Editing Angola (section)

=== Religion ===
[[File:Igreja Matriz - panoramio - Rogério Melo (2).jpg|left|thumb|Catholic church of [[Uaco Cungo]]]]
There are about 1,000 religious communities, mostly [[Christian]], in Angola.<ref>Viegas, Fátima (2008) ''Panorâmica das Religiões em Angola Independente (1975–2008)'', Ministério da Cultura/Instituto Nacional para os Assuntos Religiosos, Luanda</ref> While reliable statistics are nonexistent, estimates have it that more than half of the population are Catholics, while about a quarter adhere to the Protestant churches introduced during the colonial period: the [[Congregationalist]]s mainly among the [[Ovimbundu]] of the Central Highlands and the coastal region to its west, the [[Methodists]] concentrating on the [[Kimbundu]] speaking strip from Luanda to Malanje, the [[Baptists]] almost exclusively among the [[Bakongo]] of the north-west (now present in Luanda as well) and dispersed [[Adventists]], [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]], and [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schubert |first=Benedict |title=Der Krieg und die Kirchen: Angola 1961–1991 |trans-title=The War and the Churches: Angola 1961–1991 |publisher=Exodus |year=1997 |location=Luzern, Switzerland}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=Lawrence W. |title=The Church in Angola: A river of many currents |date=1989 |publisher=Pilgrim Press |location=Cleveland}}</ref>
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = [[Religion in Angola]] <small>(2015)</small><ref>{{cite web| title=Angola| website=Association of Religion Data Archives| date=16 November 2012| url=https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_7_1.asp| access-date=11 October 2020| archive-date=30 October 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030191322/https://thearda.com/internationalData/Countries/Country_7_1.asp| url-status=live}}</ref>
|label1 = [[Roman Catholicism]]
|value1 = 56.4
|color1 = purple
|label2 = [[Protestantism]]
|value2 = 23.4
|color2 = blue
|label3 = Other [[Christianity|Christian]]
|value3 = 13.6
|color3 = skyblue
|label4 = [[Traditional African religions|Traditional faiths]]
|value4 = 4.5
|color4 = black
|label5 = [[Irreligion]]
|value5 = 1
|color5 = gray
|label6 = Others
|value6 = 1.1
|color6 = green
}}
In Luanda and region there subsists a nucleus of the "[[syncretic]]" [[Tocoists]] and in the north-west a sprinkling of [[Kimbanguism]] can be found, spreading from the Congo/Zaïre. Since independence, hundreds of [[Pentecostal]] and similar communities have sprung up in the cities, whereby now about 50% of the population is living; several of these communities/churches are of Brazilian origin.

{{As of|2008}} the [[U.S. Department of State]] estimates the Muslim population at 80,000–90,000, less than 1% of the population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008/108352.htm|title=Angola|publisher=State.gov|date=19 September 2008|access-date=13 July 2014|archive-date=3 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803234002/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008/108352.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> while the [[Islam in Angola|Islamic Community of Angola]] puts the figure closer to 500,000.<ref>[http://www.opais.net/pt/opais/?id=1657&det=23057 Surgimento do Islão em Angola] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401143743/http://www.opais.net/pt/opais/?id=1657&det=23057 |date=1 April 2012 }}. ''O Pais''. 2 September 2011. p. 18</ref> Muslims consist largely of migrants from West Africa and the Middle East (especially [[Lebanon]]), although some are local converts.<ref name="customs">Oyebade, Adebayo O. ''Culture And Customs of Angola'', 2006. pp. 45–46.</ref> The Angolan government does not [[Islam in Angola#Legal status|legally recognize]] any Muslim organizations and often shuts down mosques or prevents their construction.<ref name="IRFR2012">{{Citation |title=Angola 2012 International Religious Freedom Report |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/208328.pdf |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=24 June 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328162456/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/208328.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a study assessing nations' levels of religious regulation and persecution with scores ranging from 0 to 10 where 0 represented low levels of regulation or persecution, Angola was scored 0.8 on Government Regulation of Religion, 4.0 on Social Regulation of Religion, 0 on Government Favoritism of Religion and 0 on Religious Persecution.<ref>[http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_7_3.asp Angola: Religious Freedom Profile at the Association of Religion Data Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411043322/http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_7_3.asp |date=11 April 2010 }} Brian J Grim and Roger Finke. "International Religion Indexes: Government Regulation, Government Favoritism and Social Regulation of Religion". Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 2 (2006) Article 1: religjournal.com.</ref>

Foreign [[Missionary|missionaries]] were very active prior to independence in 1975, although since the beginning of the anti-colonial fight in 1961 the Portuguese colonial authorities expelled a series of Protestant missionaries and closed mission stations based on the belief that the missionaries were inciting pro-independence sentiments. Missionaries have been able to return to the country since the early 1990s, although security conditions due to the civil war have prevented them until 2002 from restoring many of their former inland mission stations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5511.htm|title=International Religious Freedom Report – Angola|publisher=U.S. Department of State|date=1 January 2004|access-date=27 June 2010|archive-date=31 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131002030/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5511.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Catholic Church and some major Protestant denominations mostly keep to themselves in contrast to the "New Churches" which actively proselytize. Catholics, as well as some major Protestant denominations, provide help for the poor in the form of crop seeds, farm animals, medical care and education.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DeVqVy21g9sC&pg=PA40|title=Culture and customs of Angola|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-33147-3|page=40|year=2007|access-date=11 May 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726053929/https://books.google.com/books?id=DeVqVy21g9sC&pg=PA40|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcusa.org/hunger/downloads/2005intgrants.pdf|title=International Grants 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113131805/http://www.pcusa.org/hunger/downloads/2005intgrants.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>