Pew Forum maps global Muslim population

October 8, 4:32 PMDC Muslim ExaminerPriscilla Martinez

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The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a report on the size and distribution of the world's Muslim population.  The report was produced based on the 'best available data for 232 countries and territories.'

Among the report's findings:

• There are 1.57 billion Muslims in the world today
• This number represents 23% of the world's population of 6.8 billion.
• One fifth of the world's Muslim population lives in countries that are not majority Muslim.  (These large minority Muslim populations can be very large, as is the case in India -- not widely known as home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world.)

Of special interest is the Pew Foundation's interactive map of the global Muslim population, showing that US Muslims number about 2.45 million.  Indeed, attempts at putting a number on the US Muslim population has yielded inconsistent data over the years.  The Pew Foundation's own 2007 titled 'Muslm Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream' estimated the population to be 2.35 million.

 In 2010, the Pew Forum will release a study on the growth rates of the Muslim population worldwide and will project future Muslim populations.

For more info:

The Pew Foundation's full 2009 global report is available for download here.