Muslims are adherents of the faith of Islam who adhere to the precepts of the prophet Muhammad in their daily lives.
Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, behind Christianity, with more than two billion adherents. According to several studies, Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians by the year 2050.
Muslim populations are concentrated in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia; however, they may be found all around the globe.
Many nations in these areas, including Egypt, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran, are more than 90 percent Muslim. A nation is said to have a Muslim majority if at least half of its citizens are Muslim.
Indonesia, which has an estimated 231 million Muslims, is the nation with the most Muslims globally. Indonesian Muslims make up 86.7 percent of the country’s population, making up approximately 13 percent of the world’s total Muslims.
Modernism, which adheres to orthodox theology while also accepting contemporary knowledge, and traditionalism, which adheres to the interpretations of local religious authorities, are the two main schools of Islam in Indonesia.
Muslim-majority countries in the world in 2021:
- Indonesia (231,000,000)
- Pakistan (212,300,000)
- India (200,000,000)
- Bangladesh (153,700,000)
- Nigeria (95,000,000–103,000,000)
- Egypt (85,000,000–90,000,000)
- Iran (82,500,000)
- Turkey (74,432,725)
- Algeria (41,240,913)
- Sudan (39,585,777)
Even though the nations on the list above have the most Muslims, several smaller countries have a greater concentration of Muslims than the larger ones.
The Top 10 Countries with the Largest Muslim Populations in the World in 2021
- Maldives (100%)
- Mauritania (99.9%)
- Somalia (99.8% – tie)
- Tunisia (99.8% – tie)
- Afghanistan (99.7% – tie)
- Algeria (99.7% – tie)
- Iran (99.4%)
- Yemen (99.2%)
- Morocco (99%)
- Niger (98.3%)
In the absence of the United Nations’ formal recognition, Western Sahara, which is home to 99.4% of the world’s Muslims, would have placed eighth on the list.
People in the West may be astonished to discover the similarities between Islam and other Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Bahá’u’llah—though there are considerable variations in theological theory and implementation.
Sunni (75-90 percent) and Shi’a (10-13 percent) are the two main branches of Islam, although there are many minor ones.
Like Christianity, Islam has a variety of denominations. Muslims in Indonesia, for example, are almost entirely Sunni, with just 0.5% being Shia and 0.3% being Ahmadi.
There has been a schism between Sunnis and Shiites since AD 632 when they disagreed over who should follow Muhammad as the head of Islam, and it is almost as ancient as Islam itself.
Since then, there have been many more doctrinal disputes.
Also Check: Muslim Majority Countries 2022
Terrorism and armed conflict have periodically broken out due to tensions between Shi’a and Sunni Muslim organizations.
Muslim extremists are behind insurgencies in other African countries, and sectarian bloodshed has erupted into a full-blown civil war in Iraq, Yemen, and Syria.
Check out the chart below for a breakdown of the number of Muslims in each nation and the proportion of that country’s population that Muslims make up.
Below is a list of the 10 countries with the greatest Muslim concentration.
