Two are in Europe (Russia and Germany), two are in the Asia-Pacific region (the Philippines and China), and three are in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia), reflecting Christianitys global reach. Id be curious to hear his thoughts on where the field of Black studies currently sits in relationship to that specific challenge. (The three exceptions are the U.S., Malaysia and the Philippines.). Since the 1990s, hundreds of popular religious and charismatic videos have appeared, teaching doctrines of deliverance and sanctification while reminding believers of the dangers inherent in occult dabbling. The doctrine of Christianity is founded upon the belief in the existence of an invisible and Supreme Being who incarnated in flesh and blood; lived like a human, suffered and was crucified and died, and resurrected from the dead after three days, as a fountain of salvation for humanity. 43). Worldwide registered martyrdoms rose to 4,761 in the 2021 report, up 60 percent from the 2,983 tallied the year before and surpassing the 4,305 deaths noted in the 2019 report. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. For decades to come, the worlds religious maps are going to be ever more African. 17), and Vietnam (No. Chart. Africa: prevalence of Islam by country 2023 | Statista The 2021 version tracks the time period from November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2020, and is compiled from grassroots reports by Open Doors workers in more than 60 countries. So when the lockdowns occurred, it meant this respite was no longer available., We have also received reports that the kidnapping, forcible conversion, and forced marriage of women and girls increased during the pandemic because of increased vulnerability. Back in 1920, Anglo-French writer Hilaire Belloc surveyed the state of Christianity and made the grandiose (and arrogant) assertion that The faith is Europe, and Europe is the faith. He believed not only that Christianity was inextricably linked to Europe and to people of European stock, but that the faith was also an integral part of European culture. In 2020, Christians accounted for around 60 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population, followed by Muslims with a share of roughly 30 percent. The worlds most committed Christians live in Africa, Latin America and the U.S. A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married. This tally by Open Doors rose from 3,711 last year and 3,150 in 2019. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 1000+ markets in 190+ countries & territories, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 70m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. By then, the 10 countries with the largest Christian populations will include several African states, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, and probably Uganda. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Other Christians, such as Mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses, make up the remaining 1% of the global Christian population. That number passed the billion mark by 2005 and, by 2050, could reach anywhere from 2 billion to 2.25 billion. Nigeria entered the top 10 for the first time, after maxing out Open Doorss metric for violence. LGBTQ protections: Supreme Court says certain businesses can - CNN 1 in the number of Christians killed for reasons related to their faith. Supreme Court Stops Affirmative Action . Likewise, fewer than 10% of Christians report attending church weekly in nine European countries, including Denmark, Estonia and Russia. 10 Encouraging Trends of Global Christianity in 2020 7 encouraging trends of global Christianity in 2022 Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Size & Demographic Characteristics of Religious Groups, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050, Chapter 1: Main Factors Driving Population Growth, Chapter 2: Population Projections by Religious Group, Chapter 3: Population Projections by Region, A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married. Africa has a significant share of the world's 2.2 billion Christians. Christianity in Africa. 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA Second, increasing video and digital surveillance of religious groups and improvements in and proliferation of surveillance technology was another key trend. In Black is a Church, Josef Sorett, dean of Columbia College and professor of religion and African American and African Diaspora Studies, maps the ways in which Black American culture and identity have been animated by a particular set of Protestant ideas and practices.He reveals how Christianity, white supremacy, and colonialism coalesced in the modern understanding of religion, and became . 43 to No. The priest wears the robes of a tribal headman and is called the chief of Gods people. About 90% of Christians live in countries where Christians are in the majority; only about 10% of Christians worldwide live as minorities. By 2050, there should be three Africans for every European. 36 to No. In absolute terms, there were. Initially in Europe, the countries with the steepest declines in population growth also led the way in secularization, and the two trends are connected, although the chain of causation is complex. Sudan left the top 10 for the first time in six years, after abolishing the death penalty for apostasy and guaranteeingon paper at leastfreedom of religion in its new constitution after three decades of Islamic law. Although demography is far from an infallible crystal ball on the future of religious revivals and conflicts, trends in population growth and family do correlate strongly with religious attitudes. Islam is the dominant faith in the North, and Christianity in the South - but most of the killings take . By 2050, almost 1.3 billion Christians will live in Africa. Chapter. The listed nations contain 309 million Christians living in places with very high or extreme levels of persecution, up from 260 million in last years list. By 2050, they will have a combined population of 1.2 billion. 