E-Connected Archive - January 2010

Where are all the Muslims?

We often refer to ‘the Muslim world’ but what do we mean by this?

Where do Muslims live, how many are there and how is the Muslim population changing?

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries has found that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated world population of 6.8 billion. This new report by the Pew Research Centre’s Forum on Religion & Public Life is the largest project of its kind to date. It gives us a real insight into where Muslim populations are located and how their populations have grown or decreased over recent years.

When combined with some of Frontiers’ own research these new statistics
provide a big reminder of the scale of the task yet to complete. As 9 out of 10 Muslims have never had the opportunity to meet a follower of Jesus, there’s still much left to do!

The figures may have changed but the goal remains the same; to see vibrant, reproducing communities of Jesus followers among every Muslim people group.

Key findings from the Pew Report (http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=450):

• More than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa

• The Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries

• 80% of the world’s Muslims live in countries where Muslims are in the majority

• Of the roughly 317 million Muslims living as minority populations about three-quarters live in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million)

• These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined

• Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims. Most Shias live in just four countries: Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq

Picture of a Muslims gathering to pray
• Two-thirds of all Muslims worldwide live in just 10 countries. Of the 10 countries, 6 are in Asia (Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey), three are in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria and Morocco) and one is in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria)

"When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them." Matthew 98:36a