- Mauritania (100.00%)
- Somalia (99.80%)
- Tunisia (99.80%)
- Afghanistan (99.60%)
- Iran (99.40%)
- Western Sahara (99.40%)
- Turkey (99.20%)
- Yemen (99.10%)
- Algeria (99.00%)
- Morocco (99.00%)
Country | Muslim Population | 2022 Population | Muslim % of Total Population | Muslim % of World Population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Indonesia | 229000000 | 279134.5050 | 87.2000 | 12.7000 |
Pakistan | 200400000 | 229488.9940 | 96.5000 | 11.1000 |
India | 195000000 | 1406631.7760 | 14.2000 | 10.9000 |
Bangladesh | 153700000 | 167885.6890 | 90.4000 | 9.2000 |
Nigeria | 99000000 | 216746.9340 | 49.6000 | 5.3000 |
Egypt | 87500000 | 106156.6920 | 92.3500 | 4.9000 |
Iran | 82500000 | 86022.8370 | 99.4000 | 4.6000 |
Turkey | 79850000 | 85561.9760 | 99.2000 | 4.6000 |
Algeria | 41240913 | 45350.1480 | 99 | 2.7000 |
Sudan | 39585777 | 45992.0200 | 97 | 1.9000 |
Iraq | 38465864 | 42164.9650 | 95.7000 | 1.9000 |
Morocco | 37930989 | 37772.7560 | 99 | 2 |
Ethiopia | 35600000 | 120812.6980 | 33.9000 | 1.8000 |
Afghanistan | 34836014 | 40754.3880 | 99.6000 | 1.8000 |
Saudi Arabia | 31878000 | 35844.9090 | 97.1000 | 1.6000 |
China | 28127500 | 1448471.4000 | 1.7250 | 1.6000 |
Yemen | 27784498 | 31154.8670 | 99.1000 | 1.5000 |
Uzbekistan | 26550000 | 34382.0840 | 96.5000 | 1.7000 |
Niger | 21101926 | 26083.6600 | 98.3000 | 1 |
Russia | 20000000 | 145805.9470 | 13.5000 | 1 |
Tanzania | 19426814 | 63298.5500 | 35.2000 | 0.8000 |
Mali | 17508398 | 21473.7640 | 95 | 0.8000 |
Syria | 16700000 | 19364.8090 | 93 | 1 |
Malaysia | 16318355 | 33181.0720 | 61.3000 | 1.1000 |
Senegal | 15112721 | 17653.6710 | 96.1000 | 0.8000 |
Kazakhstan | 13158672 | 19205.0430 | 70.2000 | 0.5000 |
DR Congo | 12792153 | 95240.7920 | 10 | 0.1000 |
Burkina Faso | 12141769 | 22102.8380 | 61.5000 | 0.6000 |
Ivory Coast | 11265789 | 27742.2980 | 42.9000 | 0.5000 |
Tunisia | 11190000 | 12046.6560 | 99.8000 | 0.6000 |
Somalia | 10978000 | 16841.7950 | 99.8000 | 0.6000 |
Guinea | 10563171 | 13865.6910 | 89.1000 | 0.5000 |
Jordan | 10165577 | 10300.8690 | 97.2000 | 0.4000 |
Azerbaijan | 9735074 | 10300.2050 | 96.9000 | 0.5000 |
Chad | 9183207 | 17413.5800 | 58 | 0.4000 |
Philippines | 7913542 | 112508.9940 | 8 | 0.4500 |
Cameroon | 7692289 | 27911.5480 | 30 | 0.4000 |
Tajikistan | 7621700 | 9957.4640 | 96.7000 | 0.4000 |
Libya | 6551871 | 7040.7450 | 97 | 0.4000 |
Sierra Leone | 6067706 | 8306.4360 | 78.6000 | 0.3000 |
France | 5720000 | 65584.5180 | 8.8000 | 0.3000 |
Kenya | 5500000 | 56215.2210 | 11.2000 | 0.2000 |
Uganda | 5435234 | 48432.8630 | 14 | 0.3000 |
Ghana | 5058444 | 32395.4500 | 18 | 0.2000 |
Turkmenistan | 4830000 | 6201.9430 | 93.3000 | 0.3000 |
Germany | 4750000 | 83883.5960 | 5.7000 | 0.2000 |
Kyrgyzstan | 4679436 | 6728.2710 | 80 | 0.3000 |
United Arab Emirates | 4615081 | 10081.7850 | 76 | 0.2000 |
Palestine | 4298000 | 5345.5410 | 97.5000 | 0.3000 |
United Kingdom | 4130000 | 68497.9070 | 6.3000 | 0.2000 |
Malawi | 3968512 | 20180.8390 | 20 | 0.1000 |
