Latin American Muslims

Latin American Muslims are Muslims from countries in Latin America. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 found that Muslims make up 0.1% of all of Latin America's population.[1]

History

The history of Muslims in South America is disputed.

Some believe that the first Muslims that came to Latin America came under Portuguese and Spanish armies,[2] However some claim that Muslims reached the Americas before the Europeans.[3][4]

Statistics
Abou Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in Bogotá

Quoted from "Muslims in Latin America" by Muhammad Yusuf Hallar - "According to statistics, the number of muslims in Latin America is over four million, serving as an example 700,000 (seven hundred thousand) in Argentina and more than 1,500,000 (one point five million) in Brazil."[5] Based on other estimates the Muslims in the area of Latin America are 100,000 mainly concentrated in Brazil, El Salvador and Argentina but also there are concentrations in Venezuela, Colombia and Paraguay. Most of these Latin American Muslims are from either Lebanese, Syrian and some convert origin.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 found that the number of muslims in Latin America and Caribbean is around 840,000.[6] According to the International Religious Freedom Report in 2015, the actual size of Argentina's Muslim community is estimated to be around 1% of the total population (400,000 to 500,000 members).[7][8] And according to the 2010 census, the number of Muslims in Brazil, was 35,207 out of a population of approximately 191 million people.[9]

Suriname has the highest percentage of Muslims in its population for the region, with 13.9% or 75,053 individuals, according to its 2012 census.[10] Islam came to Suriname with immigrants from Indonesia (Java) and South Asia (today India, Pakistan and Bangladesh).

Organizations

Many Muslim organizations exist in Latin America, such as the Islamic Organization of Latin America (OIPAL). OIPAL is considered the most active organization in Latin America in promoting Islamic affiliated endeavors.

See also
Islam by country
World percentage of Muslims by country
Africa
Asia
Americas
Europe
Oceania
 Islam portal

References
  1. Analysis (19 December 2011). "Global religious landscape: Muslims" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  2. Sills, M. David. Islam in Latin America. Muslim scholars believe the first wave of Muslim immigration arrived in the Americas in the sixteenth century with Spanish and Portuguese armies. p. 17.
  3. Tharoor, Ishaan (14 November 2014). "Muslims discovered America before Columbus, claims Turkey's Erdogan". Washington Post. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. "Erdogan says Muslims discovered Americas". www.aljazeera.com. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 2022-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Muslims in Latin America by Muhammad Yusuf Hallar
  6. Analysis (19 December 2011). "Global religious landscape: Muslims" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  7. "International Religious Freedom Report 2010". United States Department of State. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  8. "Table: Muslim Population by Country". Pewforum.org. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  9. IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics). 2010 Census. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  10. 2012 Suriname Census Definitive Results Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek - Suriname.


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