Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity. According to a 2010 study, Islam has 1.62 billion adherents, making up over 23% of the world population.
Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, in the Horn of Africa, in northern Africa,[3][4][5][6] and in some parts of Asia.[7] Large communities of Muslims are also found in China, the Balkans, and Russia.[8][3] Other parts of the world host large Muslim immigrant communities; in Western Europe, for instance, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity, where it represents 6% of the total population.[9]
According to the Pew Research Center in 2010 there were 49 Muslim-majority countries.[10]
Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, with over 1 billion adherents.[11] The largest Muslim country is Indonesia home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims followed by Pakistan (11.0%), India (10.9%), and Bangladesh (9.2%).[3][12]
About 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries.[13] In the Middle East, the non-Arab countries of Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.[3][12]
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011[14][3] found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, accounting for roughly 1 in 4 people.
The study found more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon and more in China than in Syria.[3]