Mauritania | 3840429 | 4901.9810 | 100 | 0.2000 |
Mozambique | 3830063 | 33089.4610 | 17.9000 | 0.3000 |
Lebanon | 3519743 | 6684.8490 | 57.7000 | 0.2000 |
United States | 3450000 | 334805.2690 | 1.1000 | 0.2000 |
Benin | 3141319 | 12784.7260 | 27.7000 | 0.1400 |
Cambodia | 3125401 | 17168.6390 | 1.9000 | 0 |
Thailand | 3000000 | 70078.2030 | 4.3000 | 0.2000 |
Italy | 2987840 | 60262.7700 | 4.8000 | 0.1000 |
Eritrea | 2630000 | 3662.2440 | 43.8000 | 0.1000 |
Madagascar | 2568361 | 29178.0770 | 10 | 0 |
South Sudan | 2464683 | 11618.5110 | 20 | 0 |
Oman | 2427000 | 5323.9930 | 85.9000 | 0.2000 |
Myanmar | 2391767 | 55227.1430 | 4.3000 | 0.1000 |
Kuwait | 2175684 | 4380.3260 | 74.6000 | 0.2000 |
Sri Lanka | 2105000 | 21575.8420 | 9.7000 | 0.1000 |
Gambia | 2002743 | 2558.4820 | 95.7000 | 0.1000 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1955084 | 3249.3170 | 50.7000 | 0.1000 |
Albania | 1797645 | 2866.3740 | 58.8000 | 0.1000 |
Togo | 1593011 | 8680.8370 | 20 | 0.1000 |
Qatar | 1566786 | 2979.9150 | 77.5000 | 0.1000 |
Israel | 1516482 | 8922.8920 | 18 | 0.1000 |
Nepal | 1292909 | 30225.5820 | 4.2000 | 0.1000 |
Burundi | 1184452 | 12624.8400 | 10 | 0 |
Spain | 1180000 | 46719.1420 | 2.6000 | 0.1000 |
Canada | 1148213 | 38388.4190 | 3.2000 | 0.1000 |
Bahrain | 1063239 | 1783.9830 | 73.7000 | 0 |
South Africa | 1050000 | 60756.1350 | 1.9000 | 0 |
Liberia | 961953 | 5305.1170 | 20 | 0 |
Netherlands | 880000 | 17211.4470 | 5.1000 | 0.1000 |
Belgium | 879377 | 11668.2780 | 7.6000 | 0 |
Central African Republic | 861759 | 5016.6780 | 15 | 0 |
Bulgaria | 861015 | 6844.5970 | 13.4000 | 0 |
Djibouti | 857496 | 1016.0970 | 97 | 0.1000 |
Guinea-Bissau | 826794 | 2063.3670 | 45.1000 | 0 |
Comoros | 807204 | 907.4190 | 98.3000 | 0 |
Sweden | 800000 | 10218.9710 | 8.1000 | 0 |
Singapore | 781558 | 5943.5460 | 14.7000 | 0 |
Brazil | 767583 | 215353.5930 | 0.3600 | 0 |
Austria | 712000 | 9066.7100 | 8 | 0 |
Ukraine | 695000 | 43192.1220 | 1.7000 | 0 |
Australia | 650000 | 26068.7920 | 2.6000 | 0 |
Greece | 613406 | 10316.6370 | 5.7000 | 0 |
Western Sahara | 599633 | 626.1610 | 99.4000 | 0 |
Rwanda | 576054 | 13600.4640 | 4.8000 | 0 |
Georgia | 527091 | 3968.7380 | 10.7000 | 0 |
Switzerland | 440000 | 8773.6370 | 5.2000 | 0 |
Argentina | 400000 | 46010.2340 | 0.9000 | 0.9000 |
Maldives | 386193 | 540.9850 | 98.4000 | 0 |
Brunei | 355045 | 445.4310 | 78.8000 | 0 |
Cyprus | 350000 | 1223.3870 | 28.2000 | 0 |
Denmark | 313713 | 5834.9500 | 5.4000 | 0 |
Hong Kong | 295746 | 7604.2990 | 4.1000 | 0 |
Mayotte | 253439 | 286.2590 | 97 | 0 |
Mauritius | 236020 | 1274.7270 | 17.3000 | 0 |
Serbia | 221460 | 8653.0160 | 3.1000 | 0 |
Gabon | 211903 | 2331.5330 | 10 | 0 |
Japan | 185000 | 125584.8380 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Zambia | 168877 | 19470.2340 | 1 | 0 |
Finland | 150000 | 5554.9600 | 2.7000 | 0 |
Mongolia | 150000 | 3378.0780 | 5 | 0 |
Norway | 142500 | 5511.3700 | 5.7000 | 0 |
