More than 93% of the population of Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

 is nominally Roman Catholic, according to an informal poll taken by local churches. About 5% of the population is Protestant. The largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene

Church of the Nazarene

The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...

. Other groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Assemblies of God

Assemblies of God

The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...

, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is a Pentecostal Christian organisation established in Brazil on July 9, 1977, with a presence in many countries...

, the New Apostolic Church

New Apostolic Church

The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...

 and various other Pentecostal and evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

 groups. There are small Bahá'í communities and a small Muslim

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 community. The number of atheists is estimated at less than 1 percent of the population.

There is no association between religious differences and ethnic or political affiliations; however, the Catholic hierarchy is sympathetic to the Movement for Democracy

Movement for Democracy (Cape Verde)

The Movimento para a Democracia is a ideological liberal party in Cape Verde. It was in power between 1991 and 2001. MPD was created on March 14, 1990, and their first convention was held in November 1990. They won the first elections after the end of the one-party system in Cape Verde, with more...

 (MPD) party, which ruled the country from 1991 to 2001. While many Catholics once were hostile toward the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde

African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde

The African Party of Independence of Cape Verde is a former socialist party and presently a social-democratic political party in Cape Verde. Its members are nicknamed “os tambarinas” in Portuguese , and they identify themselves with the color yellow.-Forerunner:In 1956, its forerunner, the African...

 (PAICV), which became the governing party in 2001, some have become supporters of the PAICV due to conflict within the MPD party and dissatisfaction over the latter's performance. There are foreign missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 groups operating in the country, for example Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...

. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. The US government received no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.

See also

• Islam in Cape Verde
  Islam in Cape Verde
  Islam in Cape Verde is a minority religion with a small but growing community. Most Muslims are immigrants from Senegal and other neighboring countries, and are active in small-scale commerce and souvenir trade....
  
  
• Roman Catholicism in Cape Verde
  Roman Catholicism in Cape Verde
  The Roman Catholic Church in the Cape Verde is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome....
  
  
• Freedom of religion in Cape Verde
  Freedom of religion in Cape Verde
  The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice. Government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion...