The Global Religious Landscape June 2012 | Page 22
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GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE
Muslims
Muslims number .6 billion, representing
of all people worldwide. There are two major
branches of Islam – Sunni and Shia. The overwhelming majority (
Sunnis; about
-
-
) of Muslims are
are Shia Muslims.
Muslims are concentrated in the Asia-Paci c region, where six-in-ten (6
reside. Many Muslims also live in the Middle East and North Africa (
) of all Muslims
) and sub-Saharan
Africa ( 6 ). The remainder of the world’s Muslim population is in Europe (
), North
America (less than
).
) and Latin America and the Caribbean (also less than
Regional Distribution of Muslims
Population by region as of 2010
Europe
43,490,000
North America
3,480,000
Middle EastNorth Africa
317,070,000
Asia-Pacific
985,530,000
Latin AmericaCaribbean
840,000
Sub-Saharan
Africa
248,110,000
Percentage of world Muslim population in each region as of 2010
15.5%
Sub-Saharan Africa
19.8
61.7
Middle East-North Africa
Asia-Pacific
2.7 Europe
0.2 North America
0.1 Latin America-Caribbean
Population estimates are rounded to the ten thousands. Percentages are calculated from unrounded numbers.
P
dd 100 d
di
8 For definitions of Sunni and Shia Muslims and more information on their geographic distribution, see the Pew Forum’s October 2009 report “Mapping the
Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population.”
MUSLIMS