Editing Sub-Saharan Africa (section)

==Religion==
{{Further|Religion in Africa|Christianity in Africa|Islam in Africa|Hinduism in Africa|African traditional religion}}
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religion in Sub Saharan Africa
| label1 = [[Christianity]]
| value1 = 62
| color1 = Dodgerblue
| label2 = [[Islam]]
| value2 = 31
| color2 = green
| label3 = [[African traditional religion|Traditional faiths]]
| value3 = 3
| color3 = maroon
| label4 = Others
| value4 = 4
| color4 = DarkOrange
}}
[[File:Africa_By_Muslim_Pop.png|thumb|right|Distribution of [[Islam in Africa]] by country]]
The principal religions of Sub-Saharan Africa are [[Christianity]], [[Islam]] and [[traditional African religions]], with Christianity being the largest religion, and [[religious syncretism]] being also common. African countries below the Sahara are largely Christian, while those above the Sahara, in [[North Africa]], are predominantly Islamic. There are also Muslim majorities in parts of the Horn of Africa ([[Djibouti]] and [[Somalia]]) and in the Sahel and Sudan regions ([[the Gambia]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], [[Niger]], [[Senegal]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Chad]]), as well as significant Muslim communities in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]], and on the Swahili Coast ([[Tanzania]], [[Mozambique]] and [[Kenya]]).<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Book of the Year 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica, (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-85229-956-2}} p. 306 <br /> However, Southern Africa is predominantly Christian. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as of mid-2002, there were 376,453,000 Christians, 329,869,000 Muslims and 98,734,000 people who practiced traditional religions in Africa. [http://www.greenwoodsvillage.com/gor/islam.htm Ian S. Markham,(A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112064308/http://www.greenwoodsvillage.com/gor/islam.htm |date=12 November 2010 }} is cited by Morehouse University as giving the mid-1990s figure of 278,250,800 Muslims in Africa, but still as 40.8% of the total. These numbers are estimates and remain a matter of conjecture. See Amadu Jacky Kaba. The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa: a survey and analysis of the numbers and percentages of Christians, Muslims and those who practice indigenous religions. The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 29, Number 2, June 2005. Discusses the estimations of various almanacs and encyclopedium, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed figure. Notes the figure presented at the [http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/Statistics.htm World Christian Encyclopedia, summarised here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305222924/http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/Statistics.htm |date=5 March 2016 }}, as being an outlier. On rates of growth, Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are highest, see: [https://foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3835 The List: The World's Fastest-Growing Religions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125105653/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3835 |date=25 January 2010 }}, Foreign Policy, May 2007.</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=27 January 2011 |title=Region: Sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-sub-saharan-africa/ |website=Pew Research Center }}</ref> West Africa is the only subregion of sub-Saharan Africa which has a Muslim majority population, and [[Nigeria]] has the largest Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[Mauritius]] is the only country in [[Africa]] to have a [[Hindu]] majority. In 2012, sub-Saharan Africa constituted in absolute terms the [[Christianity by country|world's third largest Christian population]], after Europe and [[Latin America]] respectively.<ref name="Survey">{{cite web |url=https://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf |title=The Global Religious Landscape |publisher=Pewforum.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125173538/https://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf |access-date=7 May 2020 |archive-date=25 January 2017 }}</ref> In 2012, sub-Saharan Africa also constituted in absolute terms the [[Islam by country|world's third largest Muslim population]], after [[Asia]] and the [[Middle East and North Africa]] respectively.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2011/01/FutureGlobalMuslimPopulation-WebPDF-Feb10.pdf |title=The Future of the Global Muslim Population |publisher=Pew Research Center |date=27 January 2011 }}</ref>

