Oriental Orthodox Churches are the churches descended from those that rejected the
Council of Chalcedon in 451. Despite the similar name, they are therefore a different branch of Christianity from the
Eastern Orthodox. Oriental Orthodoxy consists of several autocephalous and autonomous jurisdictions holding a single set of beliefs and united in full communion. However, they each have their own separate rites, and there are significant differences between their respective practices. Thus, there is more internal diversity of practice among the Oriental Orthodox than among the Eastern Orthodox.
Distribution
Oriental Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in
Armenia (94%), the ethnically Armenian
Artsakh (98%) and
Ethiopia (44%, the total Christian population being roughly 67%).[citation needed]
It is a significant minority religion in
Egypt (10%),
Sudan (5%, the total Christian population being 15%),
Syria (3%, the total Christian population being 10-11% the rest being Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Church of the East),
Lebanon (5%, the total Christian population being 40%) and
Kerala,
India (1%, the total Christian population being around 18%).[1]
Predominantly Oriental Orthodox Christian countries
^A breakaway Catholic church was received into the Syrian Orthodox church by 2013. It is the major Oriental Orthodox denomination in Guatemala.
^The Israeli government doesn't release denominational statistics, and classification of Christian minorities is complicated further due to the government's tendency to classify all Christians as Arab. Most Ethiopian-background Israelis are, or descended from, converts to Judaism due to the requirements of Aliyah. In collating unofficial estimates, we arrive at around 38,000 adherents: Around 17,000 Eritrean Tewahedo (many are refugees), 2,000 Ethiopian Tewahedo, 10,000 Armenian Apostolic, 8,000 Syriac Orthodox (15,000 minus 7,000 Maronites) and 1,000 Coptic Orthodox adherents in Israel.