Irreligion in Latin America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irreligious Latin Americans
Total population
Population in Latin America:
Not religious: 8%
Religious: 92%
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[]

style="background:#fff;"
Country Percentage of the Local Population Population in
(millions)
Uruguay Uruguay 47[4][5] 1.6
Cuba Cuba 40[6][7] 4.6
Mexico Mexico 36[8] 45.3
Chile Chile 29[9] 5.2
Costa Rica Costa Rica 27[10] 1.4
El Salvador El Salvador 24[11][12] 1.4
Argentina Argentina 22[13][14] 6.6
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 19[15][16] 2.1
Nicaragua Nicaragua 19[17] 1.411
Guatemala Guatemala 18.3[18] 2.6
Belize Belize 15.6[19] 0.051
Honduras Honduras 14[20] 0.9
Venezuela Venezuela 11.7[16][21] 3.2
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 11.1[16] 0.400
Ecuador Ecuador 8.05[22] 1.2


Brazil Brazil 8.04[23] 16.1
Colombia Colombia 7[24] 3.3
Peru Peru 3.1[25] 1
Panama Panama 5.1[26] 0.166
Bolivia Bolivia 3[27] 0.318
Paraguay Paraguay 2[28] 0.142
Haiti Haiti 1[29] 0.095

Central America and Caribbean[]

Belize[]

According to the 2010 census, about 15.5% of the population of Belize is not religious. This is an increase from 9.4% reported in the 2000 census, and is the second largest category in the country, with the first being Roman Catholicism.[30]

Costa Rica[]

Approximately, 27% of the Costa Rican population is not religious, either non-practitioner, atheist or agnostic.[10]

Cuba[]

Estimates of the Cuban people without religion varies from 30% to 40%, the number of atheists also varies from 10% to 20%. Due to the influence of communism and Marxism-Leninism in the country, atheism has grown and is promoted in the population.[citation needed] Religious organizations are prohibited from promoting their faith to the population (at least not publicly).[citation needed]

Dominican Republic[]

Religiously unaffiliated people account for 18% of the public in the Dominican Republic.[31]

El Salvador[]

El Salvador is one of the least religious countries in Central America and the Caribbean. This percentage is sizable: 24%. Of these, 13% are atheist and 11% are people without religion.

Guatemala[]

Main article: Irreligion in Guatemala

According to a series of public opinion surveys (mainly CBN and CID Gallup Poll), Guatemala has had a progressive advance of irreligion, from 11.1% in 1990 to 14.2% in 2001 and 18.3% in 2008. The percentage of atheists round by 10% and 8.3% is considered simply non-religious.

Haiti[]

In Haiti, 1% of the population are not religious.[32]

Honduras[]

In Honduras 23% is considered without religion (15% non-religious and 8% atheists)

Mexico[]

Main article: Irreligion in Mexico

According to a 2010 census by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the percentage of non-religious is 8% (4.7% of atheists convinced) more than five million of non-religious people.[33] A survey question in 2006 by CID-Gallup 'Is religion important to you?' 20.5% said no, and almost 5% did not answer or said sometimes. According to World Population Review, it is estimated that 36% of the Mexican population has no religion and 64% does have.[8]

Nicaragua[]

Nicaragua has also experienced a decline in religious affiliation, according to the 1995 census, about 8.5% of Nicaraguans had no religion, although the 2005 census shows an increase to 15.7%, of which 9% is non-religious and 6.7% atheists.

Panama[]

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

Puerto Rico[]

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

South America[]

Argentina[]

A survey conducted in August 2019 (CEIL / CONICET) reports that 18.9% of Argentines are non-religious. It is observed that 81.9% believe in God and 18.1% do not. Gender, age, education level and geographical location have all been cited as variables for irreligion. Among men aged 18–29, those with better education and those from the most progressive, "modern" areas tend towards a lack of belief in God (83% and 89%).[14] A CID-Gallup poll affirms that in Argentina 16% of the population claims to be irreligious (8% non-religious and 8% atheists).

Bolivia[]

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 of the city of Sucre estimated that 7% have no religion (the least religious area of the country).[citation needed]

Brazil[]

Main article: Irreligion in Brazil

Although in Brazil a large majority of the population is religious a demographic census in 2000 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said that 7.3% of the population is atheist, agnostic or non-religious (12 million). In 2010, the IBGE revealed that the increase to 8.3% (15 million),although the increase was only 1%, but in quantity amounted to three million increase.[34]

Chile[]

In Chile, the proportion of people who are religious fell from 92% in 1993 to 71% in 2013 (according to the Latinobarometro). In 1993 the percentage of agnostics or atheists was 8%, but in 2011 and 2013 had reached 29% (5 million people). 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.[35]

Colombia[]

According to a national census of Colombia from 1997 to 2004, non-religious people increased from 2.2% to 7% and convinced atheists remain at 0.4%. Americas Barometer reveals little change for 2009, placing a 6.1% non-religious and atheists convinced 0.6%. In Colombian modern areas there are atheist organizations.

Ecuador[]

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 (Quito).

Paraguay[]

According to the 2012 Pew Global Religious Landscape study, 1.1% of Paraguayans are religiously unaffiliated.[36]

Peru[]

Main article: Irreligion in Peru

According to the 2017 Peruvian Census data, 1180361 Peruvians or 5.1% of the population older than 12 years old describes themselves as being irreligious,[37] but some sources put this number higher at 8.2%.[38]

The irreligious population is predominantly urban (85,5% live in cities) and males (61,4% are male), and most are young people within the ages between 18 and 29 (40,4%). Only 11,8% of irreligious people are 50 years old or older.[37]

In a survey by WIN International, carried out with the support of Datum Internacional, 92% of Peruvians expressed their belief in God, while 72% said they considered themselves religious, 20% non-religious and only 3% declared themselves to be atheist.[39]

Uruguay[]

Main article: Irreligion in Uruguay

Uruguay is the most secularized nation in the Americas with the highest percentage of atheists and agnostics.[40] 17.2% atheist or agnostic according to Uruguayan census.[41] While according to the most recent official survey approximately 58.1% of Uruguayans define themselves as Christian,[42] Many Uruguayans nominally describe themselves as Roman Catholics but lifestyle is not affected by the religion.[43]

According to Kaufmann, E. (2010), between 29% to 53% (Endorsed by 47%) of Uruguayans are not religious, more than half are atheists and the other part is distributed between agnostics and non-religious,[4] according to a national census conducted in 2007, 40% of Uruguayans are not religious, 20% believe in God but do not belong to any religion, 17% are atheists or agnostics, and 3% didn't know answer.[44]

Irreligion in Uruguay is not a new phenomenon, although is growing considerably. Uruguay in religious and irreligious terms is similar to Europe, where modernization, economic growth, have brought atheism, since 1990, Uruguayans referred Easter Week as "Tourism Week". Uruguay is also the most democratic country in the region observed for its civic culture.

Venezuela[]

In Venezuela secularization has been influencing the country, this is due to the increasing modernization of the country and improvement of education, during the 20th century Venezuela was one of the most religious countries with a dominant Catholicism, although in the early twenty-first century Protestants, atheists, agnostics, among other religions have grown in the country, the most professional people (scientists, doctors, writers, etc.) are often less believers. According to a study by the University of Cambridge, 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 (in total of 8% of the population).

See also[]

References[]

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