Tom Friedman in an anti-France op-ed in the New York Times argued to replace France with India in the UN Security Council:
Because India is the world’s biggest democracy, the world’s largest Hindu nation and the world’s second-largest Muslim nation, and, quite frankly, India is just so much more serious than France these days.
Now I know it’s popular to bash France in the US and all, but this is not what this post is about. Like a lot of other people in the media, Friedman is a little behind in terms of population data. India is not the “world’s second-largest Muslim nation” nowadays. It used to be for most part from 1972-early 1990s (I think, but any actual data is welcome). Here is the population data for the countries with large Muslim populations from the CIA World Factbook.
| Country | Population | Percentage of Muslims | Muslim Population |
| Indonesia | 231,328,092 | 88.0% | 203,568,721 |
| Pakistan | 147,663,429 | 97.0% | 143,233,526 |
| India | 1,045,845,226 | 12.0% | 125,501,427 |
| Bangladesh | 133,376,684 | 83.0% | 110,702,648 |
| Turkey | 67,308,928 | 99.8% | 67,174,310 |
| Egypt | 70,712,345 | 94.0% | 66,469,604 |
| Iran | 66,622,704 | 99.0% | 65,956,477 |
| Nigeria | 129,934,911 | 50.0% | 64,967,456 |
| Ehtiopia | 67,673,031 | 47.5% | 32,144,690 |
| Morocco | 31,167,783 | 98.7% | 30,762,602 |
UPDATE: Thanks to CalPundit for the link.
This table works as evidence that Islamic terrorism is more a function of loose oil money than of Islam. Of these nations, only Iran has oil and only Iran is accused of terrorism.
It also works against the idea that Islamic terrorism is an expression of the desperation of the poor, because Bangla Desh, Ethiopia and Indonesia are also not important sources of terrorism.
Friedman’s assertion is indeed incorrect. But the number of Indian muslims is a little higher than what you suggest. It’s closer to 135 million rather than 125 million as you suggest. The “religious tables” of the 2001 census are likely to be out in 2005, which will settle the issue for good.
Friedman’s assertion is indeed incorrect. But the number of Indian muslims is a little higher than what you suggest. It’s closer to 135 million rather than 125 million as you suggest. The “religious tables” of the 2001 census are likely to be out in 2005, which will settle the issue for good.
Ritesh: You might be correct, but I am working off of CIA World Factbook estimates since their numbers are yearly estimates. Comparing individual census figures is problematic since censuses are taken at different times.
muslims in india account for 14 to 15 percent of the total population …
right-wing hindus place the muslim population between 120 and 130 million,
muslims themselves claim to number 220 and 250 million,
but the most respected and accurate estimations come form india’s english language newspapers which put the muslim population between 150 and 200 million.
most likely it is 150 million —- anyways, the muslims of india do not refer to themselves as “indian muslims” they despise india as a hindu nation and identify themselves simply as “muslims” or belonging to the Islamic Nation, or Ummah.
but the most respected and accurate estimations come form india’s english language newspapers which put the muslim population between 150 and 200 million.
Wouldn’t the census be the best estimate instead of the newspapers?
the muslims of india do not refer to themselves as “indian muslims” they despise india as a hindu nation
I know quite a few Indian Muslims and almost all are proud Indians. What do you base your statement on?
The true figure of Muslim population in India is still a state secret. The Indian census reports it to be around 12% while the Indian media puts it between 15-17% of the total population. While the Indian Muslims claim to be around 20% of the total Indian population.
So the official figures gives Pakistan with 150 million people and over 98% Muslim population the second position in the Muslim world after Indonesia.
Arsalan: Unless there is a specific reason to think that the census figures are not accurate, I would go with the census numbers.
As Islam is 27% of the world population, and the fastest growing religion in the world…. The muslims in India will be 30%-40% of the Indian population in a few years.
And Muslims in India can be proud to call them self proud Indians. Of course , it’s their homeland. But when you say that you are Indian
people catch this up..
