{"id":1480001,"date":"2024-07-28T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T15:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1480001"},"modified":"2024-07-28T11:35:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T15:35:00","slug":"visualizing-africas-north-south-religious-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/visualizing-africas-north-south-religious-divide\/1480001\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualizing Africa’s North-South Religious Divide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visualizing Africa’s North-South Religious Divide<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In the hundred years between 1900\u20132000, Africa\u2019s Muslim and Christian populations grew 20x and 70x respectively. A large part of this staggering increase was simply\u00a0population growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the percentage of followers of the respective religions grew as well. Now, one in three Africans is a Muslim, one in two a Christian, and only one in 10 a follower of a traditional faith.<\/p>\n

To visualize the religious demographics, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao maps <\/a>out the\u00a0largest religious group<\/strong>\u00a0by share of the population in every African country. Data is sourced from the U.S. State Department\u2019s 2022 report on\u00a0International Religious Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Why This Unique Religious Divide Exists<\/h2>\n

At a glance, Northern Africa is heavily Muslim, and sub-Saharan Africa heavily Christian.<\/p>\n

Country
\n\t\t\tLargest Religious Group
\n\t\t\t% of Population
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\udde6 Namibia
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t97
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddec Congo
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t96
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf2 Zambia
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t96
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddf8 Lesotho
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t95
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf6 Equatorial Guinea
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t93
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfc Rwanda
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t92
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddff Eswatini
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t90
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddeb Central African Republic
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t89
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde9 DRC
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t87
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddee Burundi
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t86
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddea Kenya
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t86
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddf7 Liberia
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t86
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddfc Zimbabwe
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t86
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddec Madagascar
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t85
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddfb Cape Verde
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t84
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udde8 Seychelles
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t82
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddec Uganda
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t82
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6 South Africa
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t81
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde6 Gabon
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t80
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf4 Angola
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t79
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfc Botswana
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t79
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfc Malawi
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t77
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf9 Ethiopia
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t73
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf9 S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 & Pr\u00edncipe
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t72
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udded Ghana
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t71
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf2 Cameroon
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t69
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddff Tanzania
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t63
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddff Mozambique
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t62
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf8 South Sudan
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t61
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddef Benin
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t49
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddec Togo
\n\t\t\tChristian
\n\t\t\t42
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf7 Eritrea*
\n\t\t\tChristian\/Muslim
\n\t\t\t49
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfa Mauritius
\n\t\t\tHindu
\n\t\t\t49
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddff Algeria
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t99
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf7 Mauritania
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t99
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde6 Morocco
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t99
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf4 Somalia
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t99
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf3 Tunisia
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t99
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf2 Comoros
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t98
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddea Niger
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t98
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf2 The Gambia
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t97
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddfe Libya
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t97
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf3 Senegal
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t97
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddef Djibouti
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t94
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf1 Mali
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t94
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udde9 Sudan
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t91
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddec Egypt
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t90
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf3 Guinea
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t85
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf1 Sierra Leone
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t77
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddeb Burkina Faso
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t64
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\udde9 Chad
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t52
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec Nigeria
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t50
\n\t\t\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddfc Guinea-Bissau
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t46
\n\t\t\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddee C\u00f4te d’Ivoire
\n\t\t\tMuslim
\n\t\t\t43<\/p>\n

Note: Inclusive of all denominations and sects. *Estimates vary on which is the largest religious group. Data unavailable for Western Sahara.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the 7th century AD, the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates spread Islam through their conquests along the northern edge of Africa.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Christianity had already spread to the continent in the first century AD. However, 15th century European colonial missions took the religion into sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Noticeably, countries in the middle of the continent tend to have large populations of both, with one group holding a slim majority. For example,\u00a0Nigeria<\/strong>\u00a0is only about 50% Muslim. However, this translates into the the highest number of Muslims in a country in absolute terms, at 115 million.<\/p>\n

Mauritius<\/strong>\u00a0is the only African country with a Hindu majority\u2014a religion brought by indentured Indian labor for French and British colonial plantations.<\/p>\n

Interestingly,\u00a0Eritrea<\/strong>\u00a0may be an even split, though depending on the estimate, either side may hold the majority. These religious demographics also played a part in the country\u2019s previous civil wars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 07\/28\/2024 – 07:35<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/visualizing-africas-north-south-religious-divide<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visualizing Africa’s North-South Religious Divide In the hundred years between 1900\u20132000, Africa\u2019s Muslim and Christian populations grew 20x and 70x respectively. A large part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1480002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1480001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1480001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1480001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1480001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1480001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}