Secular state

A secular state is a state that does not have a state religion or a theocracy, instead advocating secularism and a separation of church and state. Most states in the world today are secular states.

Map of secular states in blue. States with state religions are shown in red and ambiguous states are shown in grey.

List of secular countries

There are two types of secular countries:

• Constitutionally secular countries
• Countries that practice state atheism

Africa

• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Congo
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mozambique
• Rwanda
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Uganda
• Zimbabwe

Americas

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Paraguay
• Panama
• Peru
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Asia

• China
• East Timor
• India
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Mongolia
• Nepal
• North Korea
• Philippines
• Russia
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Turkey
• Uzbekistan

Europe

• Albania
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Hungary
• Italy
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Moldova
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine

Oceania

• Australia
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Marshall Islands
• Micronesia
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands
• Vanuatu

Partially-recognised countries

• Northern Cyprus

Related pages

• State religion
• Theocracy
• Freedom of religion
• Irreligion
• Separation of church and state