Islam by country · Asia
Islam in Syria: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Syria, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Syria in the interactive map
History of Islam in Syria
The Muslim presence in Syria started with the conquest of Damascus in13H or 634AD, during the reign of Caliph Omar. The Muslim troops were led by the Prophet’s companions Abu Obaida bnul Jarrah andKhalid bnul Walid. The conquest of current Syria was culminated withthe opening of Aleppo and Antakya peacefully in 16H or 637AD.
Currently, the Syrian Arab Republic has an area of 185,180 sq km andits map is shown in Figure 2.3.10. It was taken by the French from theOttomans in 1920 and gained its independence from France in 1946. TheMuslim population of the Ottoman Provinces of Aleppo (half of which incurrent Turkiye) and Damascus (includes northern Jordan) decreasedfrom 1.10 million or 94.2% in 1580, to 1.03 million or 85.3% in 1881, thenincreased to 1.43 million or 87.8% in 1894. The 1914 Ottoman censusshowed that the Muslim population was 1.08 million or 86.4% of the totalpopulation. Based on census data as shown in Table 2.3.10, the Muslimpopulation increased from 1.7 million or 86.8% in 1923 to 2.3 million or84.4% in 1939, to 2.5 million or 81.8% in 1947, to 4.2 million or 92.1% in1960, when last census data on religion was released. Thus, assumingthis percentage remains constant; then the Muslim population isexpected to reach 35 million by 2050 and forty million by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Syria
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 | 1,859 | 1,606 | 86.37% |
| 2000 | 16,103 | 14,831 | 92.10% |
| 2100 | 43,501 | 40,064 | 92.10% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.