Faiths and Denominations
The denominations of the religions in Eritrea also differ from source to source.
For Christianity the Pew Research Center indictes that, of the Eritrean population, 57.7% are Orthodox Christians, 4.6% are Roman Catholic, 0.7% are Protestants and less than 1% are other Christians. Eritrea: Religious Distribution gives 58% Orthodox, 5% Roman Catholic, less than 1% Protestant. The Department of State says that 30% are Orthodox, 13% Roman Catholic and others, which includes "Protestants, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhist, Hindus, and Baha'is", at less than 5%.
The Department of State indicates that 50% of the population are Sunni Muslims but gives no figures for Shias, while a 2009 Pew Research Center report says that less than 1% are Shia.
About 2% of Eritreans still follow traditional religions and atheism is low, while participation in religion is high among all ethnicities.
All religious groups other than the four officially recognised, Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church, must be registered with the government of Eritrea. The government has refused to register any religious group despite some of them meeting the requirements.
| Region | Population | Christians | Muslims | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maekel Region, ዞባ ማእከል | 1,053,254 | 94% | 5% | 1% |
| Debub Region, ዞባ ደቡብ | 1,476,765 | 89% | 11% | <1% |
| Gash-Barka Region, ዞባ ጋሽ ባርካ | 1,103,742 | 36% | 63% | 1% |
| Anseba Region, ዞባ ዓንሰባ | 893,587 | 39% | 61% | <1% |
| Northern Red Sea Region, Semienawi Keyih Bahri ዞባ ሰሜናዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ |
897,454 | 12% | 87% | <1% |
| Southern Red Sea Region, Debubawi Keyih Bahri ዞባ ደቡባዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ |
398,073 | 37% | 62% | <1% |
| Eritrea Religious Sects (USDoS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Sunni Islam | 50% | |||
| Eritrean Orthodox | 30% | |||
| Roman Catholic | 13% | |||
| Protestants, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Bahais | 5% | |||
| Indigenous religious beliefs | 2% | |||
| Eritrea Religious Sects (PEW/Georgestown ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Eritrean Orthodox | 58% | |||
| Sunni Islam | 37% | |||
| Roman Catholic | 5% | |||
| Protestant | 1% | |||
| Other, including Christian | 1% | |||
Read more about this topic: Religion In Eritrea
Famous quotes containing the word faiths:
“As we meet here at Camp David we ask people of all faiths to pray with us that peace and justice may result from these deliberations.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)