Religion in Guinea-Bissau

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Religion in Guinea-Bissau[1][2]
religion percent
Islam
  
45.1%
Christianity
  
22.1%
unspecified
  
15.9%
animist
  
14.9%
none
  
2%
Men in Islamic garb, Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau.

Throughout the 20th century, most Bissau-Guineans practiced some form of Animism. Recently, many have adopted Islam, which is currently practiced by 50% of the country's population; most of Guinea-Bissau's Muslims have Malikite Sunni denomination, with Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities.[3]

Approximately 10% of the country's population belong to the Christian community, and 40% continue to hold Indigenous beliefs. These statistics can be misleading, however, as both Islamic and Christian practices may be largely influenced by syncretism with traditional African beliefs.[1][2] Islam is practiced most widely by the Fula and Mandinka ethnic groups, and Muslims generally live in the north and northeast.[4]

Practitioners of traditional indigenous religious beliefs generally live in all but the northern parts of the country.[4] Christians belong to a number of groups, including the Roman Catholic Church (including Portuguese Guinea-Bissauans) and various Protestant denominations.[4] Christians are concentrated in Bissau and other large towns.[4]

Foreign missionaries operate in the country without restriction.[4] The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice.[4] In 2007, the US government received no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Guinea-Bissau. CIA the World Factbook. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 5 February 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Guinea-Bissau", Encyclopædia Britannica
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Guinea-Bissau. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.