To many of you, it might appear that Hinduism is the biggest religion in the world, and that’s a misconception arising from the fact that India is the most populated country with 1.4 billion people, and the main religion there is Hinduism. But that’s not correct, actually! In the numbers game, Hinduism is only the 3rd largest religion in the world, with as many as 1.2 billion people following. Still, there are many countries besides India where the Hindu population lives in good numbers, and today, we’re here to talk about just that through this list of the 10 Countries with the Highest Hindu Population in the world today. Alright, let’s get going now.
1. India
First of all, India is the absolute leader as far as the Hindu population is concerned. We are referring to around 1.2 billion Hindus, which is almost 80% of the country’s total population. Isn’t that incredible? India is the country where Hinduism was first established, and it accounts for 94 to 95% of the total number of Hindus all over the world. This South Asian giant is the 7th largest country by area and the most populous one. In 1947, India became independent from the British, and since then, it has been the world’s largest democracy by population.
2. Nepal
Following, Nepal is placed in the second position with approximately 28.6 million Hindus, which is 81.3% of the total population there. The country is surrounded by India and China and is located in the heart of the Himalayas, with the Everest being the highest point. In fact, 8 of the 10 highest peaks in the world are in Nepal! It was the only Hindu kingdom in the world, but after a civil war that lasted from the 1990s to the early 2000s, it changed to a secular republic in 2008.
3. Bangladesh
Ranking third on the list, the country of Bangladesh is home to roughly 13.8 million Hindus that constitute around 8.2 to 10% of the total population. The nation is known as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and is located in South Asia; it is the 8th most populous country in the world. Despite Islam being the major religion of the country, the Hindu community is quite sizable. Bangladesh was originally the eastern part of Pakistan after the division of British India in 1947; hence, it separated from Pakistan to become an independent nation.
4. Indonesia
Alright, let’s talk about number four: Indonesia is home to nearly 4.2 million Hindus, making up about 1.69% of the country’s total population. The nation is the planet’s largest archipelago, with 17,504 islands scattered across Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is, after all, the fourth most populous country on the planet, with a population of more than 281 million. The majority of the Hindus in Indonesia are concentrated in the island of Bali and a few other places.
5. Pakistan
Pakistan ranks 5th with a population of approximately 4 million Hindus, accounting for 1.9% of the total population. With a population of more than 241.5 million, this South Asian country is the fifth most populous in the world. The Hindu community is one of the significant minorities in this Islamic country. Pakistan is a Muslim country created as a result of the 1947 division of India, which was separated on a religious basis. Besides these neighbors like India, China, Iran, and Afghanistan, it also has a sea border with the Arabian Sea.
6. Sri Lanka
Ranking at number 6, Sri Lanka is home to approximately 3.1 million Hindus, making up 13.7% of its total population, which is quite impressive for a country other than India! The island situated in the Indian Ocean, southeast of India, is recognized as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The majority of the Hindus in the country are the Tamils of the Hindu faith who have been in the land for several hundred years.
7. United States
So, number seven, the United States, about 2.8 million Hindus, or 0.9%, is where we are going. The Hindu community in the United States has seen a rapid rise; in the last 15 years, it has doubled, and by 2025, it is predicted to be at 2.8 million. The U.S., or the United States of America, is a 50-state federal republic, mostly in North America. Educated to the hilt, the average formal education of the Hindus is 15.7 years, which is the highest of all imported groups. The total number of temples has increased from 435 twenty years ago to around 1,000 today.
8. Malaysia
Malaysia comes eighth on the list with a Hindu population of about 2.1 million, which is 6.1% of the total population. This country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region consists of 13 states and 3 federal territories and is separated by the South China Sea into Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. It was colonized by Great Britain and got its independence in 1957, with Islam declared as the state religion.
9. United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is in the ninth position with a Hindu population of approximately 1.07 million or 1.7% of its total population. The United Kingdom is an area consisting of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, located off the northwestern coast of Europe. In the UK, Hinduism ranks as the third most popular religion after Christianity and Islam. The ethnic Hindu population has increased from only 30,000 in 1961 to over one million now.
10. Myanmar
At last, in the tenth position, there are also around 910,000 Hindus (1.7% of the total population) inhabiting Myanmar. Lying in Southeast Asia, the nation neighbors China, Laos, Thailand, India, and Bangladesh. After the British left in 1948, it was still called Burma but changed its name to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The local Hindu population has people from different parts of India and Nepal, like Tamils, Gujaratis, Punjabis, Bengalis, Odias, Marwaris, and Gurkhas, who are living in these areas: Bago, Mon State, Kayin State, and Yangon.
Conclusion
You may be looking at this data and thinking that there are many nations where the Hindu population lives, but the thing is, only in 2 countries around the world, the Hindu population is in the majority, and that is just India and Nepal. That’s it.
