Zambia is officially a Christian nation according to the 1996 constitution, but a wide variety of religious traditions exist. Traditional religious thoughts blend easily with Christian beliefs in many of the country's syncretic churches. Christian denominations include: Roman Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, New Apostolic Church, Lutheran, Seventh-day Adventist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses and a variety of Evangelical denominations. These grew, adjusted and prospered from the original missionary settlements (Portuguese and Catholicism in the east from Mozambique) and Anglicanism (English and Scottish influences) from the south. Except for some technical positions (e.g. physicians), Western missionary roles have been assumed by native believers. After Frederick Chiluba (a Pentecostal Christian) became President in 1991, Pentecostal congregations expanded considerably around the country.
Approximately 87% of the population are Christians. It has one of the largest percentage of Seventh-day Adventist per head in the world, about 1 in 18 Zambians. Approximately 1% of the population are Muslims with most living in urban areas. There is also a small Jewish community, composed mostly of Ashkenazis. Notable Jewish Zambians include Simon Zukas, retired Minister, MP and a member of Forum for Democracy and Development and earlier on the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) and United National Independence Party. Additionally, the economist Stanley Fischer, currently the governor of the Bank of Israel and formerly Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was born and partially raised in Zambia's Jewish community. The Baha'i population of Zambia is over 160,000, or 1.5% of the population. The William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation run by the Baha'i community is particularly active in areas such as literacy and primary health care
