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Countries With The Largest Muslim Populations

(2015)

Muslims number 1.8 billion people worldwide (2015), representing 24% of global population. The overwhelming majority (87-90%) of Muslims are Sunnis; about 10-13% are Shi’a Muslims.

The countries with the five highest Muslim populations are all in South and Southeast Asia or in sub-Saharan Africa, rather than the Middle East. In India, which has the second-largest Muslim population, Islam is a minority religion (making up 15% of the country’s population) and Hinduism is the majority faith.

 

  2015 Muslim Population % of Country that is Muslim % of World's Muslim Population
1
Indonesia 219,960,000 87% 13%
2
India 194,810,000 15% 11%
3
Pakistan 184,000,000 96% 11%
4
Bangladesh 144,020,000 91% 8%
5
Nigeria 90,020,000 50% 5%
6
Egypt 83,870,000 95% 5%
7
Iran 77,650,000 100% 4%
8
Turkey 75,460,000 98% 4%
9
Algeria 37,210,000 98% 2%
10
Iraq 36,200,000 99% 2%
         
  Subtotal 1,143,200,000   65%
  Subtotal Rest of the World 609,420,000   35%
  World Total 1,752,620,000   100%

*Muslim population figures are notoriously inaccurate; Muslims cover a broad range of ancestries, such as Asian, African and Middle Eastern and they all have different practices and political outlooks.


Source: Pew Research Center;