page_title: Religion in Norway
section_title: Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Norway / Religions / Christianity
caption_attribution_description: English: A cross close to the church in Grense Jakobselv, Norway. Suomi: Risti kirkon lähellä Vuoremijoella, Norjassa.
context_page_description: Religion in Norway is dominated by Lutheran Christianity, with 69.9% of the population belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway in 2018. The Catholic Church is the next largest Christian church at 3.0%. The unaffiliated make up 17.4% of the population. Islam is followed by 3.3% of the population.
  A bill passed in 2016 and effective as of 1 January 2017 created the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity. Until the 2012 constitutional amendment the Evangelical-Lutheran religion was the public religion of the State. The Church of Norway will still obtain financial support from the state of Norway, along with other religious communities.
  Early Norwegians, like all of the people of Scandinavia, were adherents of Norse paganism; the Sámi having a shamanistic religion. Norway was gradually Christianized by Christian missionaries between 1000 and 1150. Before the Protestant Reformation in 1536/1537, Norwegians were part of the Catholic Church.
caption: A cross close to the church in Grense Jakobselv, Norway
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