- Summary
- Adherents
- Religious Freedom
- Socio-economic
- Public Opinion
Religious Adherents1 |
Cote d'Ivoire | Western Africa | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'i | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Buddhist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.8% |
| Chinese Universalist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.8% |
| Christian | 34.4% | 35.3% | 33.3% |
| Confucianist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Ethnoreligionist | 36.7% | 17.4% | 4.0% |
| Hindu | 0.1% | 0.0% | 13.6% |
| Jain | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Jewish | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Muslim | 28.3% | 46.8% | 20.8% |
| Shintoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Sikh | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Spiritist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Taoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Zoroastrian | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Other Religions | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| Neo-religions | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- |
| Non-religious | 0.4% | 0.3% | 11.7% |
| Atheist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.3% |
Religious Demography
The country has an area of 124,500 square miles and a population of 18,013,400. An estimated 35 to 40 percent of the country is Christian or syncretistic, practicing a mixture of Christian and indigenous religious beliefs. Approximately 35 percent of the population is Muslim, while an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the population practices traditional indigenous religious beliefs. Many persons who are nominally Christian or Muslim also practice some aspects of traditional indigenous religious beliefs, particularly as economic or political conditions worsened. Christian groups include the Roman Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Southern Baptist Church, Coptics, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The largest Protestant church is the Protestant Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire. Evangelical groups such as the Shekinah Glory Ministries and the Assemblies of God also are active. Syncretistic churches include the Harrist Church (an African Protestant denomination founded in the country in 1913 by a Liberian preacher named William Wade Harris), Primitive Protestant Church, God's Soldiers (founded by an Ivoirian woman), and Messianic Church. Bossonism, a traditional religious practice from the Akan ethnic group, is also practiced. Other religious groups with a presence in the country include Buddhism, the Baha'i Faith, and the International Association for the Conscience of Krishna. Additionally, many religious groups in the country are associated with religious groups in the United States. Approximately 70 percent of foreigners living in the country are Muslim and 20 percent are Christian, with small percentages practicing other religious beliefs, including Judaism.There has been an increase in the membership of evangelical churches. Missionary work, urbanization, immigration, and higher education levels are believed to have contributed to a decline in the percentage of practitioners of traditional indigenous religious beliefs. Many of these practitioners continue to convert to Christianity and Islam. Muslims reside in the greatest numbers in the northern half of the country; however, they are becoming increasingly numerous in the cities throughout the country due to immigration, migration, and interethnic marriages. According to the most recent census (1998), Muslims compose 45.5 percent of the total urban population and 33.5 percent of the total rural population. Generally, the north is associated with Islam and the south with Christianity and other traditional religious groups. Both Catholics and Protestants reside in the southern and central regions. Additionally, Catholics are concentrated in the east, while Protestants reside in the southwest. Practitioners of traditional indigenous religious beliefs are concentrated in rural areas. Political and religious affiliations tend to follow ethnic lines. For example, the Mande and Voltaic groups, which include the Malinke and Senufo people, are largely Muslim. The Akan ethnic group, which includes the Baoule and Agni people, tends to be Catholic. There is also some correlation between religion and political affiliations and socio-economic class. For example, most Muslims favor the opposition Rally of Republicans (RDR) party; additionally, the merchant class is mostly Muslim. Immigrants from other parts of Africa are at least nominally Muslim or Christian. Missionaries are active in the country. 2
Sources
Note: All country profiles, maps, and flags are taken from The World Factbook, 2005.
1. The World Christian Database (WCD) is based on the 2600-page award-winning World Christian Encyclopedia and World Christian Trends, first published in 1982 and revised in 2001. This extensive work on World religion is now completely updated and integrated into the WCD online database. Designed for both the casual user and research scholar, information is readily available on religious activities, growth rates, religious literature, worker activity, and demographic statistics. Additional secular data is incorporated on population, health, education, and communications. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
2. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
