Minority Religions
According to Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, Oxford University, the CIA Factbook and other experts, Shi'a Islam in Pakistan make up 15-25% while the remaining 70-85% is Sunni Islam.
Although Shias are a second largest sect in the country, Pakistan holds the second largest Shia community after Iran in terms of numbers. The total Shia population in Pakistan is approximately 15 million to as high as 26 million according to Vali Nasr. While many independent sources claim Shia figures in Pakistan as high as 50 million in Pakistan. Globally, Shia Islam is represented by 10-20% of the total Muslims, while the remaining 80%-90% practice Sunni Islam.
An estimated 2.3% of the population are Ahmadis, who are officially considered non-Muslims by virtue of a 1974 constitutional amendment.
Non-Muslim religions include Hinduism and Christianity each with 2,800,000 (1.6%) adherents as of 2005. The Bahá'í Faith, has a following of 30,000, then Sikhism, Buddhism and Parsis, each claiming 20,000 adherents, and a very small community of Jains.
Read more about this topic: Sectarian Violence In Pakistan
Famous quotes containing the words minority and/or religions:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)