A Christianity with multiple syncretic churches
The state religion since 1996 in the constitution, 95.5 per cent of Zambians identify themselves as Christians. Nearly 75 percent are Protestant, while 20 percent worship in the Romanesque church inherited from the Portuguese influence in nearby Mozambique. In the mid-19th century, European Protestant missionaries evangelized the land in Zambia. With traditional religions never far away, many syncretic churches have emerged at the intersection of traditional rites and Christianity over the years. This Protestantism includes various movements: Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, New Apostolic, Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, etc. Curiosity: one of the largest Jehovah's Witness communities in Africa is in Zambia, with nearly 200,000 members.
Religious minorities
Although minority religions account for only 4.4 per cent of the population, there are an estimated 100,000 Muslims in the country (2.2 per cent of Zambians), mainly in the major cities. There are many Congolese and Somali refugees, and descendants of immigrants from Southeast Asia and the Middle East who are now Zambians. Many are Sunni, but there are also Shiites. Hindus are unsurprisingly from Southeast Asia, numbering only 10,000 and living mainly in Lusaka and Northern Province. Other religions are really minimal in terms of population: Jews, Sikhs... About 1.8% of the population would be Baha'i (an Iranian monotheistic religion born in the 19th century in Persia).
Animist rites still practiced in Zambia
Animist initiation ceremonies are widespread among most ethnic groups in Zambia. They are based on the belief in a unique god, immaterial and inaccessible, but present in all things (tree, river, stone, animal), all inhabited by spirits, relays between God and men. In the event of a natural disaster, external aggression or illness, it is often the spirits, and particularly those of the ancestors, that are consulted and invoked, much more so than the Christian God. After having undergone the initiation rites, the young boys or girls are considered as adults and have the same rights and obligations as the latter. The initiation often takes place outside the village in the bush or in a place with a sacred character (hill, cave). The young person learns the secret language that allows him to integrate the rules of the tribe and to access the mysteries of the universe and the forces of nature. Various tests, often difficult, are inflicted on him so that he can affirm his strength of character. The end of the rite marks the rebirth, symbolized by external signs (shaved head, wearing of jewels and ornaments, body painting...) and often ends with a purifying bath.
