Mapping the Global Muslim Population
There are an estimated 1.57 billion Muslims – nearly a quarter of the world’s total population.
While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries, more than half of which are 95% Muslim or greater.
More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. 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 to 13% are Shia and 87 to 90% are Sunni. Most Shias live in Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.
Mapping the World Muslim Population
Muslim Population in Asia as Percent of the Total (2010)
Regional Distribution of Muslims: Population by Region as of 2010
