Muslim extremists are responsible for insurgencies in several African nations, and violence between Muslim sects has escalated into full-blown civil war in countries including Iraq, Yemen, and Syria.įor a detailed breakdown of how many Muslims live in each of the world's countries and what percentage of that country's population that equals, check out the table below. The tension between various Muslim groups, particularly Shi'a vs Sunni, has occasionally led to armed conflict and terrorist activity. In the centuries since that time, additional theological differences have arisen. The division between Sunni and Shi'a is nearly as old as Islam itself, having stemmed from a disagreement in AD 632 about who should succeed Muhammad as the leader of the faith. For example, Muslims in Indonesia are approximately 99% Sunni, 0.5% Shia, and 0.3% Ahmadi. Just as Christianity encompasses multiple denominations (Catholic, Lutheran, Mormon, Baptist, etc.), Islam includes two major denominations: Sunni (75-90%) and Shi'a (10-13%), as well as a number of smaller branches. Many Westerners might be surprised to learn that Islam is an Abrahamic religion, meaning Muslims worship the same God as Christians, Jews, and the Bahá'í Faith-though obviously with significant differences in scripture, theology, doctrine, and application.
*Note: At 99.4% Muslim, the disputed territory Western Sahara would rank at #8–but as it has not yet been recognized as a country by the United Nations, it was disqualified.
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Percentage of Muslims (2021): Interestingly, while the countries listed above have the most Muslims overall, many smaller countries have a higher concentration of Muslim citizens. Top 10 Countries with the Largest Number of Muslims (2021): In Indonesia, Islam can be broadly categorized into “modernism,” which follows orthodox theology while embracing modern learning, or “traditionalism,” which follows the interpretations of local religious leaders. This is 86.7% of the Indonesian population and nearly 13% of the world’s total population of Muslims. The country with the largest number of Muslims overall is Indonesia, which is home to an estimated 231 million Muslims. Any country in which Muslims make up 50% or more of the population is considered a Muslim majority country. Many countries in these regions are more than 90% Muslim, including Egypt, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran. In fact, many researchers project that Muslims will outnumber Christians by the year 2050.Īlthough Muslims can be found all over the world, the majority live in northern and central Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. There are more than two billion Muslims worldwide, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, exceeded only by Christianity. The city of Birmingham, Alabama is home to 212,237 people.Muslims are followers of the religion Islam, who believe in and live by the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Note: There is also a city in the United States called Birmingham. Major cities and towns in the Birmingham metropolitan area include Wolverhampton ( population: 252,987), Solihull (population: 206,701) and Walsall (population 67,594).Īs well as being the United Kingdom’s second city, Birmingham, England is also the largest local authority area outside of London. It is the second largest metropolitan area in the UK, and the ninth largest in Europe. The wider Birmingham Metropolitan area is home to 3.8 million people, which is 5.8% of the entire UK population, and is larger than the population of Wales. The city’s population briefly went over 1 million in the 1930s, and then again between the late 1940s and 1996. This event in 2005 marked the third time that the population of Birmingham went over 1 million people. This followed a brief period of population decline in Birmingham in the late 1990s and early 21st-century. Read Culture Trip's interview with the Sikh population of Pakistan who, although small, make up a vibrant component of the country’s cultural fabric.
The city of Birmingham is also the 28th largest city in Europe, and the 17th largest city in the European Union.īirmingham’s population passed 1 million in 2005, when the population was recorded as 1,001,200. This makes Birmingham the largest city in the West Midlands and the second largest city in the UK after London. The population of Birmingham is 1,111,307.