[[Traditional African religions]] are also commonly practiced across sub-Saharan Africa, with these religions being especially common in [[South Sudan]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/south-sudan#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2020&region_name=All+Countries&restrictions_year=2016 |title=Religions in South Sudan &#124; PEW-GRF |date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202113435/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/south-sudan#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2020&region_name=All+Countries&restrictions_year=2016 |archive-date=2 December 2018 }}</ref> [[Guinea Bissau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/guinea-bissau/#people-and-society |title=Guinea-Bissau |date=12 June 2024 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |via=CIA.gov }}</ref> [[Mozambique]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=156c#IRFDEMOG |title=National Profiles &#124; World Religion |website=www.thearda.com }}</ref> and [[Cameroon]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=40c |title=National Profiles &#124; World Religion |website=www.thearda.com }}</ref> Traditional African religions can be broken down into linguistic cultural groups, with common themes. Among [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]-speakers is a belief in a creator god or higher deity, along with ancestor spirits, territorial spirits, evil caused by human ill will and neglecting ancestor spirits, and priests of territorial spirits.<ref name="Ehret2002">{{cite book |last=Ehret |first=Christopher |title=The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0K0p8wCNKTQC&q=Christopher+Ehret+Niger+Congo+religion |year=2002 |publisher=James Currey Publishers |isbn=978-0-85255-475-3 |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126131412/https://books.google.com/books?id=0K0p8wCNKTQC&q=Christopher+Ehret+Niger+Congo+religion |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ehret |first=Christopher |date=November 2004 |title=A Conversation with Christopher Ehret |url=https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/2.1/ehret.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424121335/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/2.1/ehret.html |archive-date=24 April 2018 |url-status=live |journal=World History Connected |volume=2 |issue=1 }}</ref><ref name="Okwu">{{cite journal |vauthors=Okwu AS |title=Life, Death, Reincarnation, and Traditional Healing in Africa |journal=Issue: A Journal of Opinion |volume=9 |issue=3 |date=1979 |doi=10.2307/1166258 |pages=19–24 |jstor=1166258 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtCL2OYsH6wC&q=traditional+african+religions+polytheism&pg=RA1-PA185 |title=Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia |last=Stanton |first=Andrea L. |date=2012 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=9781412981767 |language=en |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205132320/https://books.google.com/books?id=GtCL2OYsH6wC&q=traditional+african+religions+polytheism&pg=RA1-PA185 |url-status=live }}</ref> New world religions such as [[Santería]], [[West African Vodun|Vodun]], and [[Candomblé]], would be derived from this world. Among [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] speakers is the belief in Divinity; evil is caused by divine judgement and retribution; prophets as middlemen between Divinity and man. Among [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]-speakers is [[henotheism]], the belief in one's own gods but accepting the existence of other gods; evil here is caused by malevolent spirits. The Semitic [[Abrahamic religion]] of [[Judaism]] is comparable to the latter world view.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldick |first=Julian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBzGsr1bw6cC&q=christianity+judaism+islam+afroasiatics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503012144/https://books.google.com/books?id=JBzGsr1bw6cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=christianity+judaism+islam+afroasiatics&source=bl&ots=w_AOA-fbkt&sig=Vee5ya1z2umJZ1iEi7TaqTDF1_E&hl=en&ei=-TzWS-3eCpKesgOG-fWlAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=3 May 2016 |url-status=live |title=Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Religions |date=1998 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-0522-5 |language=en }}</ref><ref name="Ehret2002"/><ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/2.1/ehret.html |title=A Conversation with Christopher Ehret |first=Christopher |last=Ehret |date=5 November 2004 |journal=World History Connected |volume=2 |issue=1 |access-date=2 November 2019 |archive-date=21 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821144957/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/2.1/ehret.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[San religion]] is non-theistic but a belief in a Spirit or Power of existence which can be tapped in a trance-dance; trance-healers.<ref>[[Christopher Ehret]], (2002). The Civilizations of Africa. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, pp. 102–03, {{ISBN|0-8139-2085-X}}.</ref>

Generally, traditional African religions are united by an ancient complex [[animism]] and [[ancestor worship]].<ref>{{citation |last=Vontress |first=Clemmont E. |title=Animism: Foundation of Traditional Healing in Sub-Saharan Africa |date=2005 |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/books/integrating-traditional-healing-practices-into-counseling-and-psychotherapy/n11.xml |work=Integrating Traditional Healing Practices into Counseling and Psychotherapy |pages=124–137 |publisher=SAGE Publications |access-date=2 November 2019 |doi=10.4135/9781452231648 |isbn=9780761930471 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031180939/http://sk.sagepub.com/books/integrating-traditional-healing-practices-into-counseling-and-psychotherapy/n11.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Traditional religions in sub-Saharan Africa often display complex ontology, cosmology and metaphysics. Mythologies, for example, demonstrated the difficulty fathers of creation had in bringing about order from chaos. Order is what is right and natural and any deviation is chaos. [[Cosmology]] and [[ontology]] is also neither simple or linear. It defines duality, the material and immaterial, male and female, heaven and earth. Common principles of being and becoming are widespread: Among the Dogon, the principle of ''Amma'' (being) and ''Nummo'' (becoming), and among the Bambara, ''Pemba'' (being) and ''Faro'' (becoming).<ref>Davidson, Basil (1969). ''The African Genius, An Introduction to African Social and Cultural History''. Little, Brown and Company: Boston, pp. 168–80. {{LCCN|7080751}}.</ref>
[[File:Ifedivination.JPG|thumb|[[Ifá]] divination and its four digit binary code]]
;West Africa
* [[Akan mythology]]
* [[Ashanti mythology]] (Ghana)
* [[Dahomey mythology|Dahomey (Fon) mythology]]
* [[Efik mythology]] (Nigeria, Cameroon)
* [[Igbo mythology]] (Nigeria)
* [[Serer religion]] and [[Serer creation myth]] (Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania)
* [[Yoruba mythology]] (Nigeria, Benin)

;Central Africa
* [[Dinka mythology]] (South Sudan)
* [[Lotuko mythology]] (South Sudan)
* [[Bushongo mythology]] (Congo)
* [[Bambuti mythology|Bambuti (Pygmy) mythology]] (Congo)
* [[Lugbara mythology]] (Congo)

;Southeast Africa
* [[Akamba mythology]] (eastern Kenya)
* [[Masai mythology]] (Kenya, Tanzania)

;Southern Africa
* [[Khoisan religion]]
* [[Lozi mythology]] (Zambia)
* [[Tumbuka mythology]] (Malawi)
* [[Zulu mythology]] (South Africa)

Sub-Saharan traditional divination systems display great sophistication. For example, the bamana sand divination uses well established symbolic codes that can be reproduced using four bits or marks. A binary system of one or two marks are combined. Random outcomes are generated using a [[fractal]] recursive process. It is analogous to a digital circuit but can be reproduced on any surface with one or two marks. This system is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>Eglash, Ron: "African Fractals: Modern computing and indigenous design." Rutgers 1999 {{ISBN|0-8135-2613-2 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2014}}