Gabon and Cameroon. Modern Bwiti incorporates animism, ancestor worship, and in some cases, Christianity, into a syncretistic belief system.
Christianity in Albania was established throughout the country in 325 AD. From 1100 AD, the Roman Empire carried out Church missions in the area. In relation to the increasing influence of Venice, the Franciscans started to settle down in the area in the 13th century. From the 15th century to the 19th century, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Christianity was replaced by Islam as the majority religion in Albania during the Ottoman Empire.
The United Baptist Church of Mozambique is a Baptist Christian denomination in Mozambique. The headquarters is in Maputo.
Religion in Nigeria is diverse. The country is home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim populations, simultaneously. Reliable recent statistics do not exist; however, Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the north, and Christians, who live mostly in the south. Indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, have been declining for decades and been replaced by Christianity or Islam. The Christian share of Nigeria's population is also now on the decline, due to a lower fertility rate relative to the Muslim population in the country.
Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the third-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines and China, followed by India. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in the Muslim world, after Nigeria, followed by Egypt. Indonesia's 29,1 million Christians constituted 10,49% of the country's population in 2022, with 7,43% Protestant (20.6 million) and 3,06% Catholic (8.5 million). Some provinces in Indonesia are majority Christian. In Indonesia, the word Kristen refers to Protestantism, while Catholicism is referred to as Katolik. In recent times, the rate of growth and spread of Christianity has increased, especially among the Chinese minority.
Christianity came to North Africa in the Roman era. According to historian Theodor Mommsen what is now Mediterranean Algeria was fully Christian by the fifth century. A notable Berber Christian of Algeria was Saint Augustine, important saints in Christianity. Christianity's influence declined during the chaotic period of the Vandal invasions but was strengthened in the succeeding Byzantine period. After the Arab invasions of the 7th century, Christianity began to gradually disappear.
Protestantism in South Africa accounted for 73.2% of the population in 2010. Approximately 81% of South Africans are Christian and 5 out of 6 Christians are Protestant. Later censuses do not ask for citizens’ religious affiliations. Estimates in 2017 suggested that 62.5% of the population are Protestant.
Qatar has a population of approximately 3 million people. About 13.7% are Christian. This includes a large number of migrant workers who follow Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant beliefs. In 2000, the number of Protestants was estimated at 1% of the population and the Anglicans (being classified otherwise there) at 1.4% for the same year.
The Bongo people, also called Babongo or Bazimba, are an agricultural people of Gabon in equatorial Africa who are known as "forest people" due to their recent foraging economy.
Christianity is the largest religion in Ghana, with 71.3% of the population being member of various Christian denominations as of 2021 census. Islam is practised by 19.9% of the total population. According to a report by the Pew Research, 51% of Muslims are followers of Sunni Islam, while approximately 16% belong to the Ahmadiyya movement and around 8% identify with Shia Islam, while the remainder are non-denominational Muslims.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Angola, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Zimbabwe, with Protestantism being its largest denomination.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Eswatini, with Protestantism being its largest denomination.
Christianity is the largest religion in Guinea-Bissau with significant communities of the adherents of Islam and Traditional African religions.
Religion in Namibia is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with more than 90 percent of Namibian citizens identifying themselves as Christian. According to the government's survey, in 2013 up to 75% of the country was Protestant, including as much as 50% Lutheran.
Religion in the Bahamas is dominated by various Christian denominations and reflects the country's diversity. Since the English colonization, most Bahamians adhere to diverse Protestant denominations with Baptist churches/Evangelicals, Pentecostalism, Adventism and Methodism being at the forefront. There is no state religion in the Bahamas, and there is generally free practice of religious beliefs.
The predominant religion in the Comoros is Islam, with a small Christian minority. Although the constitution, as revised in 2018, removed the reference to a state religion in the 2009 constitution, stating simply that Sunni Islam is the source of national identity, a 2008 law promulgated in January 2013 outlawed the practice of other forms of Islam in the country. Propagation of non-Islamic religions is prohibited.
According to the 2011 census, Christianity was adhered to by 20.7% of the population of Mauritius; 80.3% of these were Roman Catholics.
Christianity in Equatorial Guinea dates back to pre-independence, when Equatorial Guinea was a colony of Portugal and Spain. In 2023 almost 90% of the population are Christian. Of these 71% are Roman Catholics, though there are also a few thousand Protestants, mainly from the Reformed Church, but also Methodists and Presbyterians.
Christianity is the dominant religion in South Africa, with almost 80% of the population in 2001 professing to be Christian. No single denomination predominates, with mainstream Protestant churches, Pentecostal churches, African initiated churches, and the Catholic Church all having significant numbers of adherents. Importantly, there is significant and sustained syncretism with African Traditional Religion among most of the self-professed Christians in South Africa.