Religion in Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
A large number of religions are traditionally practiced in Ethiopia
, the most numerous today being Orthodox Christianity
, followed by Islam
. Traditional beliefs, usually categorized as Animism
, attract a decreasing number of followers.
According to the national census conducted in 2007, over 37 million people or 43.5% were reported to be Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, over 29 million or 33.9% were reported to be Muslim
, just under 15,7 million, or 18.6%, were Protestant
, and just under two million or 2.6% adhered to traditional beliefs. Neither in the 2007 census, nor in the 1994 census, were responses reported in further detail: for example, those who identified themselves as Hindus, Jewish, Baha'i, agnostics or atheists were counted as "Other".
It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity
as the state religion in the 4th century.
. Christians form the majority of the population. Islam is the second most followed religion, with 33.9% of the population being adherents. 2.6% of the population (mainly in the far south and southwest) follow traditional religions; other religions (Bahá'í
, Judaism
, etc.) make up the remaining 0.6%. Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra
in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash
. Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement
, that is influenced by Pan-Africanism
and has globalized Ethiopian flag tricolors with the spread of Reggae
music alongside Hip hop culture.
There are numerous indigenous African religions in Ethiopia, mainly located in the far southwest and western borderlands. In general, most of the (largely members of the non-Chalcedonian Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
) Christians
live in the highlands, while Muslims
and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit more lowland regions in the east and south of the country.
Ethiopia is the oldest Christian state in the world, after Georgia
and Armenia
. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an Oriental Orthodox Church which is the largest Christian denomination in Ethiopia (it claims that 50% of the Ethiopian population are church members) and was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, is the only pre-colonial Orthodox church in Sub-Saharan Africa
. The apostle St. Matthew is said to have died in Ethiopia.
According to the government's 1994 census (which the CIA World Factbook follows), 61.6% of the Ethiopian population was Christian: 50.6% of the total were Ethiopian Orthodox, 10.1% were various Protestant
denominations (such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
, and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
), and Ethiopian Catholics
constituted 0.9% of the population). The U.S. State Department estimates that just over 50% of the country is Christian (40 to 45% of the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, about 10% are members of Christian evangelical and Pentecostal groups) Orthodox Ethiopian Christians are predominant in the Tigray
(95.6%) and Amhara
(82.5%), while the majority of Protestants live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region or SNNPR (55.5% of the inhabitants) and the Oromia Region
(4.8 million or 17.7%). The government's most recent 2007 census, Christians constitute 62.8% of the total population, with the largest group being Ethiopian Orthodox Christians at 43.5%, followed by Protestant
18.6% (which include Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
) and Catholics
at 0.7%.
The Kingdom of Aksum was one of the first nations to officially accept Christianity
, when St. Frumentius of Tyre, called Fremnatos or Abba Selama ("Father of Peace") in Ethiopia, converted King Ezana
during the 4th century AD
. Many believe that the Gospel had entered Ethiopia even earlier, with the royal official described as being baptised by Philip the Evangelist
in chapter eight of the Acts of the Apostles
. (Acts 8:26–39) Orthodox Christianity has a long history in Ethiopia dating back to the 1st century, and is dominant in northern and central Ethiopia. Both Orthodox and Protestant Christianity have large representations in southern and western Ethiopia. A small ancient group of Jews
, the Beta Israel
, live in northwestern Ethiopia, though most emigrated to Israel
in the last decades of the 20th century as part of the rescue missions undertaken by the Israeli government, Operation Moses
and Operation Solomon
. Some Israeli and Jewish scholars consider these Ethiopian Jews as a historical Lost Tribe of Israel. Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
, part of Oriental Orthodoxy
, is by far the largest denomination, though a number of Protestant (Pentay) churches and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
have recently gained ground. Since the 18th century there has existed a relatively small (uniate) Ethiopian Catholic Church
in full communion
with Rome
, with adherents making up less than 1% of the total population.
