Adventist

Adventism is a Protestant tradition that arose from the 19th-century American Millerite revival, when Baptist preacher William Miller predicted the imminent return of Christ for the early 1840s. When the expected date passed, one group of Millerites reorganized around new biblical interpretations and formally became the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863, under the influential leadership of Ellen G. White. Central distinctives are the observance of a Saturday (seventh-day) Sabbath — from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset — and the expectation of an imminent literal second coming of Christ. Adventists are biblically conservative, practice believer's baptism by immersion, and traditionally emphasize healthful living, including vegetarianism and abstention from alcohol and tobacco. The Church runs an extensive global network of hospitals, schools, and universities, and operates through a representative General Conference system based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Worldwide membership is roughly 22 million, making Adventism one of the larger global Protestant bodies.

Countries by Adventist Population (3)

1. 1. 🇷🇼 Rwanda 12.2%
2. 2. 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 4.1%
3. 3. 🇰🇮 Kiribati 2.1%

Note: This list reflects only countries where the CIA World Factbook — our data source — explicitly uses the “Adventist” label. Adherents in many other countries are rolled into broader buckets such as Protestant, Evangelical, or country-specific denominations, so this ranking undercounts global presence.