Islam in France: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in France

After conquering the Iberian Peninsula in 715, the Muslim forces continued to conquer southern France. In 719 they conquered Carcassonne and Narbonne, and advanced until they besieged Toulouse. The incursions were led by the governor of al-Andalus, Assamh bnu Malik al-Kholani, who died at the Battle of Toulouse in 721. He was succeeded by Anbasa bnu Sahim al-Kalbi, who continued the conquest by capturing in 725, Nîmes, Lyon, Dijon, Autun, Langres, and Sens (100 km southeast of Paris). He was then succeeded by Abdul Rahman Bnu Abdillah al-Ghafiqi, who continued the conquest in 732 from the southwest region of France, by capturing Bayonne, Bordeaux, and Poitiers. In October 732 (Ramadan 114H), the Muslims were defeated just south of Châtellerault, about 20 km northeast of Poitiers, in the Battle of Tours/Poitiers, or the Battle of Balat Ashuhada (Arabic for Courts of the Martyrs), in which al-Ghafiqi lost his life. In 734, the Muslim governor of Narbonne, Yusuf ben Abdul Rahman, conquered Arles and Avignon, between Nîmes and Marseille.

The Muslims lacked demographic power to retain the new acquired vast land. Thus, in 736 the Christian forces then regained control over Bordeaux, Avignon in 737, Narbonne in 751, Nîmes in 754, and Carcassonne in 759. Thus, Muslims were able to conquer about two thirds of current France and were able to stay there up to forty years. There were other successful attempts by Muslim Andalusian seamen, who settled in western coast, between Nice and Toulon, starting with Saint Tropez in 891. Their state eventually stretched from Marseille to Genoa, Italy in 934, but it was toppled by the Christian forces by 973. As far as Corsica is concerned, it was conquered by the Aghlabid Muslim Dynasty in 806 after conquering Sicily and Sardinia. Muslims lost the island during the Fatimid Dynasty in 930. Thus, it was under Muslim control for 126 years.

Currently, the European region of the French Republic has an area of 551,500 sq km, which includes the West Mediterranean Island of Corsica (8,680 sq km). A map of France is presented in Figure 4.3.3. The Muslim presence in France was not tolerated until France occupied Algeria in 1830. Information on the religious affiliation of the population was collected in the censuses of 1851 to 1872. The number of those following a religion other than Christianity and Judaism increased from 1,295 in 1861, to 1,400 in 1866, to 3,071 in 1872, remaining less than 0.01% of the total population.

The census data on the number of Turks and Africans recorded in the corresponding censuses. Estimating the number of Muslims based on these ethnicities indicates that the Muslim population remained less than 0.01% of the total population throughout the nineteenth century. It increased in number from 438 in 1861, to 565 in 1866, to 1,173 in 1872, to 1,174 in 1876, to 1,494 in 1881, to 1,612 in 1886, to 2,664 in 1891, to 3,054 or 0.01% in 1896, to 11,278 or 0.03% in 1911, to 42,706 or 0.1% in 1921. The African population then increased to 72,000 or 0.2% in 1926, to 105,000 or 0.3% in 1931, and then decreased to 87,000 or 0.2% in 1936.

After World War II, France needed more manpower, many of whom came from northwestern Africa, being a French colony. To estimate the number of Muslims post WWII, we use census data which provides citizenship data on foreign population residing in France. We assume that Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians, Turks and Africans are Muslim (most of the French African colonies were Muslim majority). Table 4.3.3b presents the data between 1946 and 2011. Accordingly, the Muslim population increased from 0.06 million or 0.2% in 1946, to 0.23 million or 0.6% in 1954, to 0.40 million or 0.9% in 1962, to 0.66 million or 1.3% in 1968, to 1.24 million or 2.4% in 1975, to 1.71 million or 3.2% in 1982, to 1.83 million or 3.2% in 1990. Since 1980s however, more Muslims obtained French citizenship, rendering estimates based on citizenship from Muslim-majority countries inaccurate. According to the European Values Survey (EVS), the Muslim population increased to 4.2 million or 6.7% in 2008, then 9.1 million or 14.0% in 2018.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will continue to increase by one percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to exceed thirteen million or 20% by 2050 and eighteen million or 30% by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for France

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.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.