Irreligion in Latin America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Irreligious Latin Americans
Total population
Population in Latin America:
Not religious: 8-21%
Religious: 92-79%
Religions
Irreligion (nones)
(including agnosticism, atheism, deism, skepticism, freethought/freethinker, secular humanism, ignosticism, Nonbeliever, Non-theist, secular Rationalist)

Irreligion in Latin America refers to various types of irreligion, including atheism, agnosticism, deism, secular humanism, secularism and non-religious. According to a global survey conducted in 2011, 16% of the population has no religion (13% of non-religious, 2% atheists convinced and 1% didn't know answer).[1][2][3]

Percentage by country[edit]

Country Percentage of the Local Population Population in
(millions)
Uruguay Uruguay 54[4][5] 1.9
Cuba Cuba 40[6][7] 4.6
Argentina Argentina 40[8] 18
Chile Chile 39[9] 7
Mexico Mexico 38[10] 47.8
Costa Rica Costa Rica 27[11] 1.4
El Salvador El Salvador 24[12][13] 1.4
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 19[14][15] 2.1
Nicaragua Nicaragua 19[16] 1.411
Guatemala Guatemala 18.3[17] 2.6
Belize Belize 15.6[18] 0.051
Honduras Honduras 14[19] 0.9
Venezuela Venezuela 11.7[15][20] 3.2
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 11.1[15] 0.400
Ecuador Ecuador 8.05[21] 1.2
Brazil Brazil 8.04[22] 16.1
Colombia Colombia 7[23] 3.3
Peru Peru 3.1[24] 1
Panama Panama 5.1[25] 0.166
Bolivia Bolivia 3[26] 0.318
Paraguay Paraguay 2[27] 0.142
Haiti Haiti 1[28] 0.095

Historical Trends[edit]

  • Sources: Based on Pew Center Research (All countries),[29][30] America´s Barometer (All countries),[31] Cid-Gallup Poll (Central America & Caribbean),[32][33] National Census/Investigations (Argentina,[34] Bolivia,[35] Brazil,[36] Chile,[37] El Salvador,[38] Mexico,[39] Nicaragua[40] and Uruguay[41]), Operation World (specifically Cuba[42])

Mexico and Central America[edit]

Caribbean[edit]

Northern South America[edit]

Southern Cone[edit]

Mexico, Central America and Caribbean[edit]

Belize[edit]

According to the 2010 census, about 15.5% of the population of Belize is not religious.[43]

Costa Rica[edit]

Approximately, 27% of the Costa Rican population is irreligious, either non-practitioner, atheist or agnostic.[11]

Cuba[edit]

Estimates of the Cuban people without religion varies from 30% to 40%, the number of atheists also from 10% to 20%. As of the communism and Marxism-Leninism influence since 1960´s decade.[citation needed]

Dominican Republic[edit]

Religiously unaffiliated people account 18% in Dominican Republic.[44] Irreligious people round in 18-21% since earlies 2000´s.

El Salvador[edit]

El Salvador is one of the least religious countries in Central America and the Caribbean, reveling a considerable 24% of which 13% being atheist and 11% people without religion.

Guatemala[edit]

Main article: Irreligion in Guatemala

A public opinion survey estimated in 2008 self-identified irreligious as 18.3%, atheists account 10% and 8.3% is simply non-religious.

Haiti[edit]

In Haiti, only 1% is not religious.[45]

Honduras[edit]

In Honduras 15% is considered without religion (9% non-religious and 6% atheists)

Mexico[edit]

Main article: Irreligion in Mexico

According to 2020 census by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 8 percent of population is non-religious (5% of atheists convinced), increasing from 5 percent in 2010.[39][46] A survey question in 2006 by CID-Gallup about religious importance revealed that almost 30% of Mexican consider religion as not important. According to World Population Review, 38% of the Mexican population is irreligious.[10]

Nicaragua[edit]

Nicaragua experienced a growth of non-religious between census 1995 and 2005, were more than 15% were classified as none, and 3% classified as convided atheist. According to free sources, nearly 20% of Nicaraguans are unaffiliated.

Panama[edit]

About 5% of Panamanians are irreligious (3% non-religious and 2% atheists).

Puerto Rico[edit]

Irreligion in Puerto Rico is relatively recent and has grown in recent years; about 11.1% of Puerto Ricans have no religion (6% non-religious and 5.1% atheists).

