As of 1900, both Muslims and Christians were relatively small minorities in the region. Since then, however, the number of Muslims living between the Sahara Desert and the Cape of Good Hope has increased more than 20-fold, rising from an estimated 11 million in 1900 to approximately 234 million in 2010.
New Pew-Templeton Survey of 19 African Nations Finds Signs of Tolerance and Tensions Between the Faiths Download a PDF in English Français Português Washington, D.C.—The vast majority of people in many sub-Saharan African nations are deeply committed to one or the other of the world’s two largest religions, Christianity and Islam, and yet many continue […]
Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition of the […]
Washington, D.C.—In a 10:00 a.m. EDT conference call for journalists on Thursday, April 15, 2010, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life will discuss its new survey that explores the role of religion in the lives and societies of sub-Saharan Africans. CONTACT Mary SchultzCommunications Manager202.419.4556mschultz@pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/religion “Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in […]
Recent events such as the Fort Hood shootings and the arrest of five Muslim American students in Pakistan have raised questions about the threat of homegrown terrorism in the United States. However, the Pew Research Center’s comprehensive portrait of the Muslim American population suggests it is less likely to be a fertile breeding ground for […]
The Government Restrictions Index is based on 20 questions used by the Pew Forum to assess whether governments – including at the local or provincial level – restrict religious practices or beliefs. The questions are intended to gauge the extent to which governments try to control religious groups or individuals, prohibit conversions from one faith […]
The public continues to express concern about the rise of Islamic extremism in the United States and abroad, but a survey taken shortly after the deadly Nov. 5 shootings at the Fort Hood Army base shows only a modest increase in these concerns since 2007. Just more than half (52%) of Americans say they are […]
