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Last update - 12:52 08/10/2009
Study: Muslims make up 25 percent of world population
By The Associated Press
Tags: Islam, Arab population 
Princeton professor: Report obliterates notion that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims.

The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion.

The project, three years in the making, also presents a portrait of the Muslim world that might surprise some. For instance, Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon, China has more Muslims than Syria, Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.
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"This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University who reviewed an advance copy.

Pew officials call the report the most thorough on the size and distribution of adherents of the world's second largest religion behind Christianity, which has an estimated 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion followers.

The arduous task of determining the Muslim populations in 232 countries and territories involved analyzing census reports, demographic studies and general population surveys, the report says. In cases where the data was a few years old, researchers projected 2009 numbers.

The report also sought to pinpoint the world's Sunni-Shiite breakdown, but difficulties arose because so few countries track sectarian affiliation, said Brian Grim, the project's senior researcher.

As a result, the Shiite numbers are not as precise; the report estimates that Shiites represent between 10 and 13 percent of the Muslim population, in line with or slightly lower than other studies. As much as 80 percent of the world's Shiite population lives in four countries: Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.

The report provides further evidence that while the heart of Islam might beat in the Middle East, its greatest numbers lie in Asia: More than 60 percent of the world's Muslims live in Asia.

About 20 percent live in the Middle East and North Africa, 15 percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2.4 percent are in Europe and 0.3 percent are in the Americas. While the Middle East and North Africa have fewer Muslims overall than Asia, the region easily claims the most Muslim-majority countries.

While those population trends are well established, the large numbers of Muslims who live as minorities in countries aren't as scrutinized. The report identified about 317 million Muslims - or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population - living in countries where Islam is not the majority religion.

About three-quarters of Muslims living as minorities are concentrated in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million).

In several of these countries - from India to Nigeria and China to France - divisions featuring a volatile mix of religion, class and politics have contributed to tension and bloodshed among groups.

The immense size of majority-Hindu India is underscored by the fact that it boasts the third-largest Muslim population of any nation - yet Muslims account for just 13 percent of India's population.

"Most people think of the Muslim world being Muslims living mostly in Muslim-majority countries," Grim said. "But with India ... that sort of turns that on its head a bit."
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  1.   not so clear cut 15:28  |  nadav 08/10/09
  2.   But...... 15:38  |  Annon 08/10/09
  3.   Middle East is in Asia 15:40  |  Shadi 08/10/09
  4.   And how much do Jews make up of world population 17:27  |  ? 08/10/09
  5.   Muslims and Arabs 18:10  |  sean 08/10/09
  6.   Annon, haven`t you forgotten something? 18:23  |  MR 08/10/09
  7.   MR I think you are refering that Annon forgot... 18:41  |  Kamal 08/10/09
  8.   Problem is that World Jewish population not growing 20:34  |  Bloodyscot 08/10/09
  9.   Arabia is Muslim Homeland Like Israel is Jewish one 20:36  |  Baruch Gold 08/10/09
  10.   Consider what might occur if . . . 20:41  |  Zev Davis 08/10/09
  11.   Makes sense to become their friends 21:46  |  Northern 08/10/09
  12.   Shia are 400 million around the world 21:55  |  Reza Shah 08/10/09
  13.   11 Reza 22:57  |  EZ 08/10/09
  14.   #11 Reza 23:01  |  Sunni vs. Shia 08/10/09
  15.   wrong!! 23:08  |  shad 08/10/09
  16.   What a force if emancipated and free 23:10  |  sami abu ismail 08/10/09
  17.   sami abu ismail 05:11  |  Brad 09/10/09
  18.   overpopulation 05:29  |  judith 09/10/09
  19.   coment 13:48  |  moez 10/10/09
  20.   nadav 22:05  |  Chaphari 10/10/09
  21.   religions 00:48  |  Tim 11/10/09
  22.   reza shah you are missing the point 04:57  |  peace 11/10/09
  23.   andy 07:19  |  andy 11/10/09
  24.   2 Judith 05:32  |  Rashed 21/10/09
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