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Christianity is the majorityreligion in Cameroon, with significant minorities of the adherents ofIslam andtraditional faiths.
Cameroon is officially asecular country. Christian churches and Muslim mosques of various denominations operate freely throughoutCameroon, while the traditionalists operate in their shrines and temples, which are also becoming popular today.[2]
The predominant faith isChristianity, practiced by 66.3% of the population, whileIslam is a significant minority faith, adhered to by 30.6%.[3][2] Turkish NGOIHH estimates Muslims account for 25-30% of the Cameroonian population.[4] The Christian population is divided betweenRoman Catholics (26.5% of the total population),Protestants (22.5%), and other Christian denominations (including Jehovah's Witnesses) 6%.[3][2]
The vast majority ofMuslims in the country areSunni belonging toMaliki school ofjurisprudence, with approximately 2%Ahmadiyya and 3%Shia.[5] Christians and Muslims are found in every region, although Christians are chiefly in the southern and western provinces and Muslims are the majority in the northern provinces.
The twoAnglophone provinces of the western region are largely Protestant, and theFrancophone provinces of the southern and western regions are largely Catholic and Evangelicals.[6][2] In the northern provinces, the locally dominantFulani (Fula:Fulɓe;French:Peul orPeuhl) ethnic group is virtually Muslim, but the overall population is fairly evenly mixed between Muslims, Christians, each often living in its own community.[6][2] TheBamoun ethnic group of the West Province is largely Muslim.[6][2] Apart from theFulani who are the most dominant in numbers and politics, there are many more Islam-based ethnicities in the northern region. The Islamization of the northern regions by theFulani extended to several ethnic groups, the majority of which are adherents of Islam such as theMusgum andMafa. Other ethnic groups such asKanuri were introduced to Islam through theBorno Empire. Several Islamic-based ethnic groups in theFar North Region most notably theFulani andKanuri who live in rural settlements do not have birth certifications or identity cards and are not included in the religion census statistics. Christianity is a minority in the northern regions with ethnic groups such asTupuri whose population are majority followers of Christianity. Traditional indigenous religious beliefs are practiced in rural areas throughout the country but rarely are practiced publicly in cities, in part because many indigenous religious groups are intrinsically local in character.[6][2] There are also 200,000 Orthodox Christians (or 0.75%),[7] with a constant and significant growth, especially in the north of the country.[7][8]
By 2001, the BaháʼíNational Spiritual Assembly was registered with theGovernment of Cameroon as one of the few non-Christian foreign religions.[9] As of 2020, there were almost 70,000 adherents of theBaháʼí Faith in the country.[3]
There is a tiny population of Jews in Cameroon who have established ties with the wider global Jewish community. In 2010, a community of approximately 50 people practiced some form of Judaism in the country.[10]Hinduism is the faith practiced by someSouth Asian migrants.
The Constitution provides for a secular state withfreedom of religion in Cameroon.[11][2] In 2023, the country was scored 2 out of 4 for religious freedom.[12]
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