The demographics of Islam today
Main articles: Islam by country and Demographics of Islam
Distribution of Islam per country. Green represents a Sunni majority and blue represents a Shia majority.Based on the figures published in the 2005 CIA World Factbook ([2]), Islam is the second largest religion in the world. According to the Al Islam, and Samuel Huntington, Islam is the Fastest Growing Major Religion by percent (though not by raw numbers). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance estimate that it is growing at about 2.9% annually, as opposed to 2.3% per year global population growth.[27] Most of this growth is due to the high population growth in many Islamic countries (six out of the top-ten countries in the world with the highest birth rates are majority Muslim [28]). The birth rates in some Muslim countries are now declining.[29]
Commonly cited estimates of the Muslim population today range between 900 million and 1.5 billion people (cf. Adherents.com); estimates of Islam by country based on U.S. State Department figures yield a total of 1.48 billion, while the Muslim delegation at the United Nations quoted 1.2 billion as the global Muslim population in September 2005.[citation needed]
Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world; 20% are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, about 30% in the South Asian region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and the world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Europe, Central Asia, and Russia.
France has the highest Muslim population of any nation in Western Europe, with up to 6 million Muslims (10% of the population[30]). Albania has the highest proportion of Muslims as part of its population in Europe (70%), although this figure is only an estimate (see Islam in Albania). Countries in Europe with many Muslims include Bosnia and Herzegovina (estimated around 50 % are Bosniaks, Muslims) and Macedonia where over 30 % of the population is Muslim, mostly ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. The country in Europe with the most Muslims is Russia. The number of Muslims in North America is variously estimated as anywhere from 1.8 to 7 million.[27]