- Summary
- Adherents
- Religious Freedom
- Socio-economic
- Public Opinion
Religious Adherents1 |
Dominican Republic | Caribbean | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'i | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Buddhist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.8% |
| Chinese Universalist | 0.1% | 0.1% | 5.8% |
| Christian | 95.0% | 83.1% | 33.3% |
| Confucianist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Ethnoreligionist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.0% |
| Hindu | 0.0% | 0.9% | 13.6% |
| Jain | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Jewish | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Muslim | 0.0% | 0.3% | 20.8% |
| Shintoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Sikh | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Spiritist | 2.2% | 6.8% | 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 | 2.1% | 6.8% | 11.7% |
| Atheist | 0.5% | 1.8% | 2.3% |
Religious Demography
The country, which occupies two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, has an area of 18,815 square miles and a population of 9.2 million. The largest religious denomination is the Roman Catholic Church. Traditional Protestants, evangelical Christians (particularly Assemblies of God, Church of God, Baptists, and Pentecostals), Seventh-day Adventists, members of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have a much smaller but generally growing presence. According to a population survey taken in 2006 by the Gallup Organization, the population is 39.8 percent Catholic (practicing), 29.1 percent Catholic (nonpracticing), and 18.2 percent evangelical Protestant. In the same study, 10.6 percent state they have no religion. The Dominican Confederation of Evangelical Unity (CODUE) assert that evangelicals represent 16 to 20 percent of the population. There are approximately 300 Jews, of whom very few are observant. Most live in Santo Domingo, which has a synagogue and a community leader but no ordained rabbi. There is a synagogue for the small Jewish community in Sosua. Both synagogues were led by the same individual. Various government sources estimate that there are between 5,000 and 10,000 Muslims, a figure that includes many foreign students. There is an active Sunni mosque in Santo Domingo, with approximately 300 regular worshippers. There is a small number of Buddhists and Hindus. Many Catholics practice a combination of Catholicism and Afro-Caribbean beliefs (santerķa), witchcraft (brujerķa), or voodoo (vodou), but because these practices are usually concealed, the number of adherents is unknown. There are organized missionary groups in the country.2
Sources
Note: All country histories and flags were obtained from The World Factbook, 2008.
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.
