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{{Further|Religion in Zambia}}

Zambia is officially a "Christian nation" under the 1996 constitution, but recognizes and protects freedom of religion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/3713564/Constitution-of-Zambia-1991Amended-to-1996 |title=Constitution of Zambia, 1991(Amended to 1996) |publisher=Scribd.com |date=30 June 2008 |access-date=18 December 2012 |archive-date=5 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105055544/http://www.scribd.com/doc/3713564/Constitution-of-Zambia-1991Amended-to-1996 |url-status=live }}</ref> WhileZambia feweris thanthe threeonly perAfrican centnation ofto thedesignate populationChristianity stillas observea [[Traditionalstate religion]].<ref> Haynes, N. (2021). Taking Dominion in a Christian Nation: North American Political Theology in an African faithsContext. Pneuma, 43(2), 214-232. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700747-bja10036</ref> The Zambia Statistics Agency estimates that 95.5% of Zambians are Christian, with 75.3% [[Protestantism|indigenousProtestant]] faithsand 20.2% [[Catholic Church in Zambia|Roman Catholic]].<ref name=2023RIRF>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/zambia/ Zambia], Zambian''[[Report Christianityon isInternational highlyReligious syncreticFreedom]]'', andU.S. manyDepartment self-identifiedof State (2023).</ref> Many Zambians Christians blendare elements[[syncretic]], ofcombining traditional[[Traditional African religionreligions|indigenous religiously beliefs]] with theirChristianity.<ref faithname=2023RIRF/> The largest protestant denominations are the [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[evangelicals]], and [[Pentecostals]].<ref name=2023RIRF/>

About three-fourths of the population adheres to one of several non-Catholic Christian denominations, including [[Anglicanism]], [[New Apostolic Church]], [[Lutheranism]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] and [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]; many Zambians also observe broader, nondenominational Christian movements, such as [[Branhamites|Branhamism]], [[Pentecostalism]], and [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] denominations. Roughly one-fifth are [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic.]]

Christianity arrived to Zambia through European colonialism, and its wide variety of sects and movements reflect changing patterns of missionary activity; for example, Catholicism came from Portuguese Mozambique in the east, while Anglicanism reflects British influences from the south. Following its independence in 1964, Zambia saw a greater influx of other church missions from across the world, particularly North America and Germany. In subsequent decades, Western missionary roles have been assumed by native believers (except for some technical positions, such as physicians). After [[Frederick Chiluba]], a Pentecostal Christian, became president in 1991, Pentecostal congregations expanded considerably around the country.<ref name="pentecostal">{{cite book|author=Steel, Matthew |title=Pentecostalism in Zambia: Power, Authority and the Overcomers|id=MSc Dissertation|publisher=University of Wales|year=2005}}</ref>

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{{Religious affiliation in Zambia}}

ASome largeChristian numberdenominations ofwith otherwisea smallerrelatively Christiansmall denominationsglobal arepresence disproportionatelyare representedpopular in Zambia. The country has one of the world's largest communities of [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventists]] on a per-capita basis, accounting for about 1 in 18 Zambians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adventistdirectory.org/ViewAdmField.aspx?AdmFieldID=ZAUM |title=Zambia Union Conference&nbsp;– Adventist Directory |publisher=Adventistdirectory.org |date=17 October 2012 |access-date=18 December 2012 |archive-date=27 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427045842/https://www.adventistdirectory.org/ViewAdmField.aspx?AdmFieldID=ZAUM |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Lutheran Church of Central Africa]] has over 11,000 members in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celc.info/site/cpage.asp?sec_id=180010197&cpage_id=180031341|title=Lutheran Church of Central Africa&nbsp;—: Zambia|publisher=Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131193035/http://www.celc.info/site/cpage.asp?sec_id=180010197&cpage_id=180031341|archive-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> Counting only active preachers, Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been present in Zambia since 1911,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zambia — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY|url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302006009|website=wol.jw.org|access-date=25 December 2018|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811141552/https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302006009|url-status=live}}</ref> have over 204,000 adherents;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zambia — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY|url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302006009|website=wol.jw.org|access-date=25 December 2018|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811141552/https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302006009|url-status=live}}</ref> more than 930,000 attended the annual observance of Christ's death in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/2018-service-year-report/2018-country-territory/|title=2018 Country and Territory Report}}</ref> About 12 per cent of Zambians are members of the [[New Apostolic Church]];<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hayashida|first=Nelson Osamu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkNC6-Wmga4C&q=One+in+11+Zambians+is+a+member+of+the+New+Apostolic+Church&pg=PA36|title=Dreams in the African Literature: The Significance of Dreams and Visions Among Zambian Baptists|date=1999|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-90-420-0596-9|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518182155/https://books.google.com/books?id=CkNC6-Wmga4C&q=One+in+11+Zambians+is+a+member+of+the+New+Apostolic+Church&pg=PA36#v=snippet&q=One%20in%2011%20Zambians%20is%20a%20member%20of%20the%20New%20Apostolic%20Church&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> with more than 1.2 million believers, the country has the third-largest community in Africa, out of a total worldwide membership of over 9 million.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Membership figures of the global Church as at the end of 2009: New Apostolic Church International (NAC)|url=http://www.nak.org/news/naci-news/article/16710/|website=www.nak.org|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=26 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626032545/http://www.nak.org/news/naci-news/article/16710/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Not including indigenous beliefs, non-Christian faiths total less than three per cent of the population, though are nonetheless highly visible, particularly in urban areas. Followers of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] number over 160,000,<ref name="adherents">{{cite web |url=http://adherents.com/largecom/com_bahai.html |title=The Largest Baha'i Communities |website=Adherents.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991206072438/http://adherents.com/largecom/com_bahai.html |archive-date=6 December 1999 |access-date=11 October 2020}}</ref> or 1.5 per cent of the population, which is among the largest communities in the world; the William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation, run by the Baháʼí community, is particularly active in areas such as literacy and primary health care.