The name "Ethiopia" (Hebrew Kush) is mentioned in the Bible numerous times (thirty-seven times in the King James version). Abyssinia is also mentioned in the Qur'an
and Hadith
. While many Ethiopians claim that the Bible references of Kush apply to their own ancient civilization, pointing out that the Gihon
river, a name for the Nile
, is said to flow through the land, most non-Ethiopian scholars believe that the use of the term referred to the Kingdom of Kush
in particular or Africa outside of Egypt in general. Some have argued that biblical Kush
was a large part of land that included Northern Ethiopia, Eritrea
and most of present day Sudan
. The capital cities of biblical Kush were in Northern Sudan.
Islam in Ethiopia
dates back to the founding of the religion; in 615, when a group of Muslims were counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca
and travel to Ethiopia via modern day Eritrea
, which was ruled by Ashama ibn Abjar
, a pious Christian king. Moreover, Bilal ibn Ribah
, the first Muezzin
, the person chosen to call the faithful to prayer, and one of the foremost companions of Muhammad, was from Abyssinia (Eritrea, Ethiopia etc.). Also, the largest single ethnic group of non-Arab Companions of Muhammad was that of the Ethiopians.
According to the most recent 2007 CSA
governmental data, Muslims are 33.9% of the population
, up from 32.8% in 1994 (according to the census data of that year).
The U.S. State Department, however, estimates that Muslims constitute about 40-45% of the population Most Ethiopian Muslims are Sunni, and some belong to various Sufi orders. Islam first arrived in Ethiopia in 614
with the First Migration to Abyssinia
. Addis Ababa
, Ethiopia's capital city, is home to about 1 million Muslims. While believers can be found in almost every community, Islam is most prevalent in the Somali
(98.4%), Afar
(95.3%) and Oromia (47.5%) Regions.
The Beta Israel, also known as the Falashas (though this term is considered pejorative), are a long-isolated group of African Jews
who have lived in Ethiopia since antiquity. Their existence was not widely known to the outside world for many years, and they likewise were not aware of other Jewish groups outside of their own community. They became known to the West
during the 19th and 20th centuries, and were accepted as Jews by the Israel
i government in 1975. After this, Operation Moses
and Operation Solomon
, conducted in 1984 and 1991, respectively, airlifted the vast majority of the Ethiopian Jewish population to Israel, where there is currently a population of 150,000 Beta Israel. A small Jewish community still exists in Ethiopia, although it is mostly composed of Falash Mura, Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity in the past, and as such have not been recognized as Jews by the State of Israel, but have returned to Judaism (the Falash Mura now number some 22,000).
in Ethiopia begins after `Abdu'l-Bahá
wrote letters encouraging taking the religion to Africa in 1916. It is not known who the first Bahá'í was to settle in the country, but the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of the country was elected November 1934 in Addis Ababa
. In 1962 Ethiopia Bahá'ís had elected a National Spiritual Assembly. By 1963 there were seven localities with smaller groups of Bahá'ís in the country. The Association of Religion Data Archives
estimated some 27,000 Bahá'ís in 2005. The Ethiopian community celebrated its diamond jubile in January 2009. The Bahá'í Faith
is concentrated primarily in Addis Ababa, but also in the suburbs of Yeka, Kirkos and Nefas Silk Lafto.
, whose adherents believe Ethiopia is Zion
. The Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I
as Jesus
, the human incarnation of God. The Emperor himself was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, which also has a concept of Zion, though it represents a separate and complex concept, referring figuratively to St. Mary, but also to Ethiopia as a bastion of Christianity surrounded by Muslims and other religions, much like Mount Zion
in the Bible. It is also used to refer to Axum
, the ancient capital and religious centre of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, or to its primary church, called Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
.
is provided by the constitution of 1995
, although in certain localities this practice is not always respected. There is no state religion, it is forbidden to form political parties based upon religion, and all religious groups are required to register with the government (and renew their registration once every three years). It is a crime in Ethiopia to incite one religion against another. There is some tension between members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Protestant Christians, as well as between the Ethiopian Orthodox and Muslims. According to the Barnabas Fund
, 55 churches were torched in March 2011 in the Jimma Zone
by Muslims after a dispute.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, the most numerous today being Orthodox Christianity
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
, followed by Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Traditional beliefs, usually categorized as Animism
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
, attract a decreasing number of followers.
