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TFI Arabia

Africa - Islam & Muslims

Islam in Africa

History
Islam arrived to Africa in the earliest days of Islam, when Muslims fleeing persecution in Mecca arrived in Ethiopia. Islam spread to Africa via passages through the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt and through Islamic Arab and Persian traders and sailors. Islam's first muezzin, Bilal ibn Ribah, was also of East African descent.

From 1869 to 1914 islam in Africa probably doubled. Despite its large contribution to the makeup of the continent, Islam is predominantly concentrated in North Africa, West Africa and East Africa. This has provided an increasing difference between the culture and laws of different parts of Africa.

Muslim population

Region	Total Population	Muslims	% Muslim	% of Muslim total
Central Africa	83,121,055	54.13 million	65.1%	3.1%
East Africa	242,100,000	163.4 million	67.4%	16.5%
North Africa	202,151,323	180 million	89.1%	44.8%
Southern Africa	137,092,019	8.9 million	6.5%	2.2%
West Africa	268,997,245	134.0 million	49.8%	33.3%
Total	933,461,642	540.0 million	57.86%

Population by country

• Somalia 100%
• Mauritania 100%
• Western Sahara 100%
• Algeria 99%
• Djibouti 99%
• Tunisia 98%
• Morocco 98.7%
• Egypt 93%
• Libya 97%
• Niger 96%
• Senegal 95%
• Mali 94%
• Guinea 92%
• The Gambia 90%
• Sudan 81%
• Chad 70%
• Sierra Leone 65%
• Burkina Faso 65%
• Nigeria 50%
• Eritrea 50%
• Ethiopia 33%
  Guinea-Bissau 50%
• Cote D'Ivoire 40%
• Tanzania 35%
• Benin 24%
• Cameroon 22%
• Liberia 20%
• Togo 13%
• Malawi 12%
• Mozambique 18%
• Ghana 16%
• Rwanda 10%
• Uganda 12%
• Central African Republic 22%
• Gabon 12%
• Democratic Republic of the Congo 10%
• Namibia 3%
• Lesotho 1%
• South Africa 2%
• Zambia 5%
• Angola 2%
• Kenya 10%
• Botswana 3%
• Republic of the Congo 2%
• Swaziland 1%
• Zimbabwe 1%

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