Irreligion in Africa
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Irreligion (including agnosticism, atheism, deism, skepticism, freethought/freethinker, secular humanism, ignosticism, nonbeliever, non-theist, rationalist) |
Irreligion in Africa, encompassing also atheism in Africa, as well as agnosticism, secular humanism, and general secularism, has been estimated at over tens of millions in various polls. While the predominant religions in Africa are Islam and Christianity, many groups and individuals still practice their traditional beliefs. Despite this, the irreligious population is notable, especially in South Africa where 15.1% of the population describe themselves as irreligious and in Botswana, where 20% of the population describes themselves as non-religious.
Sources promoting irreligion in Africa have been dated to go back several millennia. Other sources have noted that many African philosophies such as Ubuntu are rooted in a secular humanistic framework. During the 1950s and 1960s, irreligion in Africa became increasingly widespread among the educated classes as communism, socialism and anti-colonial movements gained influence on the continent.
The largest self-declared populations of the irreligious in Africa are found in Southern African countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana. Irreligion in Ghana has also been the subject of some study. The numbers of the irreligious are also growing in North Africa, where ex-Muslims are more and more vocal, especially in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
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Wikipedia