According to the national census conducted in 2007, over 37 million people or 43.5% were reported to be Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, over 29 million or 33.9% were reported to be Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
, just under 15,7 million, or 18.6%, were Protestant
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
, and just under two million or 2.6% adhered to traditional beliefs. Neither in the 2007 census, nor in the 1994 census, were responses reported in further detail: for example, those who identified themselves as Hindus, Jewish, Baha'i, agnostics or atheists were counted as "Other".
It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
as the state religion in the 4th century.
| Year | Christians Christianity in Ethiopia Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the first century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups... |
Ethiopian Orthodox | Protestants P'ent'ay P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches... |
Catholics Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church within the Catholic Church. Established in 1930, its membership includes inhabitants of Ethiopia and Eritrea.... |
Muslims Islam in Ethiopia According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615... |
Animists | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 61.6% | 50.6% | 10.1% | 0.9% | 32.8% | 4.6% | 1.0% |
| 2007 | 62.8% | 43.5% | 18.6% | 0.7% | 33.9% | 2.6% | 0.7% |
| Growth | 1.2% | -7.1%' | 8.5% | -0.2% | 1.1% | -2.0% | -0.3% |
| Year | Christians Christianity in Ethiopia Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the first century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups... |
Ethiopian Orthodox | Protestants P'ent'ay P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches... |
Catholics Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church within the Catholic Church. Established in 1930, its membership includes inhabitants of Ethiopia and Eritrea.... |
Muslims Islam in Ethiopia According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615... |
Animists | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 32,689,482 | 26,844,932 | 5,366,360 | 478,190 | 17,427,387 | 2,444,085 | 531,323 |
| 2007 | 46,420,822 | 32,154,550 | 13,748,842 | 517,430 | 25,058,373 | 1,921,881 | 517,430 |
| Growth | 13,731,340 | 5,309,618 | 8,382,482 | 39,240 | 7,630,986 | -522,204 | -13,893 |
| 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | 1994 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Christians Christianity in Ethiopia Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the first century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups... |
Ethiopian Orthodox | Protestants P'ent'ay P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches... |
Catholics Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church within the Catholic Church. Established in 1930, its membership includes inhabitants of Ethiopia and Eritrea.... |
Muslims Islam in Ethiopia According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615... |
Animists | Other | |||||||
| Addis Ababa Addis Ababa Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia... |
86.65% | 83.0% | 82.0% | 74.7% | 3.87% | 7.77% | 0.78% | 0.48% | 12.7% | 16.2% | 0.8% | |||
 AfarAfar Region Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction.... |
4.4% | 4.7% | 3.9% | 3.9% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 95.6% | 95.3% | ||||
 AmharaAmhara Region Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar.... |
81.6% | 82.7% | 81.5% | 82.5% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 18.1% | 17.2% | 0.1% | |||||
 Benishangul-Gumuz |
40.6% | 46.5% | 34.8% | 33.0% | 5.8% | 13.5% | 44.1% | 45.4% | 13.1% | 7.1% | ||||
| Dire Dawa Dire Dawa Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura.... |
36.7% | 28.8% | 34.5% | 25.71% | 1.5% | 2.81% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 63.2% | 70.9% | 0.1% | 0.3% | ||
| Gambela Gambela Region Gambela is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. Previously known as "Region 12", its capital is Gambela. Lying between the Baro and Akobo Rivers, the western part of Gambela includes the Baro salient.... |
71.35% | 90.2% | 24.13% | 16.8% | 44.01% | 70.0% | 3.21% | 3.4% | 5.15% | 4.9% | 10.28% | 3.8% | 1.1% | |
| Harari Harari Region Harari or officially, Harari People's National Regional State is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, covering the homeland of the Harari people... |
39.49% | 30.8% | 38.09% | 27.1% | 0.94% | 3.4% | 0.46% | 0.3% | 60.28% | 69.0% | 0.2% | |||
 OromiaOromia Region Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia... |
49.9% | 48.2% | 41.3% | 30.5% | 8.6% | 17.7% | 44.3% | 47.5% | 4.2% | 3.3% | 1.1% | |||
| Somali Somali Region Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga... |
0.9% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 98.7% | 98.4% | 0.3% | 1.0% | ||||||
 SNNPRSouthern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of the former Regions 7-11 following the 1994 elections... |
65.4% | 77.8% | 27.6% | 19.9% | 34.8% | 55.5% | 3.0% | 2.4% | 16.7% | 14.1% | 15.4% | 6.6% | 1.5% | |
 TigrayTigray Region Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1... |
95.9% | 96.1% | 95.5% | 95.6% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 4.1% | 4.0% | |||||
Abrahamic religions
Ethiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religionsAbrahamic religions
Abrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
. Christians form the majority of the population. Islam is the second most followed religion, with 33.9% of the population being adherents. 2.6% of the population (mainly in the far south and southwest) follow traditional religions; other religions (Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, Judaism
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
, etc.) make up the remaining 0.6%. Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra
Hijra (Islam)
The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...
