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Religion in Scotland


Religion in Scotland includes all forms of religious organisation and practice. Christianity is the largest faith in Scotland. In the 2011 census, 53.8% of the Scottish population identified as Christian (declining from 65.1% in 2001) when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?". The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the national church of Scotland. It is not an established church and is independent of state control. However, it is the largest religious grouping in Scotland, with 32.4% of the population according to the 2011 census. The other major Christian church is the Roman Catholic Church, the form of Christianity in Scotland prior to the Reformation, which accounted for 15.9% of the population and is especially important in West Central Scotland and the Highlands. "Scotland's third largest church" is the Scottish Episcopal Church.

In recent years other religions have established a presence in Scotland, mainly through immigration and higher birth rates among ethnic minorities, with a small number of converts. Those with the most adherents in the 2011 census are Islam (1.4%, mainly among immigrants from South Asia), Hinduism (0.3%), Buddhism (0.2%) and Sikhism (0.2%). Other minority faiths include the Bahá'í Faith and small Neopagan groups. There are also various organisations which actively promote humanism and secularism, included within the 43.6% who either indicated no religion or did not state a religion in the 2011 census. In April 2016, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 52% of Scots identified themselves as non-religious, compared to 40% in 1999.


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