Baptists are Christians who accept the basic tenets of the historic Christian faith and the emphases of the 16th-century Reformation (justification by faith, the authority of the Scriptures, and the priesthood of the believer). However, Baptists have added to their practices the baptism of believers by immersion only, the separation of church and state, and the autonomy of the local church.

With a worldwide membership of more than 43 million, the Baptists constitute one of the largest Protestant denominations of the Christian religion. By far the major concentration of membership is in the United States. Of the five major U.S. Baptist groups, or conventions, the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest, with more than 15 million members. In order of size, the other four conventions are: National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., with over 8 million members; National Baptist Convention of America, over 3.5 million; American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., with a membership of about 1.5 million; and Baptist Bible Fellowship International, about 1.2 million members. Other countries of Baptist Strength in descending order of total membership are Nigeria, India, Brazil, Zaire, Great Britain, and Canada.