in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash
Negash
Negash is a village in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, which straddles the Adigrat-Mekele road 10 kilometers north of Wukro. Located in Wukro woreda, this settlement has a longitude and latitude of ....
. Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
, that is influenced by Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a movement that seeks to unify African people or people living in Africa, into a "one African community". Differing types of Pan-Africanism seek different levels of economic, racial, social, or political unity...
and has globalized Ethiopian flag tricolors with the spread of Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
music alongside Hip hop culture.
There are numerous indigenous African religions in Ethiopia, mainly located in the far southwest and western borderlands. In general, most of the (largely members of the non-Chalcedonian Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the predominant Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All...
) Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
live in the highlands, while Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit more lowland regions in the east and south of the country.
Christianity
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an Oriental Orthodox Church which is the largest Christian denomination in Ethiopia (it claims that 50% of the Ethiopian population are church members) and was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, is the only pre-colonial Orthodox church in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. The apostle St. Matthew is said to have died in Ethiopia.
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
denominations (such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
According to its followers, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church stands to preserve the country's orthodox traditions while believing in the full Gospel of the scripture. Most of its members reside in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, however it has several members globally...
, and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Christian denomination in Ethiopia. It was created in 1959 with the merger of Lutheran and other congregations established by missionary work in that country, taking its name from the first congregation in Addis Ababa, Mekane Yesus...
), and Ethiopian Catholics
Ethiopian Catholic Church
The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church within the Catholic Church. Established in 1930, its membership includes inhabitants of Ethiopia and Eritrea....
constituted 0.9% of the population). The U.S. State Department estimates that just over 50% of the country is Christian (40 to 45% of the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, about 10% are members of Christian evangelical and Pentecostal groups) Orthodox Ethiopian Christians are predominant in the Tigray
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
(95.6%) and Amhara
Amhara Region
Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....
(82.5%), while the majority of Protestants live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region or SNNPR (55.5% of the inhabitants) and the Oromia Region
Oromia Region
Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
(4.8 million or 17.7%). The government's most recent 2007 census, Christians constitute 62.8% of the total population, with the largest group being Ethiopian Orthodox Christians at 43.5%, followed by Protestant
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
18.6% (which include Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
According to its followers, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church stands to preserve the country's orthodox traditions while believing in the full Gospel of the scripture. Most of its members reside in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, however it has several members globally...
and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Christian denomination in Ethiopia. It was created in 1959 with the merger of Lutheran and other congregations established by missionary work in that country, taking its name from the first congregation in Addis Ababa, Mekane Yesus...
