Islam in Grenada: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Grenada

It has a total area of 344 sq km and mainly consists of seven islands, four of which are small and uninhabited, and all are an extension to the south of the Grenadines Island Chain. The largest islands are Grenada (308 sq km) and 95% of the population, Carriacou (27.5 sq km), and Petite Martinique (3.7 sq km). A map of these islands is presented in Figure 5.1.6. These islands were conquered by the British in 1762 and gained its independence from the UK in 1974.

The first Muslims were indenture labor brought by the British from India in 1857. According to census data, the Muslim population increased from none in 1851 to 142 or 0.45% in 1861, to 152 or 0.40% in 1871, then decreased to 98 or 0.23% in 1881, to 78 or 0.15% in 1891, to 43 or 0.07% in 1901, to twenty or 0.03% in 1911, to nine or 0.02% in 1921, to one or 0.00% in 1946, it then increased as new Muslim immigrants started flowing in to 76 or 0.09% in 1981, to 237 or 0.23% in 2001, to 410 or 0.4% in 2011. In the Island of Carriacou, the Muslim population decreased from eight in 2001 to seven in 2011.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will increase by one tenth of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to remain around one thousand throughout the second half of this century.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Grenada

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.