List of Muslim majority countries - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a list of countries in which Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

is the majority religion of the people. In a geopolitical sense these countries are often considered to form the Muslim world

Muslim world

The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...

. The list contains only countries where more than 50% of the population is Muslim. The table is presorted by the largest population by country. It can be sorted on other criteria by clicking the tab of the appropriate column at the top of the table. The percentage shows the proportional amount of Muslims out of the total population of each country

Country

A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...

. In total, there are currently 48 Muslim-majority countries.

The Muslim % column is the percentage of Muslims of a country out of the total population. The higher the percentage is of a country, then the higher the Muslim majority. Maldives

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

and Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

have the highest Muslim percentages with 100% of all the countries population as Muslims. This figure only applies to citizens of the respective countries. The foreign worker

Foreign worker

A foreign worker is a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen. The term migrant worker as discussed in the migrant worker page is used in a particular UN resolution as a synonym for "foreign worker"...

s are excluded from this count; there are no official statistics available regarding the exact number of foreign workers in any of these two countries.

The column Main sect shows whether the predominant denomination of Muslims is Sunni, Shi'a, or other sects. Religion and state is the role of religion in politics based on the constitutions: Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...

indicates use of Sharia law or the Quran

Qur'an

The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

as a form of legislation (e.g., Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

); state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...

indicates that Islam as the official religion of a country, where Sharia courts may be used (e.g., Malaysia); secular
Secular state
A secular state is a concept of secularism, whereby a state or country purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state also claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and claims to avoid preferential...

indicates that government institutions are formally separated from religion (e.g., Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

); and none indicates that the state has neither adopted a state religion, declared an Islamic state, nor declared a secular state (e.g., Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

).

The military power or strength of the countries is shown by the numbers of active troops, the powerful of these include Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. The GDP (PPP) per capita is the data for the economy of the Muslim countries. The data can be used to compare rich or poor countries or to compare the economies. The GDP per capita (PPP) have been obtained from the International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

's World Economic Outlook Database for 2007. All information and data are estimates.

Rank	Country	Population	Muslim % Islam by country Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity. According to a 2009 demographic study, Islam has 1.57 billion adherents, making up 23% of the world population....	Main sect Islamic schools and branches Muslims are basically divided in two major factions, Sunnis and Shias, that are further divided into various Schools of Jurisprudence and orders of Imamate. All other movements within such as Salafi, Modernists, the Mystical Sufi Orders, Deobandi and Barelvi are either Sunni or Shia or both...	Main fiqh Fiqh Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....	Religion and state	Military power (active troops)	GDP (PPP) per capita (US$ Geary-Khamis dollar The Geary-Khamis dollar, more commonly known as the international dollar, is a hypothetical unit of currency that has the same purchasing power that the U.S. dollar had in the United States at a given point in time. It is widely used in economics. The years 1990 or 2000 are often used as a... )
		123	123				123	123
1	Indonesia	228,582,000	86.1%	Sunni	Shafi`i	None	316,000	3,725
2	Pakistan	172,800,000	97%	Sunni/Shi'a	Hanafi Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...	Islamic state	612,000	2,592
3	Bangladesh	162,221,000	89%	Sunni	Hanafi Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...	State religion	120,000	1,378
4	Nigeria	155,215,573	50.4%	Sunni	Maliki Maliki The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...	Secular	80,000	2,422
5	Egypt	79,089,650	90%	Sunni	Shafi`i	State religion	450,000	5,491
6	Iran	76,923,300	98%	Shi'a	Jafari Ja'fari jurisprudence Jaʿfarī school of thought, Ja`farite School, Jaʿfarī jurisprudence or Jaʿfarī Fiqh is the school of jurisprudence of most Shi'a Muslims, derived from the name of Jaʿfar as-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam...	Islamic state	545,000	10,624
7	Turkey	73,722,988	99%	Sunni/Shi'a	Hanafi Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani... /Alevi Alevi The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....	Secular Islam and secularism The idea of secularism in Islam means favoring a modern secular democracy with separation of mosque and state, as opposed to Islam as a political movement. Secularism in the Muslim countries refers to the ideology of promoting the secular as opposed to the religion. It is often used to describe...	514,850	13,392
8	Sudan	43,939,598	70%	Sunni	Maliki Maliki The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...	None	104,500	2,172
9	Algeria	34,895,000	99%	Sunni	Maliki Maliki The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...	State religion	127,500	6,538
10	Morocco	33,723,418	99%	Sunni/Sufi	Maliki Maliki The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...	State religion	196,300	4,076
11	Iraq	31,234,000	97%	Shi'a/Sunni	Jafari/Hanafi Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...	Secular Islam and secularism The idea of secularism in Islam means favoring a modern secular democracy with separation of mosque and state, as opposed to Islam as a political movement. Secularism in the Muslim countries refers to the ideology of promoting the secular as opposed to the religion. It is often used to describe...	254,418	3,600
12	Afghanistan	28,395,716	99%	Sunni/Shi'a	Hanafi Hanafi The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani... /Jafari	Islamic state	70,000	724
13	Malaysia	27,730,000	60.4%	Sunni	Shafi`i	State religion	110,000	13,315
14	Saudi Arabia	27,601,038

} || Sunni || Hanbali

Hanbali

The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...

|| Islamic state || 199,500 || 23,243
|-class="sortbottom"
| 15 || align=left|

Uzbekistan || 27,606,007 || 88% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

The idea of secularism in Islam means favoring a modern secular democracy with separation of mosque and state, as opposed to Islam as a political movement. Secularism in the Muslim countries refers to the ideology of promoting the secular as opposed to the religion. It is often used to describe...