Indian>>Hindian>>>Hindi>>>Hind>>>Hindu????
That’s not what they are
they are Indian>>>Muslim!!!!
Ahmed: Most estimates of world Muslim population are in the 19-20% range.
The muslims in India will be 30%-40% of the Indian population in a few years.
In India, Muslims are nowadays 12-13%. Now, the rate of growth of Muslims is larger than the overall growth rate, but it is not that large.
I’ve carried out a few survey myself for the population statistics of India over the recent years. I do totally disagree that the Muslim population is around 12% in India, as China’s Muslim Population is estmiated well over 150 million. During the time of partition of India & Pakistan, more Muslims had stayed within India. Yet Muslim population has increased in 3 to 4 folds yet Indian Muslims cannot have been increased by .10 fold. I do estimate Indian Muslims to be well over 250 million just over 25%, which brings the Hindu population down between 65% – 68% and not as claimed to be 80% – 82%.
Hussain: Would you like to share more of the details of your survey results and methodology? Also, why do you think your survey is correct while the census is not?
I think the muslim population of india is 15% and it should be around 150 million, regarding that most muslims in india stayed in india after partition is wrong because pakistan had two wings at the time of patition, east pakistan and west pakistan whose combined populatin was almost 60% of the total muslim population of the subcontinent,today east pakistan is banladesh with a muslim population of 125 million west pakistan is pakistan with a muslim population of 145 million and india with a muslim population of around 150 million
ws ahmed: Why do you think it is 15% and not the 12% that the census reports?
The Indian census puts Muslim population at around 12% Indian Media claims Muslims are betweem 14-17%. The Indian Muslims claims to be around 20% of the total Indian population. Why are census being manipulated ? Indian and Hindu parties then justify in giving lower percentage of jobs in government and admission to elite universities to Muslims. The lower percentage also gives less sleepless nights to the Hindu fascist parties and government of India.
In the growth of Muslim population in India or the world over, it is not their quantity that is a cause for concern, but their quality. The literacy rate among Muslims is the lowest. Most of them limit themselves to learning Urdu and Arabic. They are rarely to be seen in areas like industry, technology, science. In India, the number of Muslim criminals is far greater than proportion of Muslims in the general population. But in fields such as science and technology or in the creative arts, a Muslim is an exception to the rule. This is not specific to India, but is the case with the entire Muslim world. The advances made by Muslim states are generally in the fields of global terrorism and in the manufacture of chemical weapons of mass destruction. Advances in these fields, fuel their warlike aggressive mentality. Most Islamic nations are military-theocratic dictatorships. Democracy is an irrelevant concept for them as Iraq is proving today. Most Muslims generally do not go in for secular education and prefer madrassahs. This is so as Muslims look upon
anything non-Islamic is “haram” i.e. illegitimate.
According to Islam, Muslim women have to wear the ‘Hijab’ (known as ‘Burqua’ in India and ‘Chador’ in Iran). This is the traditional black coloured tent-like gown of Muslim women when they move outdoors. The Burqua covers the entire body of a lady including the face. Similarly Muslim men have to grow their beard. Going about without a Burqua for women and without a beard for men is considered “haram” i.e. illegitimate.
More at: http://www.hindutva.com
Hindutva,
You said that “According to Islam, Muslim women have to wear the ‘Hijab’.” This is not true, Muslim woman aren’t required to wear the Hijab. This is an Arab invention, women are just required to be modest.
I agree with Shey and this is true for most religions as every one has to cover their heads specially women(I don’t know why) when they pray.
In my view religion is just a way to control Illiterate powerless population.
I think all this is a bunch of crap. The muslim nations do not cherish the seperation of the state and church. We don’t care about what religion you follow,just keep it out of the country’s developmental effort.
I just wanted 2 say that im pakistani and that ive been 2 india only once in my life but i know the estimate in 2002 when i last went; The estimate by the indian govt is 153,998,870
rajeev: You don’t make any sense.
k.k: Do you have any source for that?
