Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, as a major world religion, is practiced in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. Most of the Buddhists in Africa, live in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Though there have been some conversion amongst Africans, most of the Buddhists in Africa, are of Asian

Asian people

Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...

, mostly Chinese

Overseas Chinese

Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....

, Vietnamese or Japanese

Japanese diaspora

The Japanese diaspora, and its individual members known as , are Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants that reside in a foreign country...

 descent. 0.01% of South Africa's population are Buddhist. There have also been cases of some high profile celebrities converting to Buddhism such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...

, a famous actor of Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n descent

One of the very few monastics of African descent is Ven. Bhante Buddharakkhita from Uganda, founder of the Uganda Buddhist Centre

The Uganda Buddhist Centre

The Uganda Buddhist Centre is a Buddhist Temple located at P.O. Box 16650, Kampala, Uganda-Quick Stats:Leader/Title: Venerable BuddharakkhitaEthnic Composition: Mostly Ugandan, seven Thais, one Burmese and forty-five Sri Lankans...

.

Further reading

• Clasquin, Michel / Krüger, Jacobus S. (eds.) (1999): Buddhism and Africa. Pretoria: University of South Africa