Romania | 136500 | 19031.3350 | 0.6500 | 0 |
Eswatini | 129230 | 1184.8170 | 10 | 0 |
Venezuela | 125216 | 29266.9910 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Montenegro | 122849 | 627.9500 | 19.1000 | 0 |
Republic of the Congo | 107997 | 5797.8050 | 2 | 0 |
Zimbabwe | 100000 | 15331.4280 | 0.7000 | 0 |
Colombia | 96337 | 51512.7620 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Vietnam | 96160 | 98953.5410 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Angola | 90000 | 35027.3430 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Suriname | 83400 | 596.8310 | 13.9000 | 0 |
Equatorial Guinea | 79745 | 1496.6620 | 10 | 0 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 78000 | 1406.5850 | 5.8000 | 0 |
Slovenia | 73568 | 2078.0340 | 3.6000 | 0 |
Belarus | 72500 | 9432.8000 | 0.7500 | 0 |
Ireland | 70952 | 5020.1990 | 1.4000 | 0 |
Portugal | 65000 | 10140.5700 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Croatia | 64057 | 4059.2860 | 1.5000 | 0 |
Taiwan | 60000 | 23888.5950 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Fiji | 58355 | 909.4660 | 6.3000 | 0 |
Guyana | 55000 | 794.0450 | 7.3000 | 0 |
Hungary | 50000 | 9606.2590 | 0.5000 | 0 |
New Zealand | 41000 | 4898.2030 | 0.9000 | 0 |
Reunion | 36364 | 908.0610 | 4.2000 | 0 |
South Korea | 35000 | 51329.8990 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Honduras | 30000 | 10221.2470 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Panama | 25000 | 4446.9640 | 0.7000 | 0 |
Luxembourg | 18172 | 642.3710 | 3 | 0 |
Czech Republic | 15000 | 10736.7840 | 0.1500 | 0 |
Moldova | 15000 | 4013.1710 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Malta | 11675 | 444.0330 | 2.6000 | 0 |
Cape Verde | 11367 | 567.6780 | 2 | 0 |
Cuba | 11116 | 11305.6520 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Slovakia | 10866 | 5460.1930 | 0.1500 | 0 |
Namibia | 9654 | 2633.8740 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Botswana | 8996 | 2441.1620 | 0.4000 | 0 |
New Caledonia | 7000 | 290.9150 | 2.8000 | 0 |
Poland | 6796 | 37739.7850 | 0.0200 | 0 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 5931 | 227.6790 | 3 | 0 |
Jamaica | 5624 | 2985.0940 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Mexico | 5500 | 131562.7720 | 0.0100 | 0 |
Haiti | 5000 | 11680.2830 | 0 | 0 |
Barbados | 4396 | 288.0230 | 1.5000 | 0 |
Chile | 4000 | 19250.1950 | 0 | 0 |
Armenia | 3038 | 2971.9660 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Lesotho | 3000 | 2175.6990 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Lithuania | 3000 | 2661.7080 | 0.1000 | 0 |
North Korea | 3000 | 25990.6790 | 0.1000 | 0 |
French Guiana | 2400 | 314.1690 | 0.9000 | 0 |
Andorra | 2228 | 77.4630 | 2.6000 | 0 |
Liechtenstein | 2050 | 38.3870 | 5.4000 | 0 |
El Salvador | 2000 | 6550.3890 | 0 | 0 |
Papua New Guinea | 2000 | 9292.1690 | 0 | 0 |
Dominican Republic | 2000 | 11056.3700 | 0 | 0 |
Bolivia | 2000 | 11992.6560 | 0 | 0 |
Latvia | 2000 | 1848.8370 | 0.1500 | 0 |
