Islam by country

World Muslim population by percentage (2014 estimate)[1]

Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest religious group. A projection by the PEW suggests that Muslims numbered approximately 1.9 billion followers in 2020.[2][3] Studies in the 21st century suggest that, in terms of percentage and worldwide spread, Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world, mostly because Muslims have more children than other major religious groups.[4][5] Most Muslims are either of two denominations: Sunni (87–90%, roughly 1.7 billion people)[6] or Shia (10–13%, roughly 180–230 million people).[7] Islam is the majority religion in several subregions: Central Asia, Western Asia, North Africa, West Africa, the Sahel, and the Middle East.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The diverse Asia-Pacific region contains the highest number of Muslims in the world, surpassing the combined Middle East and North Africa.[15]

According to the Pew Research Center in 2010, there were 50 Muslim-majority countries.[16][17] Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region (from Turkey to Indonesia), with over one billion adherents.[18] According to the Pew Research Center in 2017, the largest Muslim population in a country is in Indonesia, a country home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.1%), India (10.9%) and Bangladesh (9.2%).[8][19]

About 20% of Muslims live in the Arab world.[20] In the Middle East, Iran and Turkey are the largest Muslim-majority countries, while Egypt and Nigeria in Africa have the same status.[8][19]

  1. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, in Percentages'". Pew Research. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  2. ^ "The Future of the Global Muslim Population". 27 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Religion Information Data Explorer | GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Why Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  5. ^ "The Future of Global Muslim Population: Projections from 2010 to 2013" Accessed July 2013.
  6. ^ * Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. Marshall Cavendish Reference. 2010. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7614-7926-0. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Within the Muslim community, the percentage of Sunnis is generally thought to be between 85 percent, with the Shia accounting for 15.5 percent and with the wahabis controlling 5 percent, although some sources estimate their numbers at 20 percent. A common compromise figure ranks Sunnis at 90 percent and Shias at 10 percent.
  7. ^ See
    • "Shiʿi". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019. In the early 21st century some 10–13 percent of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims were Shiʿi.
    • "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population". Pew Research Center. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2013. The Pew Forum's estimate of the Shia population (10–13%) is in keeping with previous estimates, which generally have been in the range of 10–15%. Some previous estimates, however, have placed the number of Shias at nearly 20% of the world's Muslim population.
    • "Shia". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2011. Shi'a Islam is the second largest branch of the tradition, with up to 200 million followers who comprise around 15% of all Muslims worldwide...
    • Jalil Roshandel (2011). Iran, Israel and the United States. Praeger Security International. p. 15. ISBN 9780313386985. The majority of the world's Islamic population, which is Sunni, accounts for over 75 percent of the Islamic population; the other 10 to 20 percent is Shia.
  8. ^ a b c "Muslim Population by Country". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  9. ^ "Region: Middle East-North Africa". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Region: Sub-Saharan Africa". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  11. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Book of the Year 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica, (2003) ISBN 978-0-85229-956-2 p.306 According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as of mid-2002, there were 376,453,000 Christians, 329,869,000 Muslims and 98,734,000 people who practiced traditional religions in Africa. Ian S. Markham, (A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.) is cited by Morehouse University as giving the mid-1990s figure of 278,250,800 Muslims in Africa, but still as 40.8% of the total population. These numbers are estimates, and remain a matter of conjecture. See Amadu Jacky Kaba. The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa: a survey and analysis of the numbers and percentages of Christians, Muslims and those who practice indigenous religions. The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 29, Number 2, June 2005. Discusses the estimations of various almanacs and encyclopedium, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed figure. Notes the figure presented at the World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized here, as being an outlier. On rates of growth, Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are highest, see: The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions Archived 11 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Foreign Policy, May 2007.
  12. ^ Britannica Archived 14 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Think Quest Archived 18 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Wadsworth.com
  13. ^ Vellturo, Madeline (May 2021). "FACTSHEET: ISLAMISTS IN CENTRAL SAHEL" (PDF). UNITED STATES COMMISSION on INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Region: Sub-Saharan Africa". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Muslims". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  16. ^ Hackett, Conrad; Huynh, Timmy. "What is each country's second-largest religious group?".
  17. ^ "Muslim-Majority Countries". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Region: Asia-Pacific". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  19. ^ a b "Number of Muslim by country". nationmaster.com. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
  20. ^ See:
    • Esposito (2002b), p.21
    • Esposito (2004), pp.2,43