Religion in Guinea-Bissau

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Church in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Church in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

An estimated 38 to 45 percent of the population of Guinea-Bissau is Muslim, and 5 to 13 percent is Christian.[1] The remainder of the population follows traditional indigenous or animist religious practices.[1] There are few atheists.[1]

Islam is practiced most widely by the Fula and Mandinka ethnic groups, and Muslims generally live in the north and northeast.[1] Virtually all Muslims are Sunni.[1] The number of Ahmadi is extremely small and not confined to any particular geographic region.[1] When the Government in 2005 attempted to ban Ahmadi activities, many adherents returned to practicing the same form of Sunni Islam that other Muslims in the country practice.[1] Practitioners of traditional indigenous religious beliefs generally live in all but the northern parts of the country.[1] Christians belong to a number of groups, including the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations.[1] Christians are concentrated in Bissau and other large towns.[1]

Foreign missionaries operate in the country without restriction.[1]

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice.[1] In 2007, the US government received no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.[1]

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Guinea-Bissau. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.