Study: Muslims make up 25 percent of world population
Princeton professor: Report obliterates notion that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims.
By The Associated Press Tags: IslamThe 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.
"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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Judith, you've got to be kidding. You accuse the inhabitants of poor countries of "draining the earth of resources". You have the temerity to say that while living in the United States, a country that eats up more of the earth's resources than any other. Come on now. BTW, as a Canadian, I do realise that Canada also uses more than its fair share of resources, but it doesn't reach US levels in doing so.
this was true before finacial crisis, after crisis all pervious lobbied are reverse and after madoff scandal evrything are reversed
The report talks about the whole Muslim population,not the Suuni or Shia by themselves.
Lets consider the following facts: -Islam is 1400 years old and there are 1.6 billion moslems. -Christianity is 2000 years old and there are 2.1 billion christians -Judaism is 5500 years old and there are 15 million jews WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
whats your point?? Any way you slice it Muslims are breeding at an incredible rate. Lots of shahids for those virgins waiting.
very wise thinking hope evry one do the same
When will Muslims realize they have propagated enough and are draining the earth of resources? Ditto for many Central and South Americans,and Hindus , too.
That is pathetic sami. Blame "the others" as long as you want but if you want to understand your problems, look inside. The same is true for us with our problems. As to your warning, we are shivering with fright.
When we say arrogant western powers beware, we refer to the potentiality of Muslim nations free from dictators, western middling, and able to contribute to humanity. Muslims who immigrate settled in free countries were able to raise to the challenge and are net contributors. 80% of the world population live in misery, while western countries enjoy high standards. Humanity must re-evaluate its status.
But..., you're wrong, Middle East consists of some countries in Africa and parts of Turkey is considered in Europe, so the Middle East consists of countries on 3 continents or 2 depends on references. Reza, you've got to be kidding me, Shias around the world number no more than 150 million, where did you get your 400 million number? Sunnis have divisions, but very minimal, the same goes with shias.
Reza, Hanafi,Maliki,ShaafI and Hanbali all consider themselves to be Sunni. These are not sects, but different schools of religious law that vary in some minor details. Sunni is by far the largest. There are definitely some within the sunni sect who consider anyone outside of it to be heretics at best and apostates at worst. Personally, as a Sunni, I believe it is God's place to judge the piety and moral conscience of a man (or woman) and not other men. That also goes for Jews vs. Christians vs. Muslims.
Size is not the goal in religion. It is spirituality. It is moral truth. Iran is now Muslim because its leaders lost a battle in the 7th century. That's a poor reason, don't you think? Once Iranians wake up to this fact, they may be more inclined to seek spirituality in other places: their Zoroastrian roots, or perhaps their indigenous, newly developed faith: Bahai.
there are more Shia in India than there is in Iran the sunni too break into 4 major sects Hanafi,Maliki,ShaafI and Hanbali so if you divide those equally you end up with 250_ 300 million a sect thats makes the shia the largest single sect in islam
Maybe it's a good idea to try and be their friends and not enemies...
I wonder what would happen to the influence of Arab-Persian Islamic power centers if there is a greater preponderance of Wind and Sun Power generating electricity, or, in turn, bio-fuels and solar batteries are more common on the in autos? One result would be a cleaner environment, and the other is likely less dependence on petrol from the Islamic Arab world. Already there are countries that have switched from fossil fuels for a while. Either way its a blessing.
There is little distinction when it comes to Islam and Arabs even if Muslims are not all Arabs the language is in Arabic (the Koran), the prayers are Arabic and the holy place is in Mecca (in Arabia). Islam is an Arabic religion as Judaism is based in Aramaic and Hebrew. The capital of Islam is Mecca while the capital of Judaism is Jerusalem.
The world Jewish population is about 13.5M in 1946 it was 11M and slowly when up for 40yrs then stopped. The number of Jews in the US has drop alittle in the last 5yrs. Marriages to non-Jews and low birthrates are the problems.
Oil...and you are correct
Does the professor have any theories as to why Arab Muslims contribute so disproportionately to acts of terrorism? That is likely the source of the misunderstandings he speaks of.
I am surprised that the Princeton professor does not know where is "Middle East" and where is "Asia". Middle East in just one small part of Asia.
But......without holding significant positions of power or influence in governments around the world, without holding the 'purse strings' of international financial institutions (or at least 'big business'), without having rich and powerful lobby groups, and without controlling large international media companies these large numbers are of little use when it comes to gaining 'real influence' on the world stage.....
the absolue number are not that reliable since Muslims are divided into dozens of sects which some Muslims would not even consider as Muslim. Aside from the obvious sectarian break- the Shiites, there are also Alevis, Bakshis, Alawites, Ahmadis, Obahdis, and may other sects numbering in the tens of millions that are NOT recognised by the majority of Muslims as following Islam.