User:TS Brumwell/Muslims in CIA World Factbook

This is an article about the population of Muslims around the world. The numbers are broken down by region, by country and by percentage of population. Although the gathering of statistics is considered a science, people use different methodologies and theoretical formulas. Therefore, different people get different numbers. In order to ensure the readers some level of confidence in our figures, we have decided to select one primary source, and then list links to other authoritative sources in order to enable the reader to observe the variances. The primary source used in these breakdowns is the CIA World Factbook. Some readers may want to know why we have chosen this as our statistical reference. The primary reason the CIA World Factbook is utilized, is because it is not only an authoritative source, but it is also updated weekly. Other sources that were considered were the US State Department figures, Adherents.com, the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report and the US Census Department. The reason the US State Department wasn't chosen, was because their statistics/numbers are updated irregularly. A small number of country departments update their numbers around every six months, while the majority update their numbers every year or so. Also, the US State Department regularly uses and references the figures in the CIA World Factbook. Adherents.com was not chosen as the primary source because it is seriously out of date and very few--if any--sources are quoted. The US Census Department was not chosen because its figures are based on the census, which takes place every ten years. Furthermore, the US Census Department and their International Data Base (IDB) falls under the US Department of Commerce. (optional) The US Department of Commerce is not known for their foreign intelligence gathering or their ability to balance the US Trade Deficit. Please rely on these numbers with caution.

This page is currently in the beginning of editing. Please refrain from posting until a working model is established, at which point I will remove this note and open it up to other editors, primarily from of the Islam by country page. This should take only a day or two. Thank your for your patience.

By region
These percentages were calculated by using the above numbers. The first percentage, 4th column, all but last row, is the percentage of population that is Buddhist in a region (Buddhists in the region * 100/total population of the region). The last row shows the Buddhist percentage compared to the total Buddhist population of the world (Buddhists in the region * 100/total Buddhist population of the world).

(Note: Egypt, Sudan, and other Arab Maghreb countries are counted as part of North Africa, not Middle East).

Top 20
Top 20 by population on the left and by percentage on the right.

Listing of Muslims by country.

Important note: Population counts by religious affiliation, like most demographic characteristics of a population, are based upon statistical science and subject to observational error and are technically referred to as estimates. Likewise, partisans may seek to bias the estimates. The percentage of Muslim population of each country was taken from the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004. Other sources used were the CIA World Factbook and Adherents.com. In a few cases of conflicting estimates, the average of lowest and highest estimates was calculated. The total population of each country was taken from census.gov (2005 estimates).

By Source
The CIA World Factbook: wiki internal page link

US State Department: wiki internal page link

US Department of Census: wiki internal page link

US State Dept's Freedom of Religion Report: wiki internal page link

Adherents.com: wiki internal page link

Uncle Bob's Religious Info Stuff: wiki internal page link