African religions are as varied and diverse as its cultures, but there also have been unifying influences, particularly Christianity and Islam. In the last decade of the 20th century, Africa’s religious makeup has included well over 300 million Christians and just under 300 million Muslims. There are about 70 million followers of traditional African religions and about 1.5 million Hindus.

Only about 30 percent to 40 percent of African people practice indigenous religions, or what religious historians often call African traditional religions. Indigenous beliefs have survived by blending with Christianity and Islam. Such a blending or combining is called syncretism, a widespread phenomenon in religious and cultural history.

Traditional African religions have continued to be present among the ethnic societies that historians call traditional peoples. These societies are mostly in the sub-Saharan region, near or below the equator. Traditional African religions tend to be structured around dramatic performances rather than philosophical discourse. The dramatic performances tend to be sensual. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are all engaged in connecting the spiritual world of Gods and ancestor spirits to the social world of traditional devotees. Masks and special clothing, herbs and food, dancing and sacrifices, shouting, singing, and ecstatic utterances all have important functions in African traditional religions.

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