Country Info

Voice of Persecuted Christians believes Afghanistan to be one of the toughest places in the world to be a Christian. There are no public church buildings in the country. Believers are very few in number and have to meet in secret at all times. Christians – be they converts, ethnic Christians, or Christian workers from outside the country – face the on-going threat of physical violence. Anyone who converts to Christianity from Islam faces the real risk of being killed.

Prior to independence Algeria was home to more than a million who would have identified as being from a Christian background (mainly French). The majority were evacuated to France in 1962. Today around 98% of Algeria’s 44 million population would identify as Sunni Muslim. Some would claim there has been a modest rise in Algerians calling themselves non-religious, particularly among younger adults.

In most of these countries there are restrictions of one form or another on churches, particularly those outside the Russian Orthodox. In Uzbekistan fines have been imposed on Christian converts from Islam. In some of these countries Christian meetings are monitored and infiltrated by the authorities. In Turkmenistan Christian worship is limited to government-sanctioned denominations. Church registration is required but in practice can be very difficult to acquire.

Nearly 90% of Bangladeshis would identify as Muslim, the vast majority of whom would be Sunni. Hinduism is the country’s second largest religion. Christians account for less than 1% of the population.

The monarch of Bhutan regards himself as the defender of the Buddhist faith. Christians are often viewed as followers of a foreign, Western religion and can be subject to various forms of discrimination. Many Christians are forced to practice their faith in the home or in secret. Christians make up about 2% of the population and the majority of these are of a Nepali background: an ethnic minority which has suffered a form of cleansing in Bhutan, many being forced to flee the country.

Around 80% of Brunei’s population are Muslim. Christians and Buddhists both account for about 8%. The majority of Christians are ethnically Chinese.

Although Christianity is a minority religion in Burkina Faso, Christians and Muslims had a history of living side-by-side relatively peacefully, until the mid-2010s. The situation is very different today.

Christianity is the largest religion in Cameroon, being particularly strong in the south and the west. Islam is strongest in the north of the country.

Between 70% and 80% of the population would identify as Christians and the country enjoys freedom of religion. However, the situation on the ground is complicated by the on-going civil war. Because some of the rebel groups involved in the conflict would identify themselves as Muslim, distinguishing between political violence and religious persecution is not always easy. But there have been attacks targeting churches, Christian families and pastors, because of their faith and witness.

China is the world’s most populous country, with a population of more than 1.4 billion. For centuries China’s political system was based on hereditary monarchy (the so-called Chinese dynasties). This ended early in the 20th Century when the country became a republic. The first half of the 20th Century was marked by an on-going power struggle between nationalists and communists, that resumed after the Second World War and culminated in victory for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which had been formed in 1921.

Egypt’s Constitution grants freedom of belief and worship. However, in practice life can be very difficult for Christians. Most Christians in the country live as second-class citizens, frequently experiencing discrimination in law, education and employment.

Christianity and Islam are the main religions in Eritrea, with Christianity having a very long tradition in the country. For example, the monastery of Debre Sina, in the highlands of Eritrea, is one of the oldest in the world.