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Now · 1448 AH · 2026 CE

The Muslim world today

Before the history and after it — a page about now. Roughly one human being in four is a Muslim, and they live in some fifty countries and every city on Earth. Here is the present tense of the ummah, in numbers and names.

Figures are the best available public estimates — Pew Research Center, United Nations, World Bank — as of 2024–2025. They move; the page will be refreshed as they do.

The ummah in numbers

  • 2BMuslims worldwide
  • 25%of humanity
  • 50+Muslim-majority countries
  • 57members of the OIC
  • 24median age — the youngest major religious community
  • 5UN founding members were Muslim-majority

One human in four

The Muslim share of everyone alive.

25% Muslim
  • Muslim — 25%
  • everyone else — 75%

Where Muslims live

Most of the ummah is not Arab — the largest communities sit in South and Southeast Asia and Africa.

  • Asia–Pacific 62%
  • Middle East–N. Africa 20%
  • Sub-Saharan Africa 15%
  • Europe 2.6%
  • Americas 0.5%

The ten largest Muslim populations

In millions — including India, where Muslims are a minority larger than most nations.

  • Indonesia 240M
  • Pakistan 235M
  • India 205M
  • Bangladesh 155M
  • Nigeria 100M
  • Egypt 100M
  • Iran 88M
  • Turkey 84M
  • Algeria 46M
  • Sudan 46M

On the map

Each disc is a country on this page, sized by Muslim population. Click a disc to jump to its country.

Indonesia — 246M Pakistan — 247M Bangladesh — 159M Nigeria — 116M Egypt — 101M Iran — 89M Turkey — 85M Algeria — 46M Sudan — 49M Morocco — 38M Iraq — 45M Saudi Arabia — 32M Yemen — 40M Afghanistan — 41M Malaysia — 22M Uzbekistan — 35M United Arab Emirates — 8M Qatar — 2M

Country by country

Flags, capitals, rulers, currencies — and a line about life as lived.

  • Indonesia

    Capital: Jakarta

    Population
    283M
    Muslim share
    87%
    GDP per person
    $4,900
    Currency
    rupiah
    In the UN since
    1,950
    System
    presidential republic
    In power
    President Prabowo Subianto

    Word on the street: WhatsApp and Gojek run daily life; TikTok is the evening square. Street slang: gabut (bored), wkwk (laughing).

    Country page

  • Pakistan

    Capital: Islamabad

    Population
    255M
    Muslim share
    97%
    GDP per person
    $1,400
    Currency
    rupee
    In the UN since
    1,947
    System
    parliamentary republic
    In power
    PM Shehbaz Sharif

    Word on the street: YouTube and WhatsApp dominate; jugaar is the national art of making things work.

    Country page

  • Bangladesh

    Capital: Dhaka

    Population
    175M
    Muslim share
    91%
    GDP per person
    $2,600
    Currency
    taka
    In the UN since
    1,974
    System
    parliamentary republic
    In power
    elected government (2026)

    Word on the street: Facebook is the internet for millions; bKash is how money moves.

    Country page

  • Nigeria

    Capital: Abuja

    Population
    232M
    Muslim share
    50%
    GDP per person
    $1,600
    Currency
    naira
    In the UN since
    1,960
    System
    federal republic
    In power
    President Bola Tinubu

    Word on the street: Nollywood, Afrobeats and WhatsApp; the north runs on Hausa radio.

    Country page

  • Egypt

    Capital: Cairo

    Population
    110M
    Muslim share
    92%
    GDP per person
    $3,300
    Currency
    pound
    In the UN since
    1,945
    System
    presidential republic
    In power
    President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

    Word on the street: The Arab world's largest audience: YouTube, WhatsApp and endless tea. Ya basha covers every male you meet.

    Country page

  • Iran

    Capital: Tehran

    Population
    90M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $4,700
    Currency
    rial
    In the UN since
    1,945
    System
    Islamic republic
    In power
    Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; President Masoud Pezeshkian

    Word on the street: Instagram and Telegram through filters and VPNs; Snapp is the ride of choice.

    Country page

  • Turkey

    Capital: Ankara

    Population
    86M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $13,100
    Currency
    lira
    In the UN since
    1,945
    System
    presidential republic
    In power
    President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

    Word on the street: Trendyol for shopping, WhatsApp for talk, drama serials for the whole region.

    Country page

  • Algeria

    Capital: Algiers

    Population
    46M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $5,400
    Currency
    dinar
    In the UN since
    1,962
    System
    presidential republic
    In power
    President Abdelmadjid Tebboune

    Word on the street: Facebook and YouTube; raï is still the sound of the street, Darja the tongue.