|| 53,000 || 2,344
|-class="sortbottom"
| 16 || align=left|

Yemen || 23,580,000 || 99% || Sunni/Shi'a || Shafi`i/Zaidi || Islamic state || 65,000 || 2,335
|-class="sortbottom"
| 17 || align=left|

Syria || 22,505,000 || 90% || Sunni/Shi'a || Hanafi

Hanafi

/Alevi

Alevi

The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....

|| None || 296,000 || 4,448
|-class="sortbottom"
| 18 || align=left|

Kazakhstan || 16,433,000 || 70.2% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 65,800 || 11,086
|-class="sortbottom"
| 19 || align=left|

Niger || 13,272,679 || 90% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 5,300 || 666
|-class="sortbottom"
| 20 || align=left|

Burkina Faso || 13,228,000 || 50% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 6,000 || 1,253
|-class="sortbottom"
| 21 || align=left|

Mali || 11,995,402 || 90% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 7,350 || 1,031
|-class="sortbottom"
| 22 || align=left|

Senegal || 11,658,000 || 94% || Sunni/Sufi || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 9,400 || 1,685
|-class="sortbottom"
| 23 || align=left|

Tunisia || 10,383,577 || 98% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| State religion || 35,000 || 7,473
|-class="sortbottom"
| 24 || align=left|

Guinea || 10,211,437 || 85% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 9,700 || 1,074
|-class="sortbottom"
| 25 || align=left|

Somalia || 9,558,666 || 100% || Sunni || Shafi`i || Islamic State || 10,000 || 600
|-class="sortbottom"
| 26 || align=left|

Azerbaijan || 8,676,000 || 93.4% || Shi'a || Jafari

Ja'fari jurisprudence

Jaʿfarī school of thought, Ja`farite School, Jaʿfarī jurisprudence or Jaʿfarī Fiqh is the school of jurisprudence of most Shi'a Muslims, derived from the name of Jaʿfar as-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam...

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 95,000 || 7,656
|-class="sortbottom"
| 27 || align=left|

Tajikistan || 7,215,700 || 97% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| State religion || 6,000 || 1,841
|-class="sortbottom"
| 28 || align=left|

Sierra Leone || 6,294,774 || 60% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| None || 13,000 || 692
|-class="sortbottom"
| 29 || align=left|

Libya || 6,173,579 || 97% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| State religion || 76,000 || 12,277
|-class="sortbottom"
| 30 || align=left|

Jordan || 5,568,565 || 95% || Sunni || Shafi'i

Shafi'i

The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...

|| State religion || 100,700 || 4,886
|-class="sortbottom"
| 31 || align=left|

United Arab Emirates || 5,432,746 || 76% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| State religion || 50,500 || 37,293
|-class="sortbottom"
| 32 || align=left|

Kyrgyzstan || 5,356,869 || 75% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 12,500 || -
|-class="sortbottom"
| 33 || align=left|

Turkmenistan || 5,110,023 || 89% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 26,000 || 5,154
|-class="sortbottom"
| 34 || align=left|

Chad || 5,041,690 || 54% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 30,350 || 1,675
|-class="sortbottom"
| 35 || align=left|

Lebanon || 4,196,453 || 60% || Sunni/Shi'a || Hanafi

Hanafi

/Jafari

Ja'fari jurisprudence

|| None || 72,100 || 11,270
|-class="sortbottom"
| 36 || align=left|

Kuwait || 3,399,637 || 85% || Sunni/Shi'a || Maliki

Maliki

|| State religion || 15,500 || 39,305
|-class="sortbottom"
| 37 || align=left|

Albania || 3,170,048 || 70% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| None || 9,500 || 6,897
|-class="sortbottom"
| 38 || align=left|

Mauritania || 3,124,000 || 99.99% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Islamic state || 15,750 || 2,008
|-class="sortbottom"
| 39 || align=left|

Oman || 2,577,000 || 93% || Kharijite || Ibadi

Ibadi

The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar...

||State religion || 41,700 || 23,967
|-class="sortbottom"
| 40 || align=left| Republic of Kosovo || 2,100,000 || 90% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| - || 1,800
|-class="sortbottom"
| 41 || align=left|

The Gambia || 1,700,000 || 90% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 800 || 1,326
|-class="sortbottom"
| 42 || align=left|

Bahrain || 1,046,814 || 81% || Sunni/Shi'a ||Maliki

Maliki

Jafari

Ja'fari jurisprudence

|| State religion || 11,200 || 32,604
|-class="sortbottom"
| 43 || align=left|

Comoros || 798,000 || 98% || Sunni || Maliki

Maliki

|| State religion || - || 1,125
|-class="sortbottom"
| 44 || align=left|

Qatar || 744,029 || 77.5% || Sunni || Hanbali

Hanbali

|| State religion || 12,400 || 80,870
|-class="sortbottom"
| 45 || align=left|

Djibouti || 496,374 || 94% || Sunni || Shafi`i || Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 9,850 || 2,271
|-class="sortbottom"
| 46 || align=left|

Brunei || 381,371 || 67% || Sunni || Shafi`i || State religion || 7,000 || 51,005
|-class="sortbottom"
| 47 || align=left|

Maldives || 350,000 || 100% || Sunni || Shafi`i || State religion || 1,000 || 4,604
|-class="sortbottom"
| 48 || align=left| ' || 287,856 || 98% || Sunni || Hanafi

Hanafi

|| Secular

Islam and secularism

|| 9,000 || 16,158
|}

See also

Footnotes