45), and Kenya (No. According to CBS News, Zambia is the African nation with the highest percentage of Christian residents, with around 95.5 percent of the people living there following the religion. Africa had about 130 million people in 1900. Meanwhile, attacks and forced closures of churches numbered 4,488 worldwide, with the vast majority recorded in China, followed by Nigeria. The majority of Nigeria's approximately 70 million Christians are either Roman Catholic (at least 18.9 million) or Anglican (18 million), but a diverse group of Protestant churches also claim significant members, including Baptists (the Nigerian Baptist Convention claims 6 million worshipping members), Presbyterians . 9), Central African Republic (No. The projections are in line with the gradual shift that has increasingly . We may earn a commission from links on this page. Read our research on: LGBTQ Attitudes & Experiences| Artificial Intelligence | Affirmative Action. Your daily news briefing from the editors of CT. Is the Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization 'Too Christian'? Sam Brownback, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, commended the World Watch List. 1 in the number of Christians killed for . In turn, smaller families reduce their ties to organized religious institutions, as fewer children go through religious school and First Communion classes. The median age for the region overall was 18. The majority of Sudan's population is Muslim, belonging overwhelmingly to the Sunni branch. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8, Continue reading your article witha WSJ subscription, Already a subscriber? In Latin America, more than two-thirds of Christians in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador also report weekly attendance. Christianity in Africa The Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia is rock-hewn in the shape of a cross Part of a series on Christianity Jesus Christ Bible Foundations Theology History Tradition Denominations Groups Related topics Glossary Index Outline Christianity portal v t e HistoryVille. 33), Brunei (No. Before 2050, it will be the first continent that is home to more than 1 billion Christians. The demographic contrast between Europe and Africa illuminates this transformative shift. But in July 2020, the Turkish president persuaded a court to make it a mosque again, strengthening Turkish nationalism. 1), China (No. The Supreme Court Friday ruled in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections. 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. Return to homepage. As an interdisciplinary scholar of religion and race in the Americas, Josef Sorett employs primarily historical and literary approaches to the study of religion in Black communities and cultures in the United States. 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Less known, but equally as viral, is the discrimination, isolation, and violence against Christians using COVID-19 as leverage and justification., Most converts from majority faiths said confinement due to a COVID-19 quarantine locked them in with those most antagonistic to their faith in Jesus. That would represent a twelvefold increase in raw numbers in just a century. (For information on the impact of religious switching on the demographic projections in this report, see Chapter 1.) In 1900 it was only nine per cent Christian, by 2010 that figure had gone up to 57 per cent. African religiosity emerges strongly in most surveys, even if it is not quite uniform. At the same time, it notes there is no comparable documentation for the worlds Muslim population. How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World Latin America is, meanwhile, estimated to have 601 million Christians. 9), yet doesnt even make the top 50 watch list (at No. 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 . Some of the noteworthy countries he mentioned include Iran, reported to have 3 million Christians, and. 50). And Kenya fell six spots from No. The Competition for Believers in Africa Is Transforming Christianity Christians are also geographically widespread so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity. The size of the Christian population in Nigeria alonealready the largest on the continentis projected to double by 2060. William Robertson Boggs, American Renaissance, January 1992. By 2050, that proportion will probably be closer to 8 percent. 52) due to rising violence and discrimination against Christians from drug traffickers, gangs, and indigenous communities. The Christianization of the Americas and the evangelization of Asia, Africa, and Australasia gave geographic substance to the Christian title . Worshipers at an evangelical Christian service at MFM Prayer City, a megachurch near Lagos, Nigeria, 2021. October 2020. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the worlds Christians (63%), that share is much lower than it was in 1910 (93%). Nigeria's 206 million people are almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. Rather, it takes into account levels of economic development as well as geography. Prayer frequency is lowest among Christians in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Malaysia, where fewer than 10% of Christians pray daily. Rebekah Naylor, 79, is stepping down from International Mission Board. The percentage of the world that remains unevangelized continues to fall. Latin America is, meanwhile, estimated to have 601 million Christians. She warned against the export of these technologies. If they lose income due to COVID-19, they cant fall back on customary networks for survival. Meanwhile, church leaders from Egypt to Latin America told Open Doors that bans on church services caused donations to drop by about 40 percent, reducing their own income and the ability of their congregations to offer assistance to the wider community. And Im grateful for that. The groups projected to experience rapid growth in sub-Saharan Africa in the decades ahead had very young populations in 2010. She hadn't eaten in a week. