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Religion in Eritrea mainly consists of Abrahamic faiths. Since May 2002, the Eritrean government has officially recognized the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, Evangelical Lutheran church, and Islam. All other faiths and denominations are in principle required to undergo a registration process; in practice they are not allowed to register. Among other things, the government's registration system requires religious groups to submit personal information on their membership to be allowed to worship.〔 There are two major religions in Eritrea, Christianity and Islam. However, the number of adherents is subject to debate. In 2010, the United States Department of State (USDoS) estimated that 50% of the population was Muslim and around 48% was Christian.〔http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90096.htm〕 According to the Pew Research Center, around 62.9% of Eritrea's population in 2010 adhered to Christianity, and 36.2% followed Islam. The remaining 0.9% of residents practiced other religions, including traditional faiths and animism.〔http://features.pewforum.org/global-christianity/total-population-percentage.php〕 The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, arose somewhere around the first or second centuries.〔Munro-Hay, Stuart (1991) (Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity ). Edinburgh: University Press, p. 57 ISBN 0-7486-0106-6.〕〔Henze, Paul B. (2005) ''Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia'', ISBN 1-85065-522-7.〕 The Aksumites erected a number of large stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. Over 200 years after the kingdom's formation, it adopted Christianity under King Ezana.〔(Aksumite Ethiopia ). Workmall.com (24 March 2007). Retrieved on 3 March 2012.〕 Eritrea was also one of the first Islamic settlements in Africa, as a group of Muslims facing persecution in Mecca migrated to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), through modern day Eritrea. ==Faiths and denominations== The denominations of the religions in Eritrea also differ from source to source. For Christianity the Pew Research Center indictes that, of the Eritrean population, 57.7% are Orthodox Christians, 4.6% are Roman Catholic, 0.7% are Protestants and less than 0.5% are other Christians. ''Eritrea: Religious Distribution'' gives 58% Orthodox, 5% Roman Catholic, less than 1% Protestant. The Department of State says that 30% are Orthodox, 13% Roman Catholic and others, which includes "Protestants, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhist, Hindus, and Baha'is", at less than 5%.〔(International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Eritrea ). United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.''〕 The United States Department of State indicates that 50% of the population are Sunni Muslims but gives no figures for Shias,〔 while a 2009 Pew Research Center report says that less than 1% are Shia. Around 0.9% of local residents follow traditional religions or other faiths. Atheism is low, while participation in religion is high among all ethnicities.〔 All religious groups other than the four officially recognised faiths—the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church—must be registered with the government of Eritrea. The government has refused to register any religious group despite some of them meeting the requirements.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Religion in Eritrea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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