) and Catholics
Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia
The Catholic Church in Ethiopia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.The Ethiopian Catholic Church, the primary organization of Catholicism in the country, is especially close to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose doctrine and...
at 0.7%.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, when St. Frumentius of Tyre, called Fremnatos or Abba Selama ("Father of Peace") in Ethiopia, converted King Ezana
Ezana of Axum
Ezana of Axum , was ruler of the Axumite Kingdom located in present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, he himself employed the style "king of Saba and Salhen, Himyar and Dhu-Raydan"...
during the 4th century AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
. Many believe that the Gospel had entered Ethiopia even earlier, with the royal official described as being baptised by Philip the Evangelist
Philip the Evangelist
Saint Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem . He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, converted Simon Magus, and met and baptised an Ethiopian man, an...
in chapter eight of the Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
. (Acts 8:26–39) Orthodox Christianity has a long history in Ethiopia dating back to the 1st century, and is dominant in northern and central Ethiopia. Both Orthodox and Protestant Christianity have large representations in southern and western Ethiopia. A small ancient group of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, the Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
, live in northwestern Ethiopia, though most emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the last decades of the 20th century as part of the rescue missions undertaken by the Israeli government, Operation Moses
Operation Moses
Operation Moses refers to the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984...
and Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon was a 1991 covert Israeli military operation to take Ethiopian Jews to Israel.In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the recent military successes of Eritrean and Tigrean rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous...
. Some Israeli and Jewish scholars consider these Ethiopian Jews as a historical Lost Tribe of Israel. Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the predominant Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All...
, part of Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
, is by far the largest denomination, though a number of Protestant (Pentay) churches and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church
According to its followers, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso Church stands to preserve the country's orthodox traditions while believing in the full Gospel of the scripture. Most of its members reside in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, however it has several members globally...
have recently gained ground. Since the 18th century there has existed a relatively small (uniate) Ethiopian Catholic Church
Ethiopian Catholic Church
The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church within the Catholic Church. Established in 1930, its membership includes inhabitants of Ethiopia and Eritrea....
in full communion
Full communion
In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....
with Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, with adherents making up less than 1% of the total population.
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
and Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
. While many Ethiopians claim that the Bible references of Kush apply to their own ancient civilization, pointing out that the Gihon
Gihon
Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers issuing out of the Garden of Eden that branched from a single river within the garden. The name may be interpreted as "Bursting Forth, Gushing"...
river, a name for the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, is said to flow through the land, most non-Ethiopian scholars believe that the use of the term referred to the Kingdom of Kush
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
in particular or Africa outside of Egypt in general. Some have argued that biblical Kush
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
was a large part of land that included Northern Ethiopia, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
and most of present day Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. The capital cities of biblical Kush were in Northern Sudan.
Islam
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
dates back to the founding of the religion; in 615, when a group of Muslims were counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
and travel to Ethiopia via modern day Eritrea
Migration to Abyssinia
The migration known as the first Hijarat was made in two groups totalling more than a hundred persons. According to Islamic tradition, eleven male and five female Sahabah, the Muslims who originally converged in Mecca, sought refuge from Quraysh persecution in the Kingdom of Aksum in of in the...
, which was ruled by Ashama ibn Abjar
Ashama ibn Abjar
According to Arabic sources, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar was Emperor or al-Najashi of Aksum at the time of Muhammad, and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum. The term "al-Najashi" has the variant al-Negashi; it corresponds to the ancient Aksumite title Negus, with the variant Negash...
, a pious Christian king. Moreover, Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habashi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose a former African slave Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first muezzin of the Islamic faith...
, the first Muezzin
Muezzin
A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...
, the person chosen to call the faithful to prayer, and one of the foremost companions of Muhammad, was from Abyssinia (Eritrea, Ethiopia etc.). Also, the largest single ethnic group of non-Arab Companions of Muhammad was that of the Ethiopians.
According to the most recent 2007 CSA
Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
governmental data, Muslims are 33.9% of the population
, up from 32.8% in 1994 (according to the census data of that year).
The U.S. State Department, however, estimates that Muslims constitute about 40-45% of the population Most Ethiopian Muslims are Sunni, and some belong to various Sufi orders. Islam first arrived in Ethiopia in 614
614
Year 614 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The Palace of Diocletian is damaged by the...
with the First Migration to Abyssinia
Migration to Abyssinia
The migration known as the first Hijarat was made in two groups totalling more than a hundred persons. According to Islamic tradition, eleven male and five female Sahabah, the Muslims who originally converged in Mecca, sought refuge from Quraysh persecution in the Kingdom of Aksum in of in the...
. Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, Ethiopia's capital city, is home to about 1 million Muslims. While believers can be found in almost every community, Islam is most prevalent in the Somali
Somali Region
Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...
(98.4%), Afar
Afar Region
Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction....
(95.3%) and Oromia (47.5%) Regions.
Judaism
African Jews
Some Jewish communities in Africa are among the oldest in the world, dating back more than 2700 years. African Jews have ethnic and religious diversity and richness. African Jewish communities include:...
who have lived in Ethiopia since antiquity. Their existence was not widely known to the outside world for many years, and they likewise were not aware of other Jewish groups outside of their own community. They became known to the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
during the 19th and 20th centuries, and were accepted as Jews by the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i government in 1975. After this, Operation Moses
Operation Moses
Operation Moses refers to the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984...
and Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon was a 1991 covert Israeli military operation to take Ethiopian Jews to Israel.In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the recent military successes of Eritrean and Tigrean rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous...
, conducted in 1984 and 1991, respectively, airlifted the vast majority of the Ethiopian Jewish population to Israel, where there is currently a population of 150,000 Beta Israel. A small Jewish community still exists in Ethiopia, although it is mostly composed of Falash Mura, Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity in the past, and as such have not been recognized as Jews by the State of Israel, but have returned to Judaism (the Falash Mura now number some 22,000).
Animism
An estimated 2.6% of the Ethiopian population holds traditional Animist beliefs, according to the 2007 census (down from 4.6% in the 1994 census data). The largest numbers of practitioners of traditional beliefs are in the SNNPR (about 993,000 people) and Oromia (895,000).Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í FaithBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
in Ethiopia begins after `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
wrote letters encouraging taking the religion to Africa in 1916. It is not known who the first Bahá'í was to settle in the country, but the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of the country was elected November 1934 in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
. In 1962 Ethiopia Bahá'ís had elected a National Spiritual Assembly. By 1963 there were seven localities with smaller groups of Bahá'ís in the country. The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
estimated some 27,000 Bahá'ís in 2005. The Ethiopian community celebrated its diamond jubile in January 2009. The Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
is concentrated primarily in Addis Ababa, but also in the suburbs of Yeka, Kirkos and Nefas Silk Lafto.
Views on the emperors
Ethiopia is the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movementRastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
, whose adherents believe Ethiopia is Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
. The Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
as Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, the human incarnation of God. The Emperor himself was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, which also has a concept of Zion, though it represents a separate and complex concept, referring figuratively to St. Mary, but also to Ethiopia as a bastion of Christianity surrounded by Muslims and other religions, much like Mount Zion
Mount Zion
Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...
in the Bible. It is also used to refer to Axum
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
, the ancient capital and religious centre of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, or to its primary church, called Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
The Church of Our Virgin Mary of Zion of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important church in Ethiopia...
.
Religious politics
Freedom of religionFreedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
is provided by the constitution of 1995
1995 Constitution of Ethiopia
The current Constitution of Ethiopia, which is the supreme law of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, was adopted by the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in December 1994 and came into force in August 1995. The constitution was drawn up by the Constituent Assembly elected in June of that year.The...
, although in certain localities this practice is not always respected. There is no state religion, it is forbidden to form political parties based upon religion, and all religious groups are required to register with the government (and renew their registration once every three years). It is a crime in Ethiopia to incite one religion against another. There is some tension between members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Protestant Christians, as well as between the Ethiopian Orthodox and Muslims. According to the Barnabas Fund
Barnabas Fund
The Barnabas Fund is an international, interdenominational Christian aid agency that supports Christians who face discrimination or persecution as a consequence of their faith...
, 55 churches were torched in March 2011 in the Jimma Zone
Jimma Zone
Jimma is one of the 17 Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Jimma is named for the former Kingdom of Jimma, which was absorbed into the former province of Kaffa in 1932...
by Muslims after a dispute.
External links
- Berhanu Abegaz, "Ethiopia: A Model Nation of Minorities"