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Line 484: {{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> Zambia is the only African nation to designate Christianity as a [[state religion]].<ref> Haynes, N. (2021). Taking Dominion in a Christian Nation: North American Political Theology in an African Context. 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|Protestant]] and 20.2% [[Catholic Church in Zambia|Roman Catholic]].<ref name=2023RIRF>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/zambia/ Zambia], ''[[Report on International Religious Freedom]]'', U.S. Department of State (2023).</ref> The [[Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops]] is the Catholic [[episcopal conference]].<ref name=2023RIRF/> Many Zambians Christians are [[syncretic]], combining [[Traditional African religions|indigenous religiously beliefs]] with Christianity.<ref name=2023RIRF/> The largest 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> Line 492: Some Christian denominations with a relatively small global presence are popular 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 – 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: 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> Approximately 2.7% of Zambians are [[Islam in Zambia|Muslim]], primarily [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] with smaller numbers of [[Ismaili]] and [[Twelver Shia]].<ref name=2023RIRF/> The Muslim community, which numbers 100,000 according to one estimate, includes both refugees from [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|the Congo]] and [[Somali diaspora|Somalia]], as well as immigrants from South Asia and the Middle East who have become Zambian citizenship.<ref name=2023RIRF/> [[Hindu]]s, primarily of South Asian ancestry, numbered approximately 10,000 as of 2019.<ref name=2023RIRF/> At its peak in the 1960s, a small [[History of the Jews in Zambia|Jewish community in Zambia]] numbered about 1,000, mostly with origins in [[History of the Jews in Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[History of the Jews in Latvia|Latvia]], and [[History of the Jews in Germany|Germany]]; today, there are fewer than 50 Zambian Jews,<ref>Mark Tutton, [https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/world/africa/zambia-jewish-history/index.html The forgotten story of Zambia's Jewish settlers], CNN (January 19, 2012).</ref> most of whom live in Lusaka and Northern Province.<ref name=2023RIRF/> There are small numbers of [[Baha'is]], [[Buddhists]], and [[Sikhs]].<ref name=2023RIRF/>
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