Zack, I can’t believe that you get comments on a year-old post. Wow. If others can do it, why can’t I.
Anyway, in the last Indian census a few years ago, the Muslim pop was estimated at about 14% overall (the CIA numbers are out of date). The highest proportion was in Kerala, where about 25% of the pop is Muslim. Next is UP where about 17% is Muslim.
All of this can be found at the Indian Census site. The site is good, but the tag-line is absurd — “we also count people in India”. Is their primary mandate to count people in Myanmar? Or perhaps they mean that their primary mandate is to count cows.
http://www.censusindia.net/
Ikram: This post is the 2nd most popular one. Lots of people seem to be searching for world Muslim population or Muslim population in India or France.
The CIA numbers are from the 1991 census. I did check the Indian census site, but could only find the 1991 numbers for religion. I think it said somewhere that 2001 religion data would be out in 2005. Is the info out now? Can you point it to me?
Im reading your all your comments on the population of Islam and im thinking about a few things.
India has a Islamic population of around 120-150 million (disputed, whatever)
This is around the same number of muslims living in the country of Pakistan
Yet, i can say with some confidence that being a Muslim in India is FAR less dangerous than a hindu in Pakistan. Why is that? Why is it that a good chunk of the hindu population in India can live peacefully among the muslims in their country when hindus are being killed and persecuted all the time in Pakistan?
Think about it.
Sindhi: The persecution of minorities in Pakistan is indeed deplorable and a topic I can’t do justice to in a comment.
Im not trying to cut on Islam or Pakistan but it makes no sense at all that they claim to want to liberate the oppressed muslims of india when most of the muslims really arent oppressed.
Sindhi: I haven”t heard of any Pakistani claims to liberate Indian Muslims. The only exception is Kashmir and that is a much more complicated issue than “claim to want to liberate the oppressed muslims of india.”
It’s was only a matter of time, & w/ the introduction of WMD’s , well, your time is up.
zeke: What introduction of WMDs?
So how much more complicated of an issue is it Zack?
Sindhi: You might want to read this post as well as the links in it.
this is all totally irrelevent to populational statistics
I agree with Sindhi student, the Muslim population in India is probably around 120-150 million, but it is indeed growing year by year. So that would make India the third largest Muslim country in the world behind Indonesia and Pakistan. And Bangladesh is right behind India with the fourth largest Muslim population.
Ok ive read most of those articles and the impression that i have received is that whereever there is a muslim majority….no other religious minority, particularly hinduism can live there in safety. This was my point earlier…
Sindhi: I guess then there is no way I can change your mind.
I was trying to see otherwise…but you sent me the links to prove me wrong.
im really sad to hear a pakistani hindu saying that he is not being treated well in pakistan,please dont forget you are still safe in pakistan whereas across the border indian muslims are being butchered in the state of gujarat and are often termed as traitors,whereas in pakistan there has never been such an incident.
faraz: Pakistan’s treatment of minorities is nothing to be proud of. While I haven’t heard of anything on the scale of the Gujrat massacre (except the army action in East Pakistan/Bangladesh in 1971), we have treated minorities very badly.
Jeams: Your comment was offensive and has been disenvoweled. Further offensive comments will result in a ban.
I am also not confident of Pakistani religious census figures. The Muslim population has stood at 97% from 1951 to 2002 census. Muslims usually have higher fertility rate so their percentage should be increasing but is stuck at the same point.
The Hindus in Pakistan are mostly concentrated in Sindh province in rural areas. There are few anti-Hindu cases but no persecution or riots as in India. The only cases of Temple destruction occurred only after Hindu lunatics detroyed Babari Masjid in Ayodhya.
Arsalan: The Muslim population has stood at 97% from 1951 to 2002 census.
Can you point me where I can find this info? I did find out that Muslims were around 85% of Pakistan in 1951 but that includes East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) which probably had a higher minority percentage.
Muslims usually have higher fertility rate.