    Country page

  • Sudan

    Capital: Khartoum

    Population
    50M
    Muslim share
    97%
    GDP per person
    $750
    Currency
    pound
    In the UN since
    1,956
    System
    transitional (war since 2023)
    In power
    Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (SAF)

    Word on the street: Connectivity is wartime-scarce; radio and word of mouth still carry the day.

    Country page

  • Morocco

    Capital: Rabat

    Population
    38M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $3,900
    Currency
    dirham
    In the UN since
    1,956
    System
    constitutional monarchy
    In power
    King Mohammed VI

    Word on the street: WhatsApp voice notes everywhere; aita and chaabi soundtrack the evenings.

    Country page

  • Iraq

    Capital: Baghdad

    Population
    46M
    Muslim share
    98%
    GDP per person
    $5,500
    Currency
    dinar
    In the UN since
    1,945
    System
    parliamentary republic
    In power
    PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani

    Word on the street: Facebook and TikTok; the shisha cafés of Baghdad are the real newsroom.

    Country page

  • Saudi Arabia

    Capital: Riyadh

    Population
    34M
    Muslim share
    93%
    GDP per person
    $33,000
    Currency
    riyal
    In the UN since
    1,945
    System
    absolute monarchy
    In power
    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

    Word on the street: Among the world's highest internet use: X, Snapchat and TikTok; Vision 2030 is on every wall.

    Country page

  • Yemen

    Capital: Sana'a

    Population
    40M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $700
    Currency
    rial
    In the UN since
    1,947
    System
    divided (war since 2014)
    In power
    Presidential Leadership Council

    Word on the street: WhatsApp voice and qat afternoons; poetry is still the national currency of talk.

    Country page

  • Afghanistan

    Capital: Kabul

    Population
    41M
    Muslim share
    99%
    GDP per person
    $400
    Currency
    afghani
    In the UN since
    1,946
    System
    emirate (Taliban)
    In power
    Hibatullah Akhundzada

    Word on the street: Radio and bazaar talk lead; smartphones run WhatsApp in the cities.

    Country page

  • Malaysia

    Capital: Kuala Lumpur

    Population
    35M
    Muslim share
    63%
    GDP per person
    $12,500
    Currency
    ringgit
    In the UN since
    1,957
    System
    constitutional monarchy
    In power
    PM Anwar Ibrahim; King Sultan Ibrahim

    Word on the street: TikTok Shop and Grab; lah ends every other sentence.

    Country page

  • Uzbekistan

    Capital: Tashkent

    Population
    36M
    Muslim share
    96%
    GDP per person
    $2,900
    Currency
    sum
    In the UN since
    1,992
    System
    presidential republic
    In power
    President Shavkat Mirziyoyev

    Word on the street: Telegram is the public square; the bazaars of Samarkand trade in melons and memory.

    Country page

  • United Arab Emirates

    Capital: Abu Dhabi

    Population
    10M
    Muslim share
    76%
    GDP per person
    $52,000
    Currency
    dirham
    In the UN since
    1,971
    System
    federal monarchy
    In power
    President Mohammed bin Zayed

    Word on the street: A city of expats on Careem and Talabat; Arabic coffee still opens every meeting.

    Country page

  • Qatar

    Capital: Doha

    Population
    3M
    Muslim share
    65%
    GDP per person
    $80,000
    Currency
    riyal
    In the UN since
    1,971
    System
    emirate
    In power
    Emir Tamim bin Hamad

    Word on the street: Al Jazeera's home; souq evenings, air-conditioned everything, football memories of 2022.

    Country page

The ummah online

What runs on its phones — the apps, messengers and search habits of two billion people.

95%+ of searches go through Google in most of these countries
  • WhatsApp — the default messenger in most Muslim-majority countries
  • YouTube — the top site nearly everywhere, from nasheed to football
  • TikTok — the fastest-growing platform among young users
  • Facebook — still dominant in South Asia and Africa
  • Telegram — the public square in Iran and Central Asia
  • Local giants: Gojek/Grab, bKash, Careem, Snapp, Jumia

Life today

  • sport
  • cinema & arts
  • work & poverty
  • health & schooling
  • movement

Names the world knows

Scientists, poets, athletes and statesmen — the ummah in people's names.

Did you know?

One in four people alive is a Muslim — but only ~20% of Muslims are Arabs.

Where the numbers come from

Today becomes tomorrow

This is the museum's portrait of the present — refreshed as the numbers move. When you are done with now, step forward: the museum's imagination of 2077 is one door away. The future