The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly one in four people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long been subject to guesswork.
The project, three years in the making, also presents a portrait of the Muslim world that might surprise some. For instance, Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon, China has more Muslims than Syria, Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.
“This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report,” said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.
