National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Cape Verde [x], Western Africa [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Cape Verde)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 68/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 148/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 116/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 145/253 |
Cape Verde: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Jews, Nonreligious.
Cape Verde: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Agnostics, doubly-affiliated, unaffiliated Christians.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.15% | 0.07% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | --- | 0.01% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | --- | 0.01% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | --- | --- | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | --- | 0.00% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 94.92% | 36.43% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.00% | 1.11% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | --- | 0.01% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 89.57% | 11.36% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 3.87% | 19.86% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 7.21% | 9.58% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 1.13% | 11.27% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | --- | 0.01% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | --- | 0.00% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | --- | 0.00% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | --- | 0.00% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | --- | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 2.81% | 51.89% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 2.81% | 50.90% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | --- | 0.01% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.97% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | --- | 0.02% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | --- | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | --- | 0.00% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | --- | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 0.98% | 0.31% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 0.98% | 0.29% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | --- | 0.02% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Cape Verde)3
Cape Verde is an archipelago consisting of 10 islands, 9 of which are inhabited. It has an area of 1,557 square miles and a population of 500,000. More than 85 percent of the population is nominally Roman Catholic, according to an informal poll taken by local churches. The largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene. Other groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Assemblies of God, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, and various other Pentecostal and evangelical groups. There are small Baha'i communities and a small but growing Muslim community. No reliable statistics exist on the percentage of followers of each of these denominations.
Summary Information |
Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Western Africa | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 515,590 | 349,551,395 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 1,557 | 2,372,101 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 72.4 | 59.9 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 6,220.0 | 2,539.4 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (strongly democratic) | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Catholicism | -- | -- |
Cape Verde - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Cape Verde [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | There is no registration requirement |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups need not register but registration is allowed or encouraged. This encouragement may include benefits given only to registered religions. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Preferred Religion |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes primarily to one religion but at least some other religions receive some funds. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Cape Verde [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | no [ Article 2(2) ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Articles 29(2), 49(1) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Articles 1(2), 24, 49(2) ] |
Constitution |
Cape Verde [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1992 |
| Last Amended10 | 2010 |
| Source10 | UN Women |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | July 31, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 86.8 | 53.1 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 97.1 | 75.8 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 70.4 | -- | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 1.6 | 567.2 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 1,009.1 | 118,150.3 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 734.8 | 90,579.1 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 56.9 | 56.5 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | -- | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 6,220.0 | 2,539.4 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.0000217 | 0.001057681 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | -- | -- | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Cape Verde [x] |
Western Africa [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 515,590 | 349,551,395 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 72.4 | 59.9 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | -17.0 | -1,037.6 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 66.2 | 45.8 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 2.2 | 4.2 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.4 | 5.4 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 18.2 | 61.2 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Cape Verde)10
Article 1. Republic of Cabo Verde.
…
(2) The Republic of Cabo Verde shall recognize the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction as to … religion …
…
Article 2. Democratic state based on the rule of law.
…
(2) The Republic of Cabo Verde shall, in the organization of political power, recognize and
respect … the separation of Church and State …
Article 24. Principle of equality.
All citizens shall have equal social dignity and shall be equal before the law. No one may be privileged, favored or disadvantaged, deprived of any right or exempted from any duty by reason of … religion …
Article 29. Right to freedom.
…
(2) Personal freedoms, … of religion, of worship … and the remaining freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, in general or conventional international law, received in the domestic legal order, and in the laws, shall be guaranteed.
(3) No one may be forced to declare his or her … religion or cult …
Article 38. Extradition.
(1) Under no circumstance shall extradition be granted when requested:
(a) for … religious reasons …
…
Article 45. Use of computer resources and protection of personal data.
…
(2) The use of computerized media shall be prohibited for the logging and processing of individually identifiable data related to … to religious faith … except: [Exceptions follow]
…
Article 47. Marriage and parenting.
(1) Everyone shall have the right to enter into matrimony, in civil or religious form.
…
Article 48. Freedoms of expression and of information.
(1) … [N]o one may be subjected to discomfort, on account of his or her … religious … opinions.
…
Article 49. Freedom of conscience, of religion and of worship.
(1) The freedom of conscience, of religion and of worship shall be inviolable, and everyone shall have the right, individually and collectively, to profess or not to profess a religion, to have a religious conviction of his or her own choosing, to participate in the acts of worship and to express freely his or her faith and to disseminate his or her doctrine or conviction, provided that he or she does not violate the rights of others and the common good.
(2) No one may be discriminated against, persecuted, disadvantaged, deprived of rights, favored or be exempted from his or her duties on account of his or her religious faith, convictions or practice.
(3) Churches and other religious communities shall be separate from the State and shall be independent and free in their organization and in the exercise of their own activities, and shall be considered partners in the promotion of the social and spiritual development of the Cabo Verdean people.
(4) Freedom of religious teaching shall be guaranteed.
(5) Freedom of religious assistance in hospital, aid and prison institutions, as well as in the armed forces shall be guaranteed, under the terms of the law.
(6) Churches shall have the right to use mass media for the realization of their activities and goals, under the terms of the law.
(7) The protection of places of worship, as well as religious symbols, insignias and rites shall be guaranteed and imitation or ridicule thereof shall be prohibited.
(8) The right to conscientious objection shall be guaranteed, under the terms of the law.
Article 50. Freedom to learn, educate and teach.
…
(2) The freedom to learn, to educate and to teach encompasses:
…
(c) The prohibition of the State to plan education and teaching in accordance with any … religious guidelines;
(d) The prohibition of confessional state schools;
…
Article 57. Participation in the organization of political power – political parties.
…
(3) Political parties may not use names that, directly or indirectly, identify with … any church, religion or religious confession …
…
Article 58. Right of political broadcasting, of reply and of rebuttal.
…
(3) The right to broadcasting time may also be granted, by law, to legally recognized … religious faiths.
…
Article 64. Freedom of professional and trade union association.
…
(5) Trade union associations and professional associations shall be independent of … the Church or religious faiths.
(6) The law … shall guarantee [trade union associations’] independence and autonomy relative to … the Church and religious faiths.
…
Article 103. General and common principles.
…
(3) Each referendum may only have a single subject as its object, and in no way whatsoever may the following questions be submitted for popular consideration:
…
(c) Separation of church and State;
…
…
Article 274. Subsistence of certain fundamental rights.
The declaration of a state of siege or state of emergency may not in any way, affect … the freedom of conscience and of religion.
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 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.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
