Declared religious affiliation
Nigeria is roughly evenly split between Muslims and Christians, a division that closely follows the country's geography: Islam, mainly Sunni with large Sufi brotherhoods (Tijaniyya, Qadiriyya), overwhelmingly dominates the north and the Nigerian Sahel, while Christianity (Catholic and above all Protestant, especially fast-growing evangelical and Pentecostal churches) dominates the south. The Middle Belt, in the centre of the country, is the most mixed contact zone, where Muslims, Christians and followers of local traditional religions coexist (the latter often combined with one of the two major religions rather than practised alone). Nigeria is thus both one of the countries with the most Muslims and one of those with the most Christians in the world.
Pew Research Center estimate (Global Religious Landscape) survey · Total population, estimate
Source: Pew Research Center · 2020The 1963 census was the last to ask the question (about 47% Muslims and 34% Christians): religion and ethnicity have since been removed from censuses, considered too sensitive in a country where the north–south balance determines the distribution of federal power. Current estimates come from surveys (Pew Research Center, Afrobarometer, DHS) and range from about 51 to 58% Muslim depending on the methodology.