section_path: Demographics/Religion
section_name: Religion
paragraph_text: Religion
  
  Religions in Bangladesh (2022)
  
  Bangladesh was constitutionally proclaimed as a secular state in 1972. Secularism is one of its four founding constitutional principles. The constitution also grants freedom of religion, while establishing Islam as the state religion. The constitution bans religion-based politics and discrimination, and proclaims equal recognition of people adhering to all faiths. Islam is the largest religion across the country, being followed by about 91.1% of the population. The vast majority of Bangladeshi citizens are Bengali Muslims, adhering to Sunni Islam. The country is the third-most populous Muslim-majority state in the world and has the fourth-largest overall Muslim population.
  
  Before the partition of India in 1941, Hindus formed 28% of the population. Mass exodus of Hindu-refugees from the then East Pakistan to India took place during the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, due to Pakistan Army's genocidal onslaught. After the formation of Bangladesh, the Hindus constituted 13.50% in 1974. In 2022, Hinduism is followed by 7.9% of the population, mainly by the Bengali Hindus, who form the country's second-largest religious group and the third-largest Hindu community globally, after India and Nepal. Buddhism is the third-largest religion, at 0.6% of the population. Bangladeshi Buddhists are concentrated among the tribal ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At the same time, coastal Chittagong is home to many Bengali Buddhists. Christianity is the fourth-largest religion at 0.3%, followed mainly by a small Bengali Christian minority. 0.1% of the population practices other religions like Animism or is irreligious.