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Religion in Kazakhstan
Religion in Kazakhstan (2023 Census)[1]
According to various polls, the majority of Kazakhstan's citizens, primarily ethnic Kazakhs, identify as Sunni Muslims.[2][3] In 2020, Shia Muslims made up 20% of the population.[4]
According to the estimate by the Pew Research Center, 71% of the population practices the religion of Islam. It also estimated that 17% practices Christianity, 10% are unaffiliated, and 0.9% of the population practices other religions, mainly Buddhism and Folk Religion.[5]
There are a total of 3,000 mosques,[6] all of them affiliated with the "Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan", headed by a supreme mufti.[7] The Eid al-Adha is recognized as a national holiday.[6]
In 2020, 20% of the population was Orthodox Christian, traditionally including ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.[4] In 2011, other Christian groups in the country included Catholics and Protestants (Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists, Mennonites and Seventh-day Adventists), including restorationist Christian faiths such as Jehovah's Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[8] In 2011 there were a total of 175 registered Orthodox churches, 53 Catholic churches, and 343 Protestant churches and prayer houses; other religious registered groups included Judaism, the Baháʼí Faith, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Church of Scientology, Christian Science, and the Unification Church.[8] The Ahmadiyya community is not registered despite several attempts since 2011.[9]
Christmas, rendered in the Russian Orthodox manner according to the Julian calendar, is recognized as a national holiday in Kazakhstan.[6]
The government considers several religions as 'traditional', including Hanafi Sunni Islam, the Russian Orthodox Church, Greek and Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Judaism; some parts of the country can be wary of members of 'nontraditional' minority religious groups.[9]
In 2022, President Tokayev stated that the country was a "secular and tolerant country" but noted that the authorities will not "turn a blind eye to various radical movements and religious separatism.”[9]
- ^ "2022 жылғы Қазақстан Республикасы халқының ұлттық санағының қорытындылары" [Results of the 2022 Population Census of the Republic of Kazakhstan] (in Kazakh). Agency of Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Religious Identity Among Muslims". 9 August 2012.
- ^ "Итоги переписи населения Республики Казахстан 2009 года". Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-01.. stat.kz. 4 February 2010.
- ^ a b World Religion Database at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-08
- ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
- ^ a b c Religious Situation Review in Kazakhstan Congress of World Religions. Retrieved on 2009-09-07.
- ^ Islam in Kazakhstan Retrieved on 2009-09-07.
- ^ a b Kazakhstan – International Religious Freedom Report 2010 U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 13 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Kazakhstan - International Religious Freedom Report 2022 U.S. Department of State.
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