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. By some projections, the African share of global population by 2100 could be 40 percent. (See Appendix A [PDF] for a more detailed explanation of how the estimates were made; see Appendix D [PDF] for a list of data sources by country.). The figures in this report on pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical Christians and on Protestant denominational families were commissioned by the Pew Forum from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., whose researchers generated estimates based in large part on figures provided by Christian organizations around the world. The Origin And Growth Of Christianity In Africa - WorldAtlas (47%) of all Christians in the region live in either Egypt or Sudan. Only the continent of Latin America managed to outrank Africa in terms of number of Christian residents in 2017. By contrast, 24% of the people living in the Global South are Christian. This practice of bending the rules of Christianity to fit local tastes is known as inculturation. For example, though Afghanistan is the worlds No. Courtesy of Coetzeebreaking with the expected conventions of a genre, if done well, can be an incredibly effective form of argumentation. 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. Conserving Marine Life in the United States, International Boreal Conservation Campaign, Protecting Coastal Wetlands and Coral Reefs, U.S. Public Lands and Rivers Conservation. How Christianity has Shaped the Contours of Black American Life, Columbia University in the City of New York, From 'Barbie' to 'Oppenheimer': Columbia Connections to This Summer's Blockbusters You Should Know, Columbia Student, Air Force Combat Photojournalist Named 2023 Tillman Scholar, Columbia Issues Statement on Affirmative Action Cases. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 150+ countries Philip Jenkins is distinguished professor of history at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. Christians are projected to remain the regions largest religious group, growing from 517 million in 2010 to more than 1.1 billion in 2050. June 30 at 6:00 a.m. DOLOW, Somalia On the second day fleeing drought and hunger, 5-year-old Amina Abdi could no longer walk. 1.8 billion people in the world are Muslims, while 1.1 billion people follow Hinduism. The number of Christians around the world has nearly quadrupled in the last 100 years, from about 600 million in 1910 to more than 2 billion in 2010. Then he knelt down on the side of the road, and prayed.. Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning. This year, 838 million live in the global North, while almost 1.1 billion Christians live in Africa and Asia alone. These extremist groups exploit governmental failures, and armed jihadists spread propaganda, push recruitment and conduct regular attacks. But the [list] is really all about resilience, stated David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, introducing the report released today. There is also the fact that, in this profession, research and writing are required for a decent chance at job security. Perhaps because it has been reduced to a pre-colonial state of misery by misrule and civil war, Uganda seems to be particularly ripe for magic. For some countries, such as China, the Pew Forums estimates also take into account statistics from church groups, government reports and other sources. 12 have extreme levels of persecution and 38 have very high levels. Already, much of Latin America is closely following European trends, and survey evidence suggests a comparable process of secularization in several nations, including Brazil and Argentina. The trouble with juju is that you never know when it might be turned against you. ), In addition, more than 285 million Christians can be classified as evangelicals because they either belong to churches affiliated with regional or global evangelical associations, or because they identify as evangelicals. In some cases, mega-church sites are morphing into cities, complete with housing estates, banks, grocery stores and police stations. A Growing Middle Class Could Save the World's Economy, A Look at the Facts, Issues, and Opinions Shaping Our World, Crunch: Migration in Europe: A Record Breaking Shift. By 2060 six of the countries with the top ten largest Christian populations will be in Africa, up from three in 2015, according to a new Pew Research Center report. In Nigeria, the population in 1900 included 4.2 million Muslims and 180,000 Christians. (See Appendix C [PDF] for more details on the range of estimates available for China. 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%). (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. June 23, 2023 10:54 am ET. The majority of Christians in sub-Saharan Africa are Protestant . To see the estimated size of religious groups in specific countries in 2010 and 2050, see. The share of the population that is Christian in sub-Saharan Africa climbed from 9% in 1910 to 63% in 2010, while in the Asia-Pacific region it rose from 3% to 7%. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax The difficulty is, though, that religious patterns are far harder to quantify than those in other areas of life. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where Christianity enjoyed its biggest percentage growth in the 20th century. Christians in Africa and Latin America tend to pray more frequently, attend religious services more regularly and consider religion more important in their lives than Christians elsewhere in the world, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Over 50 percent of the people of Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ghana, Botswana, and Uganda are said to be Christian, as are more than 90 percent of the people of Zaire, Angola, Namibia, Congo-Brazzaville, and Gabon. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each faith, and each should grow by another 100 million by 2050. Positive and Negative Impact of Christianity in Africa Although Christians comprise just under a third of the worlds people, they form a majority of the population in 158 countries and territories, about two-thirds of all the countries and territories in the world.