📊 Religion, Marijuana, and Gold Reserves

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

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Today's charts:

1. A religious breakdown of Latin America 🛐

2. Uruguay’s great year for pot 🇺🇾

3. Which countries have the highest gold reserves today? 🪙

Make sure you check out the comment of the week at the bottom!

Religion 🛐

How Religious is LatAm?

The border region between Brazil and Paraguay is home to many things. A massive hydroelectric dam powering both countries. Some of the world’s most beautiful waterfalls. The Friendship Bridge connecting Brazil’s Foz do Iguaçu to Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este.

Oh, and a surprisingly large population of Sunni and Shia Muslims?

Yes, it’s true. High immigration from Lebanon and the surrounding countries of the Middle East have led to this border region in the South American interior to be covered in signs in Arabic and home to a few lovely mosques. It’s one of the more interesting cases of a minority religion in Latin America, which has historically been seen as a Christian region given that over 90% of the region tends to be Christian.

But there’s more. Neighboring Argentina has a Jewish population of roughly 230K, the most in Latin America and 7th-most worldwide. Argentina’s Jews have contributed deeply to the country’s politics, culture, and art, even as they have faced persecution and attacks in certain decades. And this is seen elsewhere too: Brazil saw the first-ever synagogue in the Americas constructed in Recife, while in Mexico a Jewish woman is the current frontrunner for the presidency in next year’s election.

Brazil may have the world’s largest Catholic population. However, in recent years the country has seen Evangelical Christians emerge as a major social bloc, numbering at between a fifth and third of Latin America’s largest country’s total population. Evangelicals are deemed one of the most significant groups of voters to be courted in Brazilian elections.

Evangelicals are also increasingly prominent across Central America, with Nicaragua and the countries of the Northern Triangle especially seeing this Protestant branch of Christianity compete with traditional Roman Catholicism. These religious followers tend to be particularly opposed to abortion and sociopolitical liberalism on matters such as gay marriage. Guatemala has been called the most evangelical country in the Americas, though it also has the highest proportion of Eastern Orthodox Christian adherents as well.

While Paraguay remains Latin America’s most Catholic country overall, nearby Uruguay is actually noteworthy for having the highest share of atheists in Latin America. This contrast, along with their neighbors’ religious diversity, showcases how the region is actually more diverse and pluralistic than it’s often given credit for.

Marijuana 🇺🇾