Religion in Cameroon

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Douala

The predominant faith is Christianity, practised by about two-thirds of the population, while Islam is a significant minority faith, adhered to by about one-fifth.[2][3] Turkish NGO IHH estimates Muslims account for 25-30% of the Cameroonian population.[4] The Christian population is divided between Roman Catholics (32.4 percent of the total population), Protestants (30.3 percent), and other Christian denominations (including Jehovah's Witnesses) 6 percent.[2][3] The vast majority of the Muslims are Sunni belonging to Maliki school of jurisprudence, 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 two Anglophone provinces of the western region are largely Protestant, and the Francophone provinces of the southern and western regions are largely Catholic and Evangelicals.[2][3] In the northern provinces, the locally dominant Fulani (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peul or Peuhl) ethnic group is majority Muslim, but the overall population is fairly evenly mixed between Muslims, Christians, each often living in its own community.[2][3] The Bamoun ethnic group of the West Province is largely Muslim.[2][3] Apart from the Fulani 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 the Fulani extended to several ethnic groups majority of which are adherents of Islam such as the Musgum and Mafa. Other ethnic groups such as Kanuri were introduced to Islam through the Borno Empire. Several Islamic-based ethnic groups in the Far North Region most notably the Fulani and Kanuri 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 as Tupuri 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.[2][3] There are also 200,000 Orthodox Christians(or 0.75%),[6] with a constant and significant growth, especially in the north of the country[6][7]

As of 2010, there were about 50,000 adherents of the Baháʼí Faith in the country.[8] By 2001, the Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly was registered with the Government of Cameroon as one of the few non-Christian foreign religions.[9] There is a tiny population of Jews in Cameroon who have established ties with the wider global Jewish community. A community of approximately 50 people practice some form of Judaism in the country today.[10] Hinduism is the faith practiced by some South Asian migrants. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion in Cameroon, and the government generally respects this right in practice.[2][3] The country is generally characterized by a high degree of religious tolerance.[2][3]

• Freedom of religion in Cameroon
• Islam in Cameroon
• Christianity in Cameroon
• Roman Catholicism in Cameroon
• Baháʼí Faith in Cameroon
• Judaism in Cameroon
• Zamba (god)