Why? I don’t think this is necessarily true and I have great doubts if it is true in Pakistan.
Regarding persecution, there are lots of subtle (and otherwise) ways minorities are persecuted in Pakistan. Can’t think of any large scale massacres/riots other than those in 1971 and then after the destruction of Babri Mosque in India but overall the treatment meted out to minorities is not good.
What I’m going to say next is purely just out of curiousity and imagination but I’d like to hear much feedback….
I’m sure anyone who has followed India Pakistan news in the past couple months knows that relations between that 2 nations have improved eons more in recent times than it has been since partition. In my opinion, this is some of the best news I have heard, which brings me to my point….
What if.. Pakistan and India were to ever reunite? With India’s economy growing at almost 8 percent and their rise as the worlds largest I.T. power, I honestly think that if it was possible for both nations to overlook their differences there it would be a HUGE gain for both economies in the long run. There has been talk (again this is probably unlikely) of making a united Rupee amongst all south asian nations (Nepal Bangladesh Sri Lanka India Pakistan). This I believe will be an enormous asset to a reunited Pakistan-India. The US sends almost 1 billion dollars to Pakistan in foreign aid, and i think with uniting this money along with indian aid a powerful military can be built along the n-w frontier province to fight any kind of terrorism occuring in the area. This would in turn be of huge benefit to the US which is failing miserably in their hunt for Bin Laden.
Anyways, this is really just a dream world. But its always thought provoking to think ‘what if?’
Sindhi: relations between that 2 nations have improved eons more in recent times than it has been since partition.
I think the key word is “improve.” After all, Pakistan and India have just gotten back to the situation when Vajpayee visited Lahore (in 1998?).
I think a reunion of India and Pakistan could be a good thing in the long term. Right now, it is out of question because of the bad relations and the hatred on both sides.
I read in an article that 95% of people in both nations want a lasting peace between each other. I think the fact that they are looking forward to ending bitterness and hatred is a very good thing, and although i am fairly young, I can’t really remember a time in the past where Pakistan and India were actually looking forward to meeting with each other to make truce. My only fear is that Hindu or Muslim terrorist groups make an attack on either side to ruin any achievements made.
——— India will beat Pakistan in cricket March 13. Haha.
Sindhi: It is true that most people want peace. There is, however, mistrust (majority) and hatred (minority) of the other as well. It’ll take some time to get rid of that. I guess I am too old not to be cynical. 🙂
And India can’t win since this is not the World Cup.
as salam ‘alaikum
A serious game is being played in India at the moment. Muslims are being shifted out of Gujarat. Dalits from Orissas (Udiya) are being settled in every district of the state in thousands of families. Muslims are being shifted out of UP and Bihar and being shifted to Punjab, Udaipur, Malegaon, Jalgaon. Please beware, as it is not possible to assume an figure for the Muslims of India as being right today. Nor do the Muslims of India know their true real number and nor does the Indian government (though it has the best idea) and nor does the media. I willl give an example
The Indian government says muslims are 25% in the Border District of Nagaur in Rajasthan State.
Having known this area very well, I found 3/4 of the villages there completely Muslim. And the villages were relatively larger than the Hindu ones, while the Hindus were the majority in the the eastern towns and in Nagaur city, though the rural population of the state is 70%
and Allah knows best
Wadood: I have no way to evaluate your anecdotes. The numbers I have given are generally based on official census figures. In India’s case, the population estimate is for 2002 and the 12% number is from the 1991 census. The religion numbers from the 2001 census are not available yet.
as salam ‘alaikum
I would caution my Muslims from believing strongly into any figure being given by the Indian government or the Muslims in India
and Allah knows Best
wadood: You are cautioning against all sorts of figures and institutions. Why? Which statistics should be then consider reliable?
as salam ‘alaikum
The reason is in my first post in this thread.
Please do not exaggerate. I only mentioned one institution (The Indian Government) and the common Muslim in India.
and Allah knows Best