Religion in South Africa

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St. Mark's Anglican Cathedral, George, South Africa
Mint colored Mosque in Cape Town.

South Africa has a wide mix of religions. Many religions are represented in the ethnic and regional diversity of South Africa's population. The traditional spiritualities of the Khoisan and Bantu speakers were succeeded in predominance by the Christianity introduced by the Dutch and, later, British settlers. Islam was introduced by the Cape Malay slaves of the Dutch settlers, Hinduism was introduced by the indentured servants imported from the Indian subcontinent, and Buddhism was introduced by both Indians and Chinese immigrants. The Bahá'í Faith was introduced in 1911 grew after Bahá'ís from Canada, the United States and Germany settled in the country.[1] Judaism in South Africa came about some time before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, by the participation of Jewish astronomers and cartographers in the Portuguese discovery of the sea-route to India. They assisted Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama who first sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and 1497. However, Jews only began to arrive in numbers from the 1820s.

[edit] Demographics

Religion Adherents % Adherents %
2001[2] 2007[3]
Christianity 35750641 79.77 29684861 73.52
Non-religious 6767165 15.1 3262428 8.08
Other 283815 0.63
Buddhism/Chinese folk religion 12113 0.03
Islam 654064 1.46 585460 1.45
Undetermined 610974 1.36
Hinduism 551668 1.23 504707 1.25
African traditional religion 125898 0.28 6056487 15
Judaism 75549 0.17 68640 0.17

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Bahá'ís in South Africa - Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911". Official Website. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa. 1997. http://www.bahai.org.za/cm/node/19. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  2. ^ "Table: Census 2001 by province, gender, religion recode (derived) and population group.". Census 2001. Statistics South Africa. http://www.statssa.gov.za/timeseriesdata/pxweb2006/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=Religion%20by%20province&ti=Table%3A+Census+2001+by+province%2C+gender%2C+religion+recode+(derived)+and++population+group.+&path=../Database/South%20Africa/Population%20Census/Census%202001%20-%20Demarcation%20boundaries%20as%20at%2010%20October%202001/Provincial%20level%20-%20Persons/&lang=1. Retrieved 2009-04-27.  Select all 26 religions, click "Continue".
  3. ^ "Country Profile: South Africa (Republic of South Africa)", Religious Intelligence, Republic of South Africa: Religious Intelligence, 2007-8, http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/country/?CountryID=158 
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