Religion in Kazakhstan

Religion In Kazakhstan

The majority Kazakh citizens are Sunni of the Hanafi school, traditionally including ethnic Kazakhs, who constitute about 60% of the population, as well as by ethnic Uzbeks, Uighurs, and Tatars. Less than 1% are part of the Shafi`i (primarily Chechens) and Shi'a. There are a total of 2,300 mosques, all of them are affiliated with the "Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan", headed by a supreme mufti. The Eid al-Adha is recognized as a national holiday.

Less than 25% of the population of Kazakhstan is Russian Orthodox, traditionally including ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Other Christian groups include Roman Catholics and Protestants (Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Pentecostals, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Mennonites and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). There are a total of 265 registered Orthodox churches, 93 Catholic churches, and 543 Protestant churches and prayer houses. The Russian Orthodox Christmas is recognized as a national holiday in Kazakhstan.

Other religious registered groups include Judaism, the Bahá'í Faith, Hare Krishnas, Buddhists, the Church of Scientology, Christian Scientists, and the Unification Church.

The country is multiethnic, with a long tradition of tolerance and secularism. Since independence, the number of mosques and churches has increased greatly. However, the population is sometimes wary of minority religious groups and groups that proselytize. There were several reports of citizens filing complaints with authorities after their family members became involved with such groups. Leaders of the four religious groups the government considers "traditional" – Islam, Russian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism – reported general acceptance and tolerance that other minority religious groups did not always enjoy.