Norway
Religious beliefs in Norway
Norway has an official Protestant State Church based on the Evangelical-Lutheran religion. About 90% of ethnic Norwegians are members of the State Church of Norway. Some 5.9% of the population practices other religions while 6.2% do not belong to any religious community at all. The largest religious and life-stance communities outside the Church of Norway are the Humanist Movement, represented by the Norwegian Humanist Association (63,000), Islam (60,000), the Pentecostal Movement (45,000), the Roman Catholic Church (40,000 or more), the Evangelical-Lutheran free church (20,000), Methodists (13,000) and several lesser free churches.
Although there is no separation of Church and State, all inhabitants have the right to exercise their religion freely in accordance with a 1964 amendment to the Constitution. Norwegian religious expression is largely private and churchgoing is not a regular activity for most.
