Religion in Afghanistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The majority Religion in Afghanistan is Islam, with over 99% of Afghans being counted as Muslims. Of those, approximately 80% are Sunni 20% are Shi'a [1][2] [3] (estimates vary). There are about 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in different cities but mostly in Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar.[4][5] Also, there was a small Jewish community in Afghanistan (See Bukharan Jews) who fled the country after the 1979 Soviet invasion, and only one individual, Zablon Simintov, remains today.[6] There is an estimated 3,000 - 5,000 Christians in Afghanistan. (See Christianity in Afghanistan) Most of these are former Muslims who converted.[7] Buddhists, very few in number, probably number about 0.3% of the current population. Baha'is account for more than 20,000 members. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, which provided statistics for world countries to Britannica, there are also Zoroastrians still remaining in Afghanistan. The figures vary widely though statistics of more than 300,000 have been given on this site http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/religious_studies/CDC/afghanistan.html. If so, Zoroastrianism should be considered Afghanistan's second largest religion.
[edit] See also
- Bahá'í Faith in Afghanistan
- Islam in Afghanistan
- Hinduism in Afghanistan
- Roman Catholicism in Afghanistan
- Protestants in Afghanistan
- Buddhism in Afghanistan
- Religious freedom in Afghanistan
[edit] References
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica - Afghanistan...Link (PDF)
- ^ CIA World Factbook
- ^ Goring, R. (ed) "Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions" (Larousse: 1994); pg. 581-58;: Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs", ISBN 0-7523-0000-8, Note: "... Figures have been compiled from the most accurate recent available information and are in most cases correct to the nearest 1% ..."
- ^ Hinduism Today: Hindus Abandon Afghanistan
- ^ BBC South Asia: Sikhs struggle in Afghanistan
- ^ Washingtonpost.com - Afghan Jew Becomes Country's One and Only - N.C. Aizenman
- ^ AfghanTimes.com - Afghan Christian News Network
