Atheism and Nonreligion in Latin America, Geography

Definition

The irreligious population are slowly, but steadily, increasing in size in Latin America. While in every country they constitute a minority, in some countries, they have gained considerable weight. This has occurred both in countries with higher levels of socioeconomic development – such as Chile (15.8%) and Uruguay (37.1%) – as well as in less developed ones such as El Salvador (12.1%) and Honduras (10.5%). The far majority of irreligious Latin American are religious “nones” who declare believing in a supreme entity but do not belong to religious groups. Atheism and agnosticism, instead, are a rare phenomenon, mostly restricted to elite segments.

Introduction

Latin America has been a region historically characterized as Catholic. In the last century, however, this Catholic unanimity has begun to crack through the rise of the Protestant population – generally of evangelical stamp – that has acquired increasing cultural, social, and political significance. The proliferation...