Islam by country · Americas
Islam in Bahamas: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Bahamas, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Bahamas in the interactive map
History of Islam in Bahamas
The Commonwealth of the Bahamas became a British colony in 1783 and attained its independence from the UK in 1973. It consists of over three thousand islands, islets and cays (about 10% of which are inhabited) with total area of 13,943 sq km. Most of the population lives on three islands: New Providence (207 sq km with 70% of the total population), Grand Bahama (1,372 sq km with 15% of the total population), and Abaco (1,681 sq km with 5% of the total population). The largest island though is Andros with area 5,959 sq km but 2% of the total population.
We used country of birth to estimate the number of Muslims in these islands from 1970 to 1990. Accordingly, in 1970 there were 74 Muslims or 0.04% of the total population, consisting of 28 born in Egypt, 23 born in each of Malaysia and Pakistan. In 1980, the number decreased to 56 or 0.03%, including thirteen in Egypt, seven in each of Sierra Leone and Pakistan, five in each of Iran and Malaysia. In 1990, the number increased to 91 or 0.04%, including 18 in Malaysia, 16 in Pakistan, ten in Turkiye, and nine in Egypt. The first census to inquire on religious data was held in 2000, recording 292 Muslims or 0.10% of the total population. The Muslim population increased in 2010 to 306 but decreased in percentage to 0.09%. Most Muslims, 237 or 0.77%, live in the Island of New Providence, while 46 or 15% of Muslims live in the Island of Grand Bahama. Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will remain constant at 0.1% of the total population; then the Muslim population is expected to remain less than 500 throughout this century.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Bahamas
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 53.73 | 0.000 | 0.00% |
| 2000 | 322.6 | 0.323 | 0.10% |
| 2100 | 403.3 | 0.403 | 0.10% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.