Guadeloupe | 2000 | 399.7940 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2000 | 111.5510 | 1.7000 | 0 |
Estonia | 1508 | 1321.9100 | 0 | 0 |
Guatemala | 1200 | 18584.0390 | 0 | 0 |
Gibraltar | 1150 | 33.7040 | 4 | 0 |
Seychelles | 1036 | 99.4260 | 1.1000 | 0 |
Puerto Rico | 1000 | 2829.8120 | 0 | 0 |
Nicaragua | 1000 | 6779.1000 | 0 | 0 |
Paraguay | 1000 | 7305.8430 | 0 | 0 |
Laos | 1000 | 7481.0230 | 0 | 0 |
Timor-Leste | 1000 | 1369.4290 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Vatican City | 0 | 0.7990 | 0 | 0 |
Tokelau | 0 | 1.3780 | 0 | 0 |
Niue | 0 | 1.6220 | 0 | 0 |
Falkland Islands | 0 | 3.5390 | 0 | 0 |
Nauru | 0 | 10.9030 | 0 | 0 |
Wallis and Futuna | 0 | 10.9820 | 0 | 0 |
Cook Islands | 0 | 17.5710 | 0 | 0 |
Palau | 0 | 18.2330 | 0 | 0 |
San Marino | 0 | 34.0850 | 0 | 0 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 0 | 39.7410 | 0 | 0 |
Faroe Islands | 0 | 49.2330 | 0 | 0 |
American Samoa | 0 | 55.0300 | 0 | 0 |
Greenland | 0 | 56.9730 | 0 | 0 |
Marshall Islands | 0 | 60.0570 | 0 | 0 |
Tonga | 0 | 107.7490 | 0 | 0 |
Micronesia | 0 | 117.4890 | 0 | 0 |
Kiribati | 0 | 123.4190 | 0 | 0 |
Guam | 0 | 171.5190 | 0 | 0 |
Samoa | 0 | 202.2390 | 0 | 0 |
French Polynesia | 0 | 284.1640 | 0 | 0 |
Vanuatu | 0 | 321.8320 | 0 | 0 |
Solomon Islands | 0 | 721.1590 | 0 | 0 |
Uruguay | 0 | 3496.0160 | 0 | 0 |
Costa Rica | 0 | 5182.3540 | 0 | 0 |
Ecuador | 0 | 18113.3610 | 0 | 0 |
Peru | 0 | 33684.2080 | 0 | 0 |
Montserrat | 0 | 4.9650 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Tuvalu | 0 | 12.0660 | 0.1000 | 0 |
United States Virgin Islands | 0 | 103.9710 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Saint Lucia | 0 | 185.1130 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Bahamas | 0 | 400.5160 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Macau | 0 | 667.4900 | 0.1000 | 0 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 0 | 5.7590 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Cayman Islands | 0 | 67.2770 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Dominica | 0 | 72.3440 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Isle of Man | 0 | 85.7320 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Iceland | 0 | 345.3930 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Martinique | 0 | 374.0870 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Belize | 0 | 412.1900 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Bhutan | 0 | 787.9410 | 0.2000 | 0 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0 | 53.8710 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 0 | 99.5090 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Grenada | 0 | 113.4750 | 0.3000 | 0 |
Aruba | 0 | 107.6090 | 0.4000 | 0 |
Anguilla | 0 | 15.2300 | 0.6000 | 0 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 0 | 58.2690 | 0.7000 | 0 |
Monaco | 0 | 39.7830 | 0.8000 | 0 |
Bermuda | 0 | 61.9390 | 1 | 0 |
British Virgin Islands | 0 | 30.5960 | 1.2000 | 0 |