Religion in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan is a multinational country, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, various religious faiths peacefully coexist. Today, Muslims who profess Sunni Islam in Kyrgyzstan make up almost 83% of the population. The following numbers are Christians (15%). These are including Russians – Orthodox, as well as Germans, who are traditionally divided into Catholics and Lutherans.
A small percentage of the population professes Buddhism and Judaism.
Currently, interest in religion in the republic has increased significantly. If in the Soviet period in Kyrgyzstan there were only 39 Muslim mosques and 25 churches and parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, at the end of 2005 more than 1338 mosques and more than 40 churches and parishes of the Orthodox Church, 200 prayer houses of various Christian denominations were registered. In 1991, the Islamic Center was established in Bishkek, which largely regulates the activities of Muslim organizations in Kyrgyzstan.
Control over the activities of religious organizations and religious educational institutions is carried out in accordance with the Law on Freedom of Religion and Religious Organizations, as well as the State Commission for Religious Affairs.
Kyrgyzstan is a secular, democratic country where religion does not have state status.
The country’s constitution “guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. Everyone has the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any.”