South America[edit]

Argentina[edit]

A survey conducted in August 2019 (CEIL/CONICET) reports that 18.9% of Argentines are non-religious, growing from 11% since 2008 report. It is observed that 81.9% believe in God and 18.1% do not. Ledges of Gender, age, education level and geographical location have all been cited as variables for irreligion, among men between 18–29, people with higher education and industrialized areas tend presence less belief in God roughly 83% and 89%.[34][47] A CID-Gallup poll affirms that 16% of the Argentine population claims to be irreligious (8% non-religious and 8% atheists). While a recent 2020 survey from Latinobarometro report an unexpected growth as high as 40% of population.

Bolivia[edit]

In Bolivia, a large majority of the population is religious, of which only 3% of the population is atheist, agnostic or non-religious. A study in the Sucre City estimated that 7% doesn´t have religion (the least religious area of the country).[citation needed]

Brazil[edit]

Main article: Irreligion in Brazil

Although in Brazil a large majority of the population is religious, a revealed 2000 Census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimate 7.3% of the population being atheist, agnostic or non-religious. In 2010, the IBGE revealed an increased 8.3%, this tiny increment was because evangelical, religiously new age and afro-religions increasings.[36]

Chile[edit]

In Chile, the proportion of people who are religious dropped from 92% in 1995 to 71% in 2015 according to Latinobarometro. Almost 17% of Chileans are atheist and 12% non-religious. In September 2011, a group of atheists founded the Atheist Society of Chile (In Spanish: Sociedad Atea de Chile).[9] According to Latinbarometer poll in 2017 Chile is the second most irreligious country in South America after Uruguay with 38% of the population not following any religion.[48]

Colombia[edit]

According to national census studies, between 1997 and 2004 non-religious people increased from 2.2% to 7% but convinced atheists remain less than 1%. In 2009, Americas Barometer reported little changes and placed 6.1% of non-religious and atheists convinced almost 1%. There are atheist organizations in Metropolitan cities.

Ecuador[edit]

According to the National Statistics Institute of Ecuador in 2011, 8.05% of Ecuadorians are not religious (7.94% atheists and 0.11% agnostics). There are atheists and secular organizations in the capital city or Quito.

Paraguay[edit]

According to the 2012 Pew Global Religious Landscape study, 1.1% of Paraguayans are religiously unaffiliated.[49]

Peru[edit]

Main article: Irreligion in Peru

According to the 2017 Peruvian Census data, 5.1% of the Peruvian population older than 12 years old describes themselves as irreligious,[50] but some sources estimtate around 8% of population.[51]

The irreligious population is predominantly urban (85.5%) and masculine (61.4%), about breakdown ages, 40.4% of total irreligious are people within the ages 18 and 29, while only 11.8% is older than 50 years.[50]

According to WIN International Survey, supported by Datum Internacional, 92% of Peruvians expressed their belief in God, 72% considered themselves religious, 20% non-religious and only 3% declared themselves to be atheist.[52]

Uruguay[edit]

Main article: Irreligion in Uruguay

Uruguay is the most secularized nation in the Americas with the highest percent of atheists and agnostics.[53] 17.2% atheist or agnostic according to Uruguayan census.[54] While according to the most recent official survey approximately 58.1% of Uruguayans define themselves as Christian,[41] Many Uruguayans nominally describe themselves as Roman Catholics, but lifestyle is not affected by the religion.[55]

According to Kaufmann, E. (2010), 47% of Uruguayans are not religious, more than half are atheists or 25% and the other part is characterized of agnostics and non-religious,[4] according to national census 2007, 40% of Uruguayans were not religious, of which 23% claim believed in God but doesn´t follow any religion and 17% are atheists or agnostics.[56]

Irreligion in Uruguay is very historical. During the 19th century, complex secularist politic party fought against the Catholic hegemony, although internally the society has been shallowly religious. Since 1919, the State is completely laicist or not confessional, and since 1920, Uruguayans referred to Easter Week as "Tourism Week".[citation needed] Uruguay is also the most democratic and civic country in Latin America.[citation needed]

Venezuela[edit]

In Venezuela, secularization has been influencing the country specially in religious practicing since the industrialization during the 20th century, but since early twenty-first century, Protestants are also growing in the country. According to the University of Cambridge estimation, 11.7% of Venezuelans are without religion (atheists 6% and 5.7% of non-religious), also a national study estimated that 6% of Venezuelans are agnostics and 2% atheists, a total of 8% unaffiliated, being very popular into professional class according to the national investigation.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "RELIGION AND ATHEISM" (PDF). Atheistalliance.org. Retrieved 2014-10-11.[dead link]
  2. ^ Adam Lee. "The Coming Atheist Demographic Tide". Big Think. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ^ "A secular Latin America? - The Christian Century". The Christian Century. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Atheism to Defeat Religion By 2038". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Encuesta Nacional de Hogares Amplidada - 2006" (PDF) (in Spanish). Ine.gub.uy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  6. ^ "Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", from the Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, University of Cambridge Press, 2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2009.
  7. ^ "Religion In Cuba". Prolades.com. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. April 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-04. CID Gallup survey
  9. ^ a b "Disminuyen los católicos y crecen los agnósticos en Chile". La segunda online. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  10. ^ a b "Most Atheist Countries 2022". World Population Review. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Murillo, Alvaro (7 July 2021). "Encuesta CIEP-UCR evidencia a una Costa Rica estatista y menos religiosa". Semanario Universidad. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  12. ^ Gallup, C. I. D. "CID Gallup". CID Gallup. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
  13. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report for 2014". U.S. State Department. 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  14. ^ "2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Dominican Republic". UNHCR. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  15. ^ a b c Zuckerman, Phil (2007). "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns". The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-82739-3. Archived from the original on October 21, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  16. ^ "2005 Nicaraguan Census" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics and Census of Nicaragua (in Spanish). pp. 42–43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-29. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
  17. ^ Clifton L. Holland (8 February 2009). "Public Opinion Polls on Religious Affiliation in Guatemala: 1990-2008" (PDF). prolades.com. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  18. ^ Belize Population and Housing Census 2010: Country Report (PDF). Belmopan, Belize C.A.: Statistical Institute of Belize. 2013. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  19. ^ Religion in Honduras - CID Gallup Poll 2007 US. State
  20. ^ Jesús María Aguirre (June 2012). "Informe sociográfico sobre la religión en Venezuela" [Sociographic report on religion in Venezuela] (PDF) (in Spanish). gumilla.org. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  21. ^ (in Spanish) El 80% de ecuatorianos es católico Archived 2016-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics). 2010 Census. Accessed 07.08.2012.
  23. ^ "Colombia". Vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Peru Seen As One Of World's Most Religious Countries". Peruvian Times. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  25. ^ "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. April 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-04. CID Gallup survey
  26. ^ Alejandro Díaz‐Domínguez (2009). "Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas: 2009, No. 29" (PDF). americasbarometer.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  27. ^ "2002 census data". Dgeec.gov.py. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  28. ^ "Haiti: People and Society". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  29. ^ "Religion in Latin America, Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region". Pew Research Center. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  30. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  31. ^ Latin American Public Opinion Project 2009. (P.11)
  32. ^ CID-Gallup Central America
  33. ^ PROLADES
  34. ^ a b Creencias, valores y actitudes en la sociedad argentina, conicet.gov.ar, 29 January 2020 (Spanish)
  35. ^ Religions in Bolivia-2001 Census
  36. ^ a b "IBGE - Sala de imprensa - notícias". Ibge.gov.br. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  37. ^ Religions in Chile-2002 Census
  38. ^ Religions in El Salvador (2003)
  39. ^ a b "Religion – Mexico Census". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). 2020.
  40. ^ "CENSO DE POBLACIÓN 2005" (PDF). 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  41. ^ a b "Encuesta Nacional de Hogares Amplidada - 2006" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics (in Spanish). INHA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  42. ^ Mandryk, Jason (2010). Operation World: World Guide (GMI ed.). Operation World. ISBN 978-719-531-3597. Retrieved 2021. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  43. ^ "Census report" (PDF). sib.org.bz. 2010. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  44. ^ "Religion in Latin America - Pew Research Center". 13 November 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  45. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report for 2014: Haiti". US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  46. ^ "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010 – Cuestionario básico". INEGI. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  47. ^ Mallimaci, Fortunato; Esquivel, Juan Cruz; Irrazabal, Gabriela. "PRIMERA ENCUESTA SOBRE CREENCIAS Y ACTITUDES RELIGIOSAS EN ARGENTINA" (PDF). CEIL/CONICET. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  48. ^ "Cifra de chilenos que se declaran católicos bajó de 73% a 45% en la última década". 24 Horas.
  49. ^ "The Global Religious Landscape" (PDF). assets.pewresearch.org. 2012. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  50. ^ a b "Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico - Informe Nacional" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. August 2018.
  51. ^ "La visita del Papa Francisco a nuestro país" (PDF). Compañía Peruana de Estudios de Mercados y Opinión Pública. February 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  52. ^ "3% of Peru identifies as atheist". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  53. ^ "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns 1" (PDF). Pitzer.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  54. ^ Michael Martin (30 October 2006). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-139-82739-3. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  55. ^ Leslie Jermyn; Winnie Wong (2009). Uruguay. Marshall Cavendish. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-7614-4482-4. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  56. ^ "Uruguay Segment of 2010 International Religious Freedom Report". Archives.uruguay.usembassy.gov. Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irreligion_in_Latin_America&oldid=1074241145"