Spotlight on Ethiopia

Ethiopia has the third-largest Christian population in sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ethiopia has had a significant Christian presence since the establishment of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the early 4th century. Since that time, the Orthodox Church has remained Ethiopia’s most influential religious body, with strong links between church, state and national identity.¹ Today, the country’s Christians represent about 63% of the population. Muslims constitute the largest non- Christian group, accounting for about a third of the population.² 

Ethiopia’s Christian community dates back to the early 4th century, when the emperor of the Ethiopian Axumite Kingdom converted to Christianity. After the emperor’s conversion, the patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt appointed a bishop to oversee a new church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church remained under the oversight of Egyptian Orthodox bishops of the Coptic Church until 1959, when it came under an Ethiopian patriarch. Like the Coptic Church and other Oriental Orthodox churches, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church teaches that Christ has one indivisible nature rather than two separate natures, divine and human (see Defining Christian Traditions on page 38). One of the world’s oldest churches, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has its own liturgical language and calendar.³ 

The vast majority of Ethiopia’s Christians have adhered to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for most of the past 1,700 years.⁴ Significant diversity has begun to characterize Ethiopia’s Christian population only in the last 25 years.⁵ Protestants and Catholics combined accounted for less than 5% of the population as recently as 1980.⁶ Today, however, the groups classified in this report as Protestant — including Anglicans and members of African Independent Churches — represent nearly 20% of all Ethiopians and 30% of the country’s Christians. Roman Catholics make up less than 1% of Ethiopia’s total population.

Footnotes:  

1“Ethiopian Orthodox church,” in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 4, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2007, page 581. (return to text) 

2 Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections for 2010-2030, 2011. (return to text) 

3 Getnet Tamene, “Features of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Clergy,” in Asian and African Studies, Volume 7, Issue 1, 1998, pages 87-104; “Ethiopia,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, page 284. (return to text) 

4 “Ethiopia,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, pages 283-284. (return to text) 

5 “Ethiopia,” in David B. Barrett, George Thomas Kurian and Todd M. Johnson, editors, World Christian Encyclopedia, Volume 1: The World by Countries: Religionists, Churches, Ministries, Oxford University Press, 2001, page 266. (return to text) 

6 “Ethiopia,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, page 283. (return to text)