The source does not specify the date of publication. Nigeria entered the top 10 for the first time, after maxing out Open Doorss metric for violence. After North Korea is Afghanistan, followed by Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India. An infographic provided by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminaryshows that more than 631 million Christians currently reside in Africa and they make up 45 percent of the population. The study is based primarily on a country-by-country analysis of about 2,400 data sources, including censuses and nationally representative population surveys. Read our research on: LGBTQ Attitudes & Experiences| Artificial Intelligence | Affirmative Action. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. One common treatment is to sacrifice a goat or sheep and, with the proper incantations, transfer the disease to the carcass. Africa had about 130 million people in 1900. Steven Furticks Elevation Church Leaves the SBC, Medical Missionary Leaves After 50 Faithful Years, COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for religious persecution through relief discrimination, forced conversion, and as justification for increasing surveillance and censorship., Extremist attacks opportunistically spread further throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon to Burkina Faso, Mali, and beyond., Chinese censorship systems continue to propagate and spread to emerging surveillance states.. As noted in the preface of this report, the Pew Forum is gradually compiling baseline population estimates and projecting future growth rates for the worlds major faiths. Where in the world is the worst place to be a Christian? 35), Ethiopia (No. 44). Nigeria is becoming world's 'biggest killing ground of Christians' Christianity in Africa. 19 are in Africa (6 in North Africa), 14 are in Asia, 10 are in the Middle East, 5 are in Central Asia, and 2 are in Latin America. By contrast, the projection for the Christian share of the region in 2050 is 0.3 percentage points lower than if religious switching were not included in the projections. When examining only hostility within society, Christians were harassed in 104 countries and Muslims in 103 countries. However, other types of persecution can outweigh violence [as explained below]. So reports the 2021 World Watch List (WWL), the latest annual accounting from Open Doors of the top 50 countries where Christians are the most persecuted for following Jesus. This chapter begins by examining the relationship between Christianity and colonialism in sub-Saharan Africa and assessing Christianity's explosive growth in the twentieth . (See Defining Christian Traditions. Whats more, while African countries have experienced economic development and many are enjoying a growing and vigorous middle class, social ideologies are still strongly in favor of parenthood and family. and over 1Mio. (return to text), 5 This common definition of Global North and Global South is not a simple geographic division of the world into Northern and Southern hemispheres. African Christianity - Gordon Conwell Muslims were harassed in 139 countries, followed by Jews in 88 countries. In 2020, Christians accounted for around 60 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population, followed by Muslims with a share of roughly 30 percent. That figure, incidentally, is misleading in one way, as many of the Europeans in 2050 will in fact be of African descent. For millions of Christians, work, education, and other outside interests provide a brief time of calm from regular persecution. (Open Doors is known for favoring a more conservative estimate than other groups, who often tally martyrdoms at 100,000 a year.). About half of black Africans joined one of the great monotheistic faiths, and they favored Christianity over Islam by a rate of 4-to-1. For example, in Iran, family size has dropped from an average of six to 1.8 children over the past three decadesa rate of decline much faster than what Europe experienced in the 1960s and 1970s. This is often implicitlyif not explicitly encouraged by the ruling government., Amidst a surge of Hindu nationalism, Indian Christians are constantly pressured by strident propaganda. At the same time, Christianity has grown enormously in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where there were relatively few Christians at the beginning of the 20th century. Africa (2.77 percent growth) and Asia (1.50 percent). There is also the fact that, in this profession, research and writing are required for a decent chance at job security. Almost half (48%) of all Christians live in the 10 countries with the largest number of Christians. For some countries, such as China, the Pew Forums estimates also take into account statistics from church groups, government reports and other sources. 49 though attacks there increased significantly.. For many Africans, inculturation doesnt go far enough. Rather, the bulk of Christians are in: Of the worlds five major geographic regions, the Americas have both the largest number and the highest proportion of Christians. 30), Russia (formerly No. Brazil has more than twice as many Catholics as Italy. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. (See Appendix C [PDF] for more details on the range of estimates available for China. In much of the world, violence against Christians actually decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, noted researchers, but Christians in sub-Saharan Africa faced up to 30 percent higher levels of violence than the previous year., Several hundred mostly Christian villages in Nigeria were either occupied or ransacked by armed Hausa-Fulani Muslim militant herdsmen; sometimes, fields and crops were destroyed as well. Map of the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is worst. In a reversal from nearly five centuries ago when Christian missionaries first brought the religion to to African communities, African preachers, led by reverse missionaries, are increasingly taking charge of the gospel in England, as Quartz Africa has reported. This means that Africans represent a much larger share of the worlds population and that this share will continue to increase at least until midcentury. That would represent a twelvefold increase in just a century. In 1990, Nigerians got a big scare when it was reported that witch doctors had perfected a technique for stealing womens breasts and mens penises with a touch or a handshake. -. Orthodox Christians comprise 12% of Christians worldwide. Protestants, broadly defined, make up 37%. How Christianity has Shaped the Contours of Black American Life However, fertility rates for all major religious groups in sub-Saharan Africa are considerably higher than the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Although to a smaller extent, numerous other religions. African Countries Where Christianity is the Largest Religion And the Nigerian Redeemed Christian Church of God operates in dozens of countries, growing so widely and quickly that it could well become a new global denomination. The main motivation varies by country, and better understanding the differences can help Christians in other nations pray and advocate more effectively for their beleaguered brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The demographic contrast between Europe and Africa illuminates this transformative shift. Here we list the top 25 most anti-Christian countries. It has been the largest religion in the world since its inception and continues to be so today, with Christians making up large portions of populations across all continents - 37% in Americas, 75% in Europe, 35% in Africa and 3% in Asia-Pacific region. But it was then that I took a class in Black Theology, and wrote a term paper on the relationship between spiritual and racial identities. 35, yet violence against Christians there remains extreme. 50). It seems to have worked. On a recent Sunday morning in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, members of the faithful clutched their hymn books and chanted God's praises as they danced to the . Coetzees The Lives of Animals, Reinhold Neibuhrs The Irony of American History, and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Magic has been put to high political purpose. [1] Since antiquity, Africa had been a continent largely involved in indigenous religious practises. "Christian Population in Africa as of 2023, by Country. Trend is an analysis of the facts, numbers, and trends shaping the world. By 2060, six of the world's 10 largest Christian countries will be in Although Christians make up a smaller portion of the 2010 population in the Americas (86%) than they did in 1910 (96%), the Americas account for a higher share of the worlds Christians (37%, up from 27% in 1910).6. Levels of religious salience are particularly high in sub-Saharan Africa: Over 75% in every country surveyed in the region say religion is very important to them. Some of the books weve read include J.M. For instance, at least four out of five Christians in Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Cameroon and Chad pray every day. Nearly half of the regions Muslims (46%) were under age 15, as were 44% of those adhering to folk religions, 41% of Christians and 40% of the unaffiliated. Missionaries report that many Christians revert to charms and voodoo in a crisis. Yet it remains No. About one in every four Christians lives in sub-Saharan Africa (24%), and about one-in-eight is found in Asia and the Pacific (13%). Religion of Sudan. By 2050, there should be three Africans for every European. Distribution and use of this material are governed by But in July 2020, the Turkish president persuaded a court to make it a mosque again, strengthening Turkish nationalism. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each faith, and each should grow by another 100 million by 2050. In last years report, the tally had skyrocketed from 1,847 to 9,488, with